Kindling for the e-reader flame war
The oil of the eucalyptus tree is so flammable that hazy clouds of the stuff can ignite under the hot Australian summer sun. Swathes of oil-fuelled fires take out entire forests, leaving the tenacious eucalypts to rise again.
From the charred remains of the Kindle fire, Eucalyptus also weathers the heat to emerge as an intuitive e-reader alternative.
Eucalyptus generally succeeds where Amazon’s Kindle for iPhone fails. Features glaringly absent in Amazon’s app have been implemented as a matter-of-fact, as though making a statement on what elements should be assumed of any electronic reading app. In other words, this feels native to the device and designed in such a way that actually caters to the mobile reader.
Thousands of books can be downloaded directly from within the app, which immediately makes it a more attractive offering. The volumes on offer, however, are of a different class than those available in Amazon’s store. Eucalyptus provides access to Project Gutenberg, an enormous database of free electronic books.
These aren’t the latest novels or top-selling political diaries; on the contrary, classic works of literature and older treatises are what you find. It gives Eucalyptus a particular slant: you won’t find it to be worthwhile if you only want to download the latest Stephen King novel.
The trade-off comes in a brilliantly designed slate of features that ensure intuitive use. Downloading books is effortless, flipping through digital pages a cinch. Never does the need arise to drop out of the app and into Safari to download books; instead, you’re able to easily pick from staff selections and search using authors, titles, and keywords. Since images and illustrations aren’t supported (one the app’s few shortcomings), small files ensure quick downloads over WiFi or the network.
Reading involves flicking pages with a slide of your finger from right to left on the screen, much in the manner of turning a physical book’s pages. Multi-touch support enables you to scale font size on a whim. Sadly, the ability to switch to landscape mode with a tilt of your handset is missing, though we’re keen to see an update add it in. Other features include an actionable table of contents and slider for flipping through text.
Things do run a little slower than desired. Noticeable latency between selecting a book for reading and it actually appearing on the screen is a minor annoyance, but something to be improved upon in future updates.
Adding landscape mode and smoothing out the performance will take Eucalyptus from a good app to a great one. Even without these improvements, this is an app that withstands the heat of criticism with a solid selection of features and intuitive design.
A well-designed e-reader with an intuitive interface and a library packed with material that needs a couple of changes to take it from good to great.
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App: Eucalyptus (iPhone)
Seller: Things Made Out of Other Things
Price: £5.99/$9.99
Version reviewed: 1
Requires: EDGE, 3G, WiFi
Size: 3.7MB
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Pocket Picks Score: 
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To buy Eucalyptus CLICK HERE
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