Classics 1.3 (iPhone OS 3.0 Tested - iPhone - iPod Touch - 294773236 Category: Book Author: Andrew Kaz & Phill Ryu Vote(s): 9367 Price: $2.99 Released: October 30, 2008 Version: 1.3 (iPhone OS 3.0 Tested Download Classics Get Classics for $2.99
Classics - Andrew Kaz & Phill Ryu
Many of you have been contacting us with questions about Apple's recently announced iBooks for iPad. We have no involvement, but we are proud to have influenced the future user interface of digital reading.
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Escape into some of the greatest stories ever written.
Experience digital reading in a way that is so natural, and so obvious, it just feels right.
It begins with a collection of over a dozen hand-picked, literary masterpieces…
THE COLLECTION • *NEW* Through the Looking-Glass (ILLUSTRATED) • *NEW* The Odyssey • *NEW* The Art of War • *NEW* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz • *NEW* The Illiad • *NEW* The Count of Monte Cristo • *NEW* Frankenstein • Dracula • Treasure Island • Pride & Prejudice • A Christmas Carol (ILLUSTRATED) • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (ILLUSTRATED) • Gulliver's Travels • The Time Machine • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • The Call of the Wild • Flatland (ILLUSTRATED) • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea • Robinson Crusoe • The Jungle Book • The Metamorphosis • Paradise Lost • Hound of the Baskervilles • More books coming via free app updates!
"You get the feeling of actually reading a book" - Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
FEATURES • An intuitive and elegantly designed reading experience with realistic 3D page flips that track to your finger. You can even drag a bit to take a peek at the next page, or finish reading a sentence as you start turning! • Flick up and down in your virtual bookcase to view your collection, tap a book to open, and tap and hold to drag and sort your books • Tap the table of contents button on the top right for quick navigation between chapters • View how far you are in a book at a glance with a subtle progress display integrated into the top bar • Classics automatically remembers your place with a satin bookmark when exiting the app or book • Options to toggle 'page flip' animation to a more minimal 'slide', and to turn the page flip sound off and on can be found in your iPhone's settings application
"You're really getting a much nicer book experience… it's a gorgeous program." - Leo Laporte, MacBreak Weekly 2008-2009 Andrew Kaz & Phill Ryu
Classics reviewed by Users
The Future While I hate to say it, because I am a fan of paper books, electronic books are probably the future, and this is a great app to set Apple on that path. It is fluid and easy to read, and the whole bookmark thing is great. It also offers some great novels that I can now read on the go, right on my cell phone! This is a great start to a great app, and there is tons of room for improvement, particularly in adding more novels. Obviously, we're limited to what we can have on here, due to copyright stuff, but eventually who knows where something like this could go. Maybe we will start paying .99 cents for a book on our phone, much like the Amazon Kindle. I can't wait to see where this app ends up.
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Version 1.2
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Nov 2, 2008
- Classics review by
WhySoSerious?
Suggestionsss Could it be possible to add the odyssey since you already have the illiad that would be awesome
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Version 1.2
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Mar 21, 2009
- Classics review by
T()ny R33D
Awesome awesome awesome!!!!!!! Take advantage of this amazing deal!! Worth probably over $50 worth of books! But please add more books! This is no complaint; it's just a suggestion. The killer app is already phenomenal as it is now!!!
Some more book suggestions:
-Red Badge of Courage
-Some more Sherlock Holmes
-maybe a Hardy Boy or two
-Rascal
-Kidnapped
-Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde
-A Tale of two Cities
And more!
Thank you for this inexpensive, amazing app!!! :D
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Version 1.2
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Mar 16, 2009
- Classics review by
Luketheduke2000apple
perfect just finished reading the first chapter of the Time Machine. Easy to navigate and visually rank banks on shelf. Words are good size to read on screen. Only small drawback I found is that while it does bookmark the spot you exited the book if you take a call or go back to the main screen while in the middle of the book you will have to start on the bookshelf, select your book to get back to you book mark. Would be nicer to just return to the screen where you left it like in Mail. But not enough for me to lower the rating or enjoyment of this nice little app. Looking forward to more books. Steinbeck, Bukowski and Saroyan next please.
