Amazon updates Kindle app for those who still prefer to read on their phone
Amazon would obviously love to sell you a dedicated eBook reader, be it an entry-level $49.99 Kindle, the pricey and waterproof $249.99 Kindle Oasis the company recently introduced, or models in between.
Still, many of you are content reading Kindle eBooks on your smartphone.
Aside from cost, your phone is always with you and the displays on many of them are perfectly adequate for immersing yourself in a best seller.
On Tuesday, Amazon redesigned the free Kindle app for iOS and Android, with larger book covers, newer fonts, a lighter backdrop and what Amazon says will be a more seamless experience switching back and forth from the book you are reading to your library of books.
There’s also a strong emphasis on social media.
A tab for Goodreads is now built directly into the iOS app — it’s coming later for Android — so you can follow friends and other bookworms to hold discussions, get recommendations on what to read, and share your own suggestions.
Owned by Amazon, Goodreads is a global community of readers, with more than 65 million members.
If you come across a book that intrigues you, you can add it to a “Want to Read” list.
Alas, iPhone owners still won’t be able to buy Kindle books directly through the app, having instead to purchase the eBooks from Amazon.com via the Safari app on the phone.
You can read a sample through the app, but switching to Safari is a minor nuisance. Apple has an incentive to direct you to its own iBooks app instead.
Android owners, on the other hand, can buy books directly through the Kindle app on their phones.
Larger covers, lighter backdrop among changes