Apple Adds Gifting to iBookstore

Apple has added the ability to gift ebooks to friends and family through the iBookstore, reports Macworld. Users have long been able to purchase songs, movies or TV shows through iTunes, as well as standard gift cards, but the ability to gift a particular book is new.

Books can be gifted immediately, or the gift email notification can be held for a particular date, making holiday shopping particularly easy. Apple added the ability to gift App Store apps back in 2010.

Gifting in the iBookstore works identically to Apple’s iTunes and App Store counterparts: Just choose the book you’d like to gift, then tap either the dropdown arrow next to the price (on a Mac) or the Share button (on an iOS device). On a Mac, select “Gift This Book”; on iOS, choose “Gift”—then add the recipient’s email, the sender’s name, a brief message, and the date you want it sent (now, or later). One note: On iOS, it looks like you have to tap the “Today” field under “Send Gift” in order to change to a different date.

Users can only purchase gifts for recipients using their same country store; there is no ability to gift books internationally.