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Version 1.2
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Oct 31, 2008
- Classics review by
askthedust
Really Nice Responding to the review that it is garbage and has only 9 books - yes it has been slow to add new books but I have 14 now and just had one added in the last few days (Pride and Prejudice Yay!) - so the person who only has only 9 must not be updating their apps - it is worth the money and hopefully books will now be coming more frequently.I am enjoying the feeling of reading an actual book with the page turning and layout - I wish the was someway to access a menu to change font and size and also an area to check for new titles when they come out - overall a great app- please add more books soon!
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Version 1.1.1
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Jan 1, 2009
- Classics review by
Gigfy
Good start, but lacks basic features Great visually, but lacks basic features seen in other freely available readers.
- adjustable font size
- landscape reading mode
- full screen reading
- ability to download books
- categorize by genre (will become more important as additional books are added)
- MORE BOOKS!!!
Good start, but not worth the $3 in it's current form. Seems like a beta version that should have been released for free in its current state of development.
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Version 1.0
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Nov 2, 2008
- Classics review by
dfrobins
Wow! Just…wow!! What an exceptional little app! I predict these guys sell a million of these. The software is very easy to use and looks fantastic. The books are legible and easy to read and I love the fact that the developers went after the "classics" rather than new releases. The stories they have chosen are timeless and exceptional reading. I buy a lot of the classics in hard-back and will continue to do so, but I will also come back for more of whatever these guys release.The entire download (including 12 books) is only 20MB, meaning we could install hundreds (thousands) of book titles on one device (hint, hint)."Classics" makes all other book readers look obsolete and messy. I am thrilled that we did not have to wait for Apple to reinvent this category. Kudo's to Andrew Kaz and Phill Ryu for not only comming up with a great app idea, but implementing it in such a fabulous manner. And Kudo's to Apple for creating a platform that makes it possible for such masterpieces of software.One suggestion: When selecting a book, you have to double-tap to open it. While this is not difficult, it does not really follow the Touch interface principles. A user should only tap once to open the book, and tap-and-hold to move books on the shelf (which already happens), similar to the way we can manage the icons in the Touch interface, itself.Otherwise, Well done! I really hope the developers make a pile of money, not just as a reward for a great idea and implementation, but also so that they can afford to put forth the time to bring us a boatload of other titles on the cheap! ;-) - Classics review by Kscherer MacLife
Interface A+, Usefulness C- Definitely a wonderful interface, but this first version lacks two features of great importance to a reader: ability to adjust font size, and ability to add one's own books from the millions of classics out there. - Classics review by seldomrc
Excellent start, room to grow... The UI is nearly perfect, but a few small cracks in the armor are already showing. There is an awkward pause when opening a book with no smooth animation to cover it up. The wonderful cover art is also never really seen full screen. Why not? And why no option to jump to a certain page number. If you're never going to use it, then why are the numbers on every page?
My hope is that as more classic titles are rolled out we will be treated to a few UI refinements as well. And once we do get more books, how about the option to delete a title? - Classics review by Saibot Rex
Beautiful, but don't miss the point I think some people are missing the point of this app and asking for things it cannot do. What makes it so beautiful is it's designed and formatted just like a printed book, using attractive type and nice spacing, with no widows and orphans. How could they possibly maintain that beauty if the reader could change the type size? And how could they add the ability to plug in your own classic texts when those texts aren't yet formatted? It would end up like the other readers and lose its distinction.Granted, they might consider a large print edition, perhaps in landscape mode so the shorter lines don't turn ugly, but they will have to design and format any new size and any new book to keep the beauty. To the creators I say just get busy and churn out lots of books, even if you have to start charging a little something for each! - Classics review by Jon M.
Beautifully Designed Reading Experience Classics combines analog queues with modern convenience, making digital reading a wonderfully unique experience. Enjoy custom design and illustration of public domain titles, sliding population of shelves, intuitive drag and drop organization, scrolling and loading of titles. Plus the feature developers obviously have gone out of their way to implement; a warmly responsive pagination and reading experience. Absolutely love the detailed design of each interface element, the flat and rustic feel of books, pages, shelves and even the icon. Book outline elements create a trompe-l'œil from the reading screens, conveying tactile feedback and that familiar feeling of holding a classic. Combined with the navigation bar as progress meter and familiar metaphors such as the bookmark on exit make this application an absolute delight to use. Anxiously awaiting future titles, more custom designs and enhancements like search, zooming and customized preferences. Perhaps some people will get tired of the pagination effect or simply appreciate scrolling as faster means of devouring those thicker classics. Such is the elegance in implementation of details throughout this application, it would not be surprising in some future version an effect for reaching those last few pages where the thickness of a book denotes the end of another wonderful classic. Maybe it is even wrong to want the ability of reading all digital books this way, because this custom reading experience is so beautifully designed one does not wish to spoil a classic. - Classics review by rmpenguino
Fantastic This is the first review I've ever written in iTunes. The interface for this app is gorgeous. It makes reading the books on the iPhone actually a pleasure. I hope this program becomes the interface for every book on the iPhone. At least it deserves to be. - Classics review by KevyH
What the Hell...? I love this app. But I paid $2.99 for it as the app's description said that was the temporary sale price. Now it's for $0.99!
