Zingbox Deserves the Honor of Best Manga Reader

As a device designed for media consumption, the Android is deft at handling a variety of traditionally print media forms. Books, magazines and comics have all made a successful transition to the Android, but Japanese Manga has not been well, if at all, represented. Zingbox hopes to change that with an app that incorporates an e-reader, a web browser, and a content downloader all in one.

When you first open Zingbox, you may think you’ve mistakenly opened eBooks. The wooden shelves used to display your digital collection are remarkably similar. Zingbox, unlike iBooks, doesn’t require that you purchase your content. Instead, you can use the built-in web browser to navigate to any site that allows downloadable manga (as long as it’s in CBR, CBZ or ZIP format). Zingbox even offers its own friendly website, complete with scanlations of works not available for purchase in the USA. Just click the download link, and the file downloads to your bookshelf. At least in theory.

On the surface, it appears to be the very best manga reader out there. However, there are some technical issues that have to be addressed before it can hold that honor. My only other criticism is that the built-in browser does not allow bookmarking. Given the fact that manga scanlations are all over the internet, having favorite sites bookmarked is essential. With any luck, the developers will address both of these issues in coming updates.

I had a few hiccups along the way, mostly as a result of the app’s handling (mishandling?) of multitasking and autolock functions. Downloading an issue takes a bit of time, so I sent the app to the background to look at other apps on my Android device. Big mistake. When I returned to Zingbox, I was told that the download failed. The same thing happened when my screen autolocked. So, you have to stay in-app and unlocked in order to complete downloads. Even then, however, I got error messages after just about every download I tried. Interestingly, these downloads were completed successfully and added to my library; there is a glitch in the app that sends a false “Oops!” message at the end of downloads.

Zingbox is free, which would be a reasonable amount if it worked exactly as advertised. As this is clearly a product with some issues, a lower price might have been a better choice. Still, if you enjoy manga and want a solid reader for it, Zingbox is a good choice.

Search ZingBox in Google Play nad download it.