I can’t remember exactly how I first became aware of Oyster. I think it was a promoted tweet. (Note to self, perhaps those promoted tweets aren’t as much of a joke as I thought). Anyway, for those who don’t know, Oyster is being touted as “The Netflix for Ebooks”, meaning for a small monthly fee, you get unlimited access to all the titles they offer. In that way, the model is certainly quite similar to Netflix. And in other ways the service feels much like Netflix did in the early days. Disappointing gaps in the catalog of titles, the occasional smile at finding something you otherwise wouldn’t have found or something else long forgotten. In that respect, it can be a good discovery tool.

Once you’ve found a book you want to read, how is the actual reading experience? Well…it’s okay. I’ve seen worse and I’ve certainly seen better. At first I thought the page turning gesture of swiping up and down (versus left and right in most ereading apps) was just a gimmick, an attempt to be different. But, it does grow on you. Also the information on the bottom of the page if very helpful and unobtrusive. I love seeing how many pages I have left in the chapter. That is the most important number I need when reading. A single tap of the finger and I’ll get the number of minutes left to finish the chapter as well as a slider bar that also shows my current percentage of the way through the book.

I’m a believer in uncluttered interfaces and Oyster definitely meets that criterion. But I also like large, easy to read fonts that won’t strain my eyes and gentle color themes. I really hate bright white screens staring me in the face. Oyster sort of delivers here. There are a few preset themes to choose from, including a gentle sepia theme. The app also provides a few (few!) font sizes to choose from.

The app lacks a few other somewhat obvious features (or at least I couldn’t find them with after quick exploration). For one, reading list management is abysmal. I wanted to deleted a book from my watch list (queue), but couldn’t see how to do it. I also didn’t see how the social aspects worked, but I’ve been spoiled by the amazingly good Readmill app in that area. Folders, tags, and multiple lists would be very helpful.

Bottom line: nobody will confuse the current version of the Oyster app with the more full featured reading apps like Kindle or Readmill. But, the book selection isn’t bad and the app is already good enough. I’ll be keeping my subscription after the thirty day trial period.