iOS 12 Books is a complete makeover of iBooks, under the new name Apple Books. Books doesn’t just have a pretty look though, there are improvements that make it a better file management tool.[What’s the Best Method to Manage PDFs on Apple Devices?]
PDFs
Back in April, I wrote an article where I explored the best way to manage PDFs on Apple devices. The system I chose was to create a folder hierarchy in iCloud Drive. At the time, I didn’t want to use iBooks because of the limited sharing when it came to PDFs.With iOS 12 Books though, I can cross “better PDF management” off of my wish list. Finally, when you share a PDF from Apple Books, you have access to the entire share sheet. Before you could only use Mail or Print to share it. Another new feature is that PDFs are now synced through iCloud Drive in Books. I’m not sure how that’s different than it was before though. You still have to upload PDFs into the app, instead of Books displaying whatever PDFs there are in iCloud Drive.
Recommendations
Another wish list item I crossed off was “better book recommendations.” Similar to Apple News and Apple Music, you can now Love and Dislike books you’ve read. Of course, this only works with books you’ve purchased in the Book Store, and not books you’ve uploaded.In the new Reading Now tab, you first see the current book you’re reading, with a percentage of how much you’ve read. Next is your Want to Read section, which is a handy way to keep track of books you plan to read next. After that is a For You section, and this is where Apple gives you recommendations based on books you purchase or love.
Collections
In the Library tab, you’ll see a Collections item at the top. Tap it and it brings you to the Collections screen. Here you’ll see the Want to Read list, Finished list, Books, Audiobooks, PDFs, and Downloaded files. You can also create your own collection, in case you want to sort books by genre or favorites. If you upload eBooks like I do, you’ll probably make use of custom collections to organize your files better. A small detail that was added is the ability to rename books that you upload. You have to rename them one at a time, but it’s another organizational tool you can use. You can automatically sort your books by Recent, Title, Author, or Manually.Right now the Books app in the macOS Mojave public beta hasn’t changed. I’m hoping however that it will eventually be changed in newer versions to match the iOS app. In any case, the changes to iOS 12 Books are welcome. I also like how books are displayed differently too. They look more like a traditional book, with each book cover having a crease on the spine and shadows to give it a 3D appearance. This works on books you upload too.And you know what? The serif font of the San Francisco typeface that Apple uses for the books app has grown on me. Considering the traditional nature of serif typefaces in paper publishing, the font choice and book cover appearance that Apple uses can be considered an homage to publishing.[Apple Teased More Information on Apple Books in iOS 12]
