Stories about us

…Subtext is a great way for consumers of e-books to talk online with other readers…The Discussions section of the app neatly organizes all social interactions in one place…[And] Subtext subtly notifies readers that notes exist: by showing a tiny thumbnail image of the user who posted the note in the margin of a book…

…One of the most ambitious independent social reading applications is Subtext. Built for the iPad and launched less than two months ago, Subtext offers all of the social reading elements with the added bonus of content from authors themselves. “I was very excited about this,” says Amy Stewart, author of “Wicked Plants” and “Wicked Bugs,” an L.A. Times bestseller. “As an author, I think a lot of us are thinking about iPad editions. We’re all asking ourselves, How could the book I’m writing be more than a book?”…

…As an eReader Subtext performs exceptionally well. Pages turn Flipboard style with a sharp, fluid animation. It is more lively than other apps which either have a boring slide to the next page or unsuccessfully try to copy the elaborate slow turn of iBooks. It also performs better than some of its rivals at functions like search. It has better in-book options such as the ability to highlight a word and search throughout the book; looking on Google or Wikipedia is also done through a smart popup window at the bottom of the page…

…The eBook reading experience is badly in need of a way to make its reading experience deeper and richer, while avoiding becoming the vast, horizontal ocean that, say, constitutes Wikipedia. I love context when I’m reading, and if there is author commentary to be found, I’m not above scouring the Web to find it. Subtext pulls in this kind of supplementary information automatically, providing reactions, commentary, etc. that doesn’t completely detract from the actual reading…

It was an interest in leveraging their backgrounds–hers in social media and his in social gaming–that inspired Palo Alto-based tech entrepreneurs Andrew Goldman and Rachel Thomas to try and come up with a way to make reading a truly interactive experience. The result is Subtext, a free iPad app that, as of today, is available in the Books section of the apps store. The app goes live with 18 titles and allows users to read books with notes and feedback provided from authors, as well as people in their online social circles.