Thanks to growth of Internet and smart devices, we all are gradually becoming tech savvy. One of the major transitions in our lifestyles has come through tech is that we are now accessing news digitally and on the go. A large of number of people are now accessing e-book, e-mags and e-papers. This trend is set to to grow with better e-book reading devices/applications in the near future.
App stores are flooded with such e-book readers, but only a few provide comprehensive platform to access e-books emagazine and epapers at one place. Rockstand is one such platforms that extensively focusses on e-content in Indian languages, exam preparation coverage and e-newspapers. Content available on the platform is protected with a 128 bit encryption making it secure and piracy proof. The application is available through iOS and Android app stores.
On launching the app, you are taken to the Home page, which features shortcut to books and magazine. The masthead features menu button (on the left), home button (centre), sharing and library buttons on the right. Interface isn't very complicated, though could have improved further for easier navigation.
The application promises a wide variety of content. You can further filter your content with no.1 (which shows bestsellers), Indian languages, and free ones. There's also a filter for content with discount and offers.
According to RockStand, the app has over 150,000 titles, 300+ enewspapers, 1000 magazines, 1000+publishers, 13 regional and 8 foreign languages across genres, 2TB of cloud equivalent space.
One of the aspects where the app can improve is personalisation. It could have been better with more customisation, as each individual would like to stream news/content in his/her own way. The personalisation features include setting favourites, preventing screen from sleeping, set background light (day and night), and background colours.
Downloading content
To download any paid content, users in India can make payment credit card, netbanking, cash card, wallets such as Paytm and Mobikwik. Tap on any magazine/paper you want to read. The content will start downloading. After downloading finishes, you receive a notification over the e-mail, and it is stored on the built-in download manager.
Reading is the most important aspect of the application. Readers can flip pages like a physical book, leave annotations to make notes, also you can read from where you left with auto-book marking. The app works smoothly with epapers as well.
The app works smoothly with e-papers as well.
Overall, Rockstand is a decent effort at bringing e-books e-magazines and e-papers at one place. However, it can definitely take some clue from Google's Play Newsstand on interface and perhaps make it further easier for readers. The app has a lot of focus on the Indian languages/content, which makes it unique.