Google Play Books Adds a Host of New Features

Google Play Books has added some new features to its Android app, designed to enrich the online reading experience.
The app now includes word translation, highlighting, note-taking functionality, as well as pop-up info cards for definitions and geographical information. It also now features a sepia-toned display option, and lets users read Japanese books the way they’re meant to be consumed — turning pages from right to left and with text in a vertical, right-to-left layout.
The new additions will “help you better explore your books and understand what you’re reading,” Google Play product manager Xinxing Gu wrote on the official Android team blog introducing the features.
The dictionary and places capability lets you click on an unfamiliar word or location to call up a small info card.
The translation feature lets you select a word, then use an action bar at the top of your screen to see it displayed in another language. You can do this for phrases or individual words, but not entire blocks (or books) of text.
The highlighting and note-taking features, meanwhile, are designed to replicate how you might treat your old-school, physical books by letting you highlight notable passages or annotate interesting parts. Notes you make will sync between your phone, tablet and web, thanks to Google Play Books‘ cloud-based content.
“We hope these features make reading more enjoyable—and productive,” Gu writes.
Do you use Google Play Books? Will this update enrich your experience?