So, a few others and I get punished for being among the first to purchased this app.
It's not only about money. $2.99 is not a lot of money and I certainly don't want to seem complaining for a refund.
I wanted to write more about such a wonderful app and here I am writing about the price changes that the makers of this app decided to implement.
I just don't get such selling tactics. I would really appreciate if the makers would explain why they did what they did and/or give us the innitial few hundred of us who had downloaded this app at $2.99 something extra (a book or two or some refund perhaps).
Click yes if you agree with this. - Classics review by Rushi11
Good Start, Updates Needed As nearly every other reviewer has noted, this is a very pretty application. While using Classics, I actually forgot I was reading on my iPod. Stanza is a fantastic and flexible application, but, in using it, I am always aware that I am reading from a small electronic device - making getting lost in any literature very difficult.But this praise needs to be tempered. Whether or not this becomes a truly great application depends on whether or not the developer continues to support it. If new books are never added, it won't matter how great the interface is. User experience is important, but so is content! - Classics review by Manveru
Wonderful experience The care and detail is so wonderful. Tremendously pleasurable. This truly is an enriching application. You can skip to chapters after touching the icon in the upper right. Lots of grace notes. The silk bookmark slides down when closing out, the speed of the page turn changes if you tap or drag slowly. Good selection of public domain books. At some point some current titles will be great. I love it, though. Who said " people don't read anymore?" We are here and these new ereaders prove who valuable storytelling remains, be it with quill, press or pixel. - Classics review by John Palisano
An example to what all iPhone apps should be Simple, beautiful, usable and affordable. Can't get much better than that. Good work Phill and Andrew! - Classics review by omnivector
Simply Beautiful The best book reader for the iPhone. Everything looks perfect, and the book selection is great. I really can't wait for the new books in the free updates, but for now I know I'll start with 20,000 Leagues. - Classics review by amick
Superb! This e-book reader far exceeds the standard e-book formats presently available anywhere on the iTunes app store in style, ease of use, and class. Simply beautiful! Good job & great app!!! - Classics review by martinba
Instant Classic LOVE the look, feel and function of the app. Let me be the first to say it... "Instant Classic." An iPhone app done right. - Classics review by graphix fanatic
This is a marvel! I just finished reading Robinson Crusoe and are halfway through The Hound of the Baskervilles. Just pure reading pleasure.Compared with a real book this is what makes Classic stand-out: - I can read in more positions. E.g. laying flat on my back holding the book overhead as it only weighs 133 grams. - I can read with the lights out. - I can flip the pages single handed. - I never forget how far I was in the book. - I never forget to bring my "current" book as I always have my phone with me. - And most importantly: It feels like a book: Cover illustration, Chapter layout, pagination with chapter title and page number, individual spacing of characters, realistic graphical and sonic turning of page, subtle indication of how far you are in the book: All in all just as good as a real book.I have tried several other e-book readers but none of them would I consider for long-term use. For me Classic is first real alternative to a book. No need to deal with font colour, font size, line spacing, margins in order to obtain an optimal reading experience. Classic has already done that and the text is presented as professional as if it where published in a book.If only Amazon and Apple would begin selling books in this format I would never consider bying a real book again. - Classics review by Sehested
iPhone and iPod Touch Applications from Andrew Kaz & Phill Ryu
Ruler 2 - iPhone Utilities Application A ruler is a simple tool — modest yet necessary, needed by everybody now and then.
“Ruler” is the ruler reinvented for a world where we all want to use less to do more, wherever, whenever.
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$0.99
Classics - iPhone Book Application Many of you have been contacting us with questions about Apple's recently announced iBooks for iPad. We have no involvement, but we are proud to have influenced the future user interface of digital reading.
--
Escape into some of the greatest stories ever written.
Experience digital reading in a... Andrew Kaz & Phill Ryu - Released: October 30, 2008 - Vote(s): 9367
