RYA releases Books app on Google Play

by Emma Slater on 17 Jan 2013 After the huge success of the RYA Books app in the iTunes App Store, which, since its launch in September 2011, has had over 70,000 downloads; the RYA is delighted to extend the availability of its growing digital range to the Android market through the Google Play Store.

The free app includes taster editions so you can have a look at what the eBooks are all about before you buy, as well as a selection of RYA titles for you to purchase and download in full.

A selection of eBooks covering both sail and power are already available via the Play Store which include additional video and animation content. As well as being useful from a students’ point of view, this additional content is of great value to instructors; helping to bring the teaching points to life.

Further enhancements for a number of other titles, including the rules books and RYA VHF Handbook, are also currently being worked on and are planned for release in the spring.

'EBook technology has been developing at a great pace in recent years and extending our eBook solution to the Android market is the next logical step and opens up the potential market to thousands of devices', explains RYA Publications Manager, Steen Ingerslev.

'Our approach is to enhance the books we’ve currently got by embedding videos and animation to help bring the content alive; in doing so it makes for a much more interactive reading and learning experience.

'Looking to the future we are investigating the feasibility of redesigning the app for the popular Kindle Fire and also examining other options for digital delivery. One thing that is for certain is this area of the business will continue to evolve', Steen concluded.

All you need to do to enter this great competition to win a Google Nexus 7 is to tweet about the new Android app. Mention @RYAPublications in your tweet with either a screenshot image from the app or a link to the RYA Books page on the Google Play Store.

The winner will be selected at random from the RYA Publications Twitter account. Competition closes 31 March 2013.

Visit RYA Books on Google play here.

If you have an enquiry regarding RYA eBooks or have a preference as to what you’d like to see next, then email ebooks@rya.org.uk or for more information visit www.rya.org.uk/go/ebooks