Read books with Adobe DRM
The digital books from Bol.com, Kobo and other providers are protected with Adobe DRM, which stands for (Digital Rights Management). You cannot simply read these books in the Books app on the iPhone, but will have to install a special app for this. One of the options is the Bluefire Reader, which can easily open files with Adobe DRM to read the books. In addition, there is Adobe’s own app, called Adobe Digital Editions. If you bought your ebooks from Bol.com, you can also read them in the Bol.com Kobo app.
- Adobe Digital Editions
- Use other apps
- Add books
Adobe Digital Editions for books with Adobe DRM
The Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) app is for reading all your books that are protected with Adobe DRM. This may also involve books that you have borrowed from the public library and that work with ADE. The app is available for the iPad, Mac and Windows PC. It also allows you to read ePub and PDF books both online and offline. The app includes a night mode, different views and the ability to display interactive functions, videos and more.
You can create an account and add books in the app. Adobe verifies the license and then downloads an ePub or PDF of the book. Then you can start reading.
Read Adobe DRM books with other apps
There are even more apps that allow you to read books with Adobe DRM, including the Bol.com Kobo app and the Bluefire Reader. Which app you like best is a matter of personal preference. Some apps have more display options, different fonts and more synchronization options.
Add books with Adobe DRM to an app
Adding books to the app of your choice is easy. This is how it works via iCloud Drive:
- Make sure iCloud Drive is turned on on your computer and iPhone/iPad.
- Open iCloud Drive in Finder on Mac or go to iCloud Drive via the website.
- Drag the books to a location of your choice in iCloud Drive.
- Now open the Files app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Find the location of your books and open them one by one in the app of your choice.
There are even more ways to add books with Adobe DRM to an app. We discuss two alternative ways below, via email and Finder/iTunes.
Add via email:
By emailing yourself, you don’t have to log into iCloud. That is how it works:
- Send an email to yourself with the book as an attachment.
- Open the message in your mail application on your iPhone.
- Press the file and you’ll be presented with a list of apps that support the ePub format, for example Stanza, Bluefire Reader or Kobo.
- Choose the app you want and the book will open immediately.
Add via Finder or iTunes:
If you prefer to transfer your books without emailing or logging in anywhere, you can use Finder for Mac or iTunes for Windows. That’s how you do that:
- Make sure you have the books you want to read on your computer.
- Connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac and launch Finder (For Windows: open iTunes).
- Open your iPhone or iPad’s page and click the Files tab.
- Choose Bluefire Reader (or another app) and you’ll see a window for your files on the right.
- Drag the books into this window.
- Click Sync to put the books on your iPhone or iPad.
If you use Apple’s Books app, you can also set reading goals for books. This way you can motivate yourself to spend a certain amount of time per day reading.
