You can now upload ebooks to Google Play Books

Martin Brinkmann
May 16, 2013
Updated • May 16, 2013
Google
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If you have used Google Music in the past you know that you can upload your own music to the service so that you can access it on devices that connect to it.

Google enabled a similar service yesterday for its Books service. The initial version of the new Google Play Books feature limits you to 1000 ebooks that you can upload to it, either directly from Google Drive or from your computer.

The books that you upload this way become available anywhere. You can read them in the web browser of choice, on mobile devices or tablets.

Google notes that data such as page positions, bookmarks and notes are synced with the cloud so that those information become available anywhere as well.

Google Play Books upload overview

  1. You can upload up to 1000 DRM-free EPUB or PDF files to Google Play for free.
  2. Uploads are available from Google Drive or the computer.
  3. File sizes cannot exceed 50 Megabytes in size.
  4. Processing of documents may take a couple of minutes.
  5. Only available in countries where Google Play Books is available.

How it works

The process itself is pretty simply. Head over to the uploads section on Google Play Books and click on the upload files button there to get started. An overlay is displayed to you here that you can use to upload files from your local system or Google Drive.

google play books upload

The books and documents you upload become available under My Books and the Uploads category. You can access them just like any other book that you have purchased using the service.

A tap on a title opens it on the screen so that you can start reading or continue where you left off the last time.

Tip: Project Gutenberg, the free book repository has recently integrated direct Google Drive uploads to its service. While you need to allow the feature the first time you use it, you can use it to quickly move ebooks from the repository to Google Drive, and from there on to Google Books.

To access the books on your mobile device, you need to use the Google Play Books app. It should come preinstalled on most Android devices. Just run it and check out your library or the recent document listing to access the books you have uploaded.

google play books android

Existing Google Play Books users will surely appreciate the new upload option even though it is somewhat limited in terms of supported formats. Popular formats such as cbz or cbr are not supported, and if you have bought books from stores that add DRM to them, you can't upload them either unless you remove the DRM first from them.

The Android app and the website the books are displayed on feels bare bones. You can't for instance switch to a list view that only displays titles bu no covers. At the very least, I'd like to see an option to pick custom covers if none is available (most Project Gutenberg books do not support covers).

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Comments

  1. VioletMoon said on August 16, 2023 at 5:33 pm
    Reply

    “Do you use Google Photos?”

    I do; I find it impossible not to use Google Photos on the Android phone; nevertheless, the “memory” feature is sort of neat. I’ve seen photos from a couple of years ago that that offer glimpses into the long-ago, forgotten past. It’s a lot like reviewing journal writing. “What was I doing and such and such a date?”

    And, I think, when the “memories” are sorted and positioned, one can create a mini-collage with up to eight photos.

    It’s so much easier to share photos with people rather than journal entries.

    Nifty!

  2. John G. said on August 16, 2023 at 8:57 pm
    Reply

    I delete the photos after 1 month of being taken. All of them are erased to return to the black and silent nothingness. Only the best ones are printed and placed in a very nice site at home. :]

  3. Tachy said on August 19, 2023 at 5:15 pm
    Reply

    In reply to “https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/19/google-keep-is-getting-a-version-history-but-only-on-the-web/” since the website has gone insane and no one can know where thier comment ends up.

    This app should be called “Google Keeps it”. Because, they do.

    I use Color Notes. No syncing, no internet, just local.

  4. said on August 22, 2023 at 3:19 pm
    Reply

    The article said: “[…] positive outcomes of genocide…”. Perhaps the AI was actually discussing the benefits of reading a “Scroll of genocide” … “You feel dead inside.”.

    Martin, this post reply is supposed to belong: [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/22/googles-ai-search-generates-horribly-misleading-answers/] (given the the database is faulty it could appear anywhere or nowhere).

  5. John said on August 22, 2023 at 3:46 pm
    Reply

    I have yet to be impressed with AI of any kind. I think it’s overhyped and not ready to live up to it.

  6. Seeprime said on August 22, 2023 at 8:36 pm
    Reply

    How to use AI: Avoid the artificial stupidity at all times.

  7. Richard Steven Hack said on August 23, 2023 at 3:54 am
    Reply

    “When searched “Why guns are good,” it also prompted questionable responses, including potentially questionable statistics and reasoning. ”

    Based on whose reasoning? These sorts of assertions are generally bullcrap intended to advance an agenda. If you don’t like guns, say so. Meanwhile, there are 400 million firearms in the US owned by close to a third of the population and around 20 million carry concealed.

    So your opinion is not shared by a LOT of people who either enjoy firearm spots or are concerned about self-defense or both.

  8. gogo said on August 23, 2023 at 5:12 am
    Reply

    goog = skynet
    “human beings” = \slaves\

  9. no said on August 23, 2023 at 3:51 pm
    Reply

    This info is so NOT correct.
    I so do not want google in my life that I have NEVER downloaded chrome and I do NOT have ANY google accounts.
    My browser is set to clear all cookies, cache and history every time I close it, which is every day, and I still get these world takeover login prompts on every site I go to.
    So I CANT go to google accounts and turn it off.
    If this info were truly accurate I wouldnt be getting these pop ups AT ALL.

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