One of the symptoms of art-driven storytelling, especially in physical media is page turning, lots of page turning. Realizing this and taking note to high volume of graphic novels distributed from the Play Store, Google has updated its Book app to be more user friendly to comic books.
The latest update to Google Play Books is all about streamlining the experience of consuming comic books and graphic novels on smartphones and tablets.
"Reading a comic book is all about following the story and enjoying the art, dialogue and pace the way you want," says Google. "But navigating a comic can be tricky on a small phone or tablet screen. So, we're introducing a new vertical scrolling experience for comics in landscape mode."
To take advantage of the new vertical scrolling features, users need only flip their mobile device on their sides to display a comic book or graphic novel in landscape mode.
Along with improving navigation inside of books, Google is also making it easier to navigate through the Play store's library of visual stories. The Play store now features a "comics destination" and curated list of comic books. In addition, Google is also serving up personalized recommendations for what comic books to read next.
"Google Play offers binge-worthy comics from all the major publishers, including DC Comics, Marvel, Image, IDW and Dark Horse," Google says. "Whether you're a long-time fan or just starting out, our collections will have something great for you, with series like The Walking Dead, Justice League, Deadpool and Mortal Kombat."
To celebrate the changes to the way it treats comic books - or to make sure as many people know about them as possible - Google is offering free comic from popular series such as Orphan Black, The Walking Dead, The X-Files, My Little Pony and others.
With apps such as ComiXology already offering experiences streamlined for comic books, including guided viewing, it seems Google is using the free comics more as bait for new users and less as a thank you for existing customers - business is business.
The changes are expected to hit the Play store "in the next few days" and will arrive on iOS a bit later. They'll be available to consumers in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the UK, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa.
