Apple has finally added a long-overdue option of gifting books through its popular digital book library, iBookstore. The latest addition is just in time for the holiday season as users can gift more than just apps, music, movies and TV shows.
Apple, the world's most valuable brand, has joined the festive spirit making new introductions to its services. This time around, the tech giant is bringing a new option to gift best selling and popular titles through its vast digital library, iBookstore. Users can make the most of it by choosing a title and gifting it to their loved ones this holiday season with as little as few clicks.
The new feature, first spotted by Mac World, is identical to the gifting options currently available on Apple's iTunes and App Store since 2010. After selecting a favorite title, users must choose "Gift this Book" option from the dropdown menu next to the price tag. Apple iPhone or iPad users can find the option by tapping the "Share" button.
The best option in this new gifting feature in iBookstore is that users can schedule the delivery of the book for a specific date. This adds an element of surprise for users who would like to gift the title on a particular day. After choosing the date, users will need to update the recipient's email address, name and a brief 200-character personalized message. These functions add more value to a book, especially on festive occasions like Christmas.
The Cupertino-based tech giant only allows users to gift book titles to recipients from the same country, which is a downside for those who are willing to gift books to their friends and family settled abroad.
Apple is stepping up its competition with Amazon in the e-Book market. Amazon Kindle users have long enjoyed the benefit of gifting books through Amazon bookstore.
