Where Does Google Play Books save my books? I can't find them!

Phoenix777 · Aug 8, 2016

Hello, Friends! I made a few purchases in Google Play Books app and have been reading my books via the app both ONline and OFFline - so I know the books have downloaded to my device ... somewhere! However, when I check My Files I cannot find my books anywhere. Anyone know where on the device does Google Play Books saves your downloaded books by default??

(Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook)

P.S. I'm NOT using any of the Nook apps and have them all turned off/disabled. I only use Google Play Books for reading, so I know it's not saving my books to my Nook apps. I can't for the life of me find my downloaded books in My Files.)

codesplice · Aug 8, 2016

When you download a book using the Play Books app, it stores the content in a special protected bit of storage only accessible by the app. You won't be able to just browse around and find the book sitting on your device somewhere.

Most books purchased through the Play Store do offer the ability to download them in a standard e-book format, but you'll have to do that through the web site: https://play.google.com/books

You can then click on the menu button on a desired title and (hopefully) find options to download it in a format that suits you:

Phoenix777 · Aug 9, 2016

codesplice said:
When you download a book using the Play Books app, it stores the content in a special protected bit of storage only accessible by the app. You won't be able to just browse around and find the book sitting on your device somewhere.

Most books purchased through the Play Store do offer the ability to download them in a standard e-book format, but you'll have to do that through the web site: https://play.google.com/books

You can then click on the menu button on a desired title and (hopefully) find options to download it in a format that suits you:
View attachment 108180

Thank you sooo much for your reply! One more question: What is the purpose of downloading the epub or pdf format of a book? Google Play Books obviously downloads (automatically) the book when you purchase it, and it also works for OFFline reading (I've tested it because at first I wasn't sure if the epub or pdf format was the only way to do offline reading, but it's not). I downloaded books from Google Play Books and just left them as is (I didn't download epub or pdf) ... and they read just fine offline with no internet connection. So I'm just wondering what is the reason for epub and pdf options?

Thanks again!

Dannydet · Aug 9, 2016

PDF can be viewed by any PDF viewer, not just play books

codesplice · Aug 9, 2016

Phoenix777 said:
Thank you sooo much for your reply! One more question: What is the purpose of downloading the epub or pdf format of a book? Google Play Books obviously downloads (automatically) the book when you purchase it, and it also works for OFFline reading (I've tested it because at first I wasn't sure if the epub or pdf format was the only way to do offline reading, but it's not). I downloaded books from Google Play Books and just left them as is (I didn't download epub or pdf) ... and they read just fine offline with no internet connection. So I'm just wondering what is the reason for epub and pdf options?

Thanks again!

Downloading in an established e-book format (rather than whatever magic it is that Play Books uses internally) means you could use another application or even device (Kindle) to read the books you've purchased. You're not locked in to Google's ecosystem there.

(On the other hand, you've got to jump through a bunch of fiery hoops if you want to read a purchased Kindle book on another device.)

Phoenix777 · Aug 9, 2016

codesplice said:
Downloading in an established e-book format (rather than whatever magic it is that Play Books uses internally) means you could use another application or even device (Kindle) to read the books you've purchased. You're not locked in to Google's ecosystem there.

(On the other hand, you've got to jump through a bunch of fiery hoops if you want to read a purchased Kindle book on another device.)

Thanks! Well, I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook - it's a full-featured tablet + Nook reader too. It came with Google Play (all the features including Play Books) and the Nook app. I chose to use Google Play for reading instead of Nook. I'm not sure why. lol I just wanted to read all my books offline so I don't have to connect to the internet every time I want to read...so I guess I don't need epub or pdf formats. At first, I thought you could only read via Google Play Books while connected to the internet...but this is not so. :thumbsupdroid:

codesplice · Aug 9, 2016

BTW, if you come upon any .pdf or .epub books you'd like to read in Google Play Books, you can upload/import them at the link I shared earlier.

I've used that for migrating my entire Kindle library over to Play Books (though the aforementioned flaming hoops to get out of Amazon's .azw format probably aren't suitable for discussion here).

Phoenix777 · Aug 9, 2016

codesplice said:
BTW, if you come upon any .pdf or .epub books you'd like to read in Google Play Books, you can upload/import them at the link I shared earlier.

