Adobe Digital Editions is a standalone app for PCs and Macs that allows users to load protected e-books with Digital Rights Management (DRM). People use this program to buy e-books from other retailers that sell them in EPUB or PDF format, borrow them from the public library, and then load them on their e-readers to read.
Adobe Digital Editions is very easy to use. Once downloaded for free from the Adobe website, register an account and enter your user details. The books purchased from other retailers must be downloaded to your computer and imported into the app. Once this is done, connect your e-reader via USB cable to the computer, begin the export, and load it on your e-reader. There is a comprehensive user guide with step by step instructions on the Kobo website.
So, the question remains, what e-readers support Adobe Digital Editions for loading in DRM EPUB or PDF files?
Barnes and Noble
The Nook line of e-readers runs the Android OS and is fully compatible with Adobe. Users can easily purchase EPUB books and use Adobe Digital Editions to load in books. Only the supported models currently work and the retired ones do not. If you have a Nook purchased after 2016, you should be able to use Adobe. This includes NOOK GlowLight Plus 7.8, NOOK GlowLight 4, NOOK GlowLight 4e and NOOK GlowLight 4 Plus.
The Nook tablets do not need Adobe, since you can use Google Play to download any app where you would have purchased books, such as Google Books, Kobo, etc. You can also download the Libby, Hoopa, or another library app.
Rakuten Kobo
Kobo is one of the most popular brands in the world, and they do not discontinue many of their e-readers from support or firmware updates. They might not sell the old ones anymore, but almost every one of their e-readers, past or present, supports Adobe Digital Editions. Kobo might not advertise that you can buy e-books from other retailers and load them onto the device, but it can be done.
Kobo is one of the only e-reader brands on the market with built-in support for Overdrive. Most public libraries worldwide use Overdrive to power their digital collections of audiobooks and e-books. You can attach your library card number and four-digit code to your Kobo via the settings menu, and your local branch will appear in the top navigation bar. You can browse, borrow, and automatically return the book to the library after the loan period.
However, not all libraries do business with Overdrive. Some use Hoopla or Cloud Library. You would need to use Adobe Digital Editions for this type of content.
Pocketbook
Most Pocketbook e-readers are compatible with Adobe Digital Editions, including almost every e-reader they have ever made. Linux is their operating system, but a few of their newer Android models have note-taking functionality. These are white-labeled from Bigme, so I am unsure if they are supported. Considering Bigme does not pay for the Adobe Content Server fees, I am leaning towards not.
Pocketbook has a cloud app that helps deliver e-books from Overdrive Libby. Here’s how: Log in to your Library card on Libby and Browse and borrow a book from your library using the Libby app or website. On the Libby app, borrowed book tab, click “Manage Loan” and click “READ WITH..”, select “Download EPUB (DRM – .acsm file )” > upload that .acsm file to your PocketBook Cloud, Dropbox cloud or send-to-device by email, and Sync your PocketBook device, and enjoy. However, you must be registered with Adobe Digital Editions on the Pocketbook. You can also use the Pocketbook Browser on the e-reader to do this, here is a tutorial.
Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle does not support Adobe DRM, so loading content purchased from another bookstore is impossible. Amazon wants you to buy e-books directly through them. However, residents in the United States can load books borrowed from Overdrive.
Overdrive supports Send to Kindle to deliver books right to the e-reader. This must be done with an internet browser on a computer or the browser built exclusively for the Kindle. This is something most people are unaware of, but it is possible.
Fire Tablets have better support for protected content, but most popular third-party bookstores are not on the Amazon App Store. The only apps are like Libby, Hoopla, and Cloud Library. Other bookstores, like Nook or Kobo for Android, have to be sideloaded on the Fire tablet, which is easy to do, but keeping the apps updated is a lot of work.
Wrap Up
Adobe does have a website with supported e-reader models, but it was last updated in 2021. It is so old, that many Sony e-readers still say they work with Adobe Digital Editions, but they have been discontinued for almost a decade. Most of the other brands on the list have been bankrupt for over 5-10 years, or the brand was sold to other companies, and it is not clear if their models support it or not.
Certain Tolino models support Adobe Digital Editions and Onleihe. Their app also does not have support for Adobe. It is unclear what models support Adobe DRM, since their site has conflicting information. Tolino supports almost every major e-book store in Germany and most public libraries in Europe. So, loading in content from other bookstores is almost irrelevant.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