I've used that for migrating my entire Kindle library over to Play Books (though the aforementioned flaming hoops to get out of Amazon's .azw format probably aren't suitable for discussion here).

MORE flaming hoops?? :batdroid:

LOL

Ok thank you. And what is a good site for finding/uploading epub or pdf books so I can put them on my Google Play Books?

codesplice · Aug 9, 2016

Phoenix777 said:
Ok thank you. And what is a good site for finding/uploading epub or pdf books so I can put them on my Google Play Books?

Project Gutenberg offers thousands of legally-free e-books. That's about the only place I can really recommend going to look for free ones.

Unforgiven · Aug 9, 2016

Smashwords is another great site for books both free and for short money. All content is there via the authors.

Phoenix777 · Aug 9, 2016

Thank you both so much! :thumbsupdroid:

svim · Aug 9, 2016

Both of these sites contain a lot of not just ebooks but audio and video that are all unencumbered and freely downloadable under either Open Source or Creative Commons licensing, or expired public-domain:
OpenCulture
http://www.openculture.com/free_ebooks
Archive.org
https://archive.org/details/texts

Phoenix777 · Aug 9, 2016

svim said:
Both of these sites contain a lot of not just ebooks but audio and video that are all unencumbered and freely downloadable under either Open Source or Creative Commons licensing, or expired public-domain:
OpenCulture
http://www.openculture.com/free_ebooks
Archive.org
https://archive.org/details/texts

Great thanks!

Phoenix777 · Aug 10, 2016

codesplice said:
Project Gutenberg offers thousands of legally-free e-books. That's about the only place I can really recommend going to look for free ones.

Now that I've searched the site, I have to ask...where is the stuff??? lol I've searched this site for a few very well-known authors and no books come up. Is this site like an independent author site only or something?

codesplice · Aug 10, 2016

Phoenix777 said:
Now that I've searched the site, I have to ask...where is the stuff??? lol I've searched this site for a few very well-known authors and no books come up. Is this site like an independent author site only or something?

I can't browse it at work, I'm afraid.

But you should be able to view the catalog at https://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/. I think?

svim · Aug 10, 2016

Phoenix777 said:
Now that I've searched the site, I have to ask...where is the stuff??? lol I've searched this site for a few very well-known authors and no books come up. Is this site like an independent author site only or something?

Project Gutenberg has a history that goes back over four decades as a source to preserve, archive, and make public all kinds of literary works. Actually, work from some of history's best and most reputable authors are on PG. If you were only looking for current publications, you'll most likely have to actually pay for them.

Phoenix777 · Aug 10, 2016

codesplice said:
I can't browse it at work, I'm afraid.

But you should be able to view the catalog at https://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/. I think?

I did that. For instance, they don't even have Stephen King in that link. Or in the search box. I mean come on - Stephen King?!?! LOL I don't recognize most of the authors on that site...maybe it's just for independent authors?

Phoenix777 · Aug 10, 2016

svim said:
Project Gutenberg has a history that goes back over four decades as a source to preserve, archive, and make public all kinds of literary works. Actually, work from some of history's best and most reputable authors are on PG. If you were only looking for current publications, you'll most likely have to actually pay for them.

See my post above this one. I don't mind paying...but most well-known authors are not even on that site.

codesplice · Aug 10, 2016

Phoenix777 said:
See my post above this one. I don't mind paying...but most well-known authors are not even on that site.

Yeah, as @svim hinted at, the whole point of Project Gutenberg is to preserve/archive literary works that are no longer under copyright.

Think of it as more a historical library rather than a store.

svim · Aug 10, 2016

Phoenix777 said:
See my post above this one. I don't mind paying...but most well-known authors are not even on that site.

We must agree to disagree, there's definitely a generational aspect here.

Phoenix777 · Aug 10, 2016

codesplice said:
Yeah, as @svim hinted at, the whole point of Project Gutenberg is to preserve/archive literary works that are no longer under copyright.

Think of it as more a historical library rather than a store.

Ah, I see. Ok, I was looking for my favorite authors ... I don't think they are on that site. lol But thank you!

Phoenix777 · Aug 10, 2016

svim said:
We must agree to disagree, there's definitely a generational aspect here.

Well, I'm in my 40's. But yeah, I'm looking for my favorite authors and they aren't on that site. But thanks anyway.

Where Does Google Play Books save my books? I can't find them!

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