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Kindle for iOS Updated With Syncing and Navigation Improvements

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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Amazon today updated its Kindle for iOS app to version 4.4, adding several features that have been requested by Amazon customers to make both sync and navigation within the app easier.

Books will now sync to the most recent page read across all Kindle devices and Kindle apps that are registered to a single Amazon account, making it easier for users to swap between various Kindle devices. A feature in the navigation menu continues to allow customers to manually sync to the furthest page read if desired.

Kindle Placeholders have also been implemented, letting customers jump to different areas of a book without losing their current reading spot, and it's also possible for students to export notes, highlights, and more from "Print Replica" textbooks.

Kindle for iOS has also gained Wikipedia Smart Lookup, letting readers select a word and get more information from Wikipedia
Kindle for iOS Version 4.4 provides several customer-requested features that make sync and navigation easier.

Sync to the most recent page read - Any books you are reading on Kindle for iOS will now sync to the most recent page read across all Kindle devices and/or reading apps registered to your Amazon account. Customers can still manually sync to the furthest page read from the left navigation menu.

Kindle Placeholders - Allow customers the freedom to explore other areas of the book without losing their current place. Jump directly to previous locations with "placeholders" on the progress bar.

Notes Export - Studying for the next exam or writing the next term paper just got easier. Students can now export notes, highlights, and more to e-mail from their "Print Replica" textbooks, giving students easy access to their information.

Wikipedia Smart Lookup - Select a word and learn more from Wikipedia in the Info Card at the bottom of the page.

Performance and stability improvements.
Click to expand...
Kindle for iOS can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Kindle for iOS Updated With Syncing and Navigation Improvements
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/07/29/kindle-syncing-navigation-improvements/
R

r-m

macrumors 6502a
May 7, 2010
597
46
MacRumors said:
Sync to the most recent page read - Any books you are reading on Kindle for iOS will now sync to the most recent page read across all Kindle devices and/or reading apps registered to your Amazon account. Customers can still manually sync to the furthest page read from the left navigation menu.
Click to expand...

Not quite sure I understand that one. It already does this?

If I'm reading on my Paperwhite, and later open that book on my iPhone on the Kindle for iOS app, my iPhone would pop up saying "You're not at the furthest page read, furthest page is xx and you're currently at x (and time, date, device of the sync), do you want to go there now?" but not in those exact words..

Now, after the update, I don't get that pop-up and it doesn't jump to the furthest page read.
I'm having to go to the menu (those 3 stacked lines) and tap Sync then get the pop-up. That button used to be on the overlay whilst reading a book too, but isn't any more.
 
M

milo

macrumors 604
Sep 23, 2003
6,891
523
r-m said:
Not quite sure I understand that one. It already does this?
Click to expand...

That's what I thought when I first read it, but now it syncs to the most recent page read, not the furthest. Which is nice since once you've read a book and go back to read it again, the furthest page read is always going to be the end but on subsequent reads you will be in the middle. I used to have to clear the furthest page read to get it to work, this is a nice improvement.

If you're reading a book for the first time, the most recent page and the furthest page should be the same.
 
R

r-m

macrumors 6502a
May 7, 2010
597
46
milo said:
That's what I thought when I first read it, but now it syncs to the most recent page read, not the furthest. Which is nice since once you've read a book and go back to read it again, the furthest page read is always going to be the end but on subsequent reads you will be in the middle. I used to have to clear the furthest page read to get it to work, this is a nice improvement.

If you're reading a book for the first time, the most recent page and the furthest page should be the same.
Click to expand...

Oohhhhh, yeah that makes sense! I like that.

Thanks for the clarification :)
 
adamw

adamw

macrumors 6502a
Sep 22, 2006
751
1,826
An update for Kindle for iOS is good to see. Now if they would update the Mac Kindle app more frequently with features that would be great.
 
delnerdo

delnerdo

macrumors member
Nov 16, 2011
77
78
I still prefer reading books. On paper. From the library. Remember those? They are free. And Amazon can't track you.
 
A

Amplelink

macrumors 6502a
Oct 8, 2012
934
392
Kindle is still far and away the best ereader app out there in addition to Marvin. Love how they keep on coming with these updates.
 
M

milo

macrumors 604
Sep 23, 2003
6,891
523
delnerdo said:
I still prefer reading books. On paper. From the library. Remember those? They are free. And Amazon can't track you.
Click to expand...

Paper is nice but digital has its advantages. Most of my recent reading has been library ebooks. I can check them out from home, no more overdue fines since they just expire instead of needing to be returned. I can read them at any time since they are also on my phone instead of having to carry a book with me everywhere. Much more portable, especially for bigger, heavier books, or multiple books. Other family members can read the same book at the same time, on another device. And searchable as well as having a built in dictionary for any words I don't know.

The library ones are free as well. And libraries can track just as much as Amazon can. Or any bookstore where you don't pay cash. Or any other company selling things for that matter, if you pay with anything other than cash.

But traditional books are still nice, library or otherwise, even though I don't read much on paper any more.
 
delnerdo

delnerdo

macrumors member
Nov 16, 2011
77
78
Time to do something about overreach by those nosy snooping librarians. I suppose they can also remotely activate the microphone and camera on my iDevices to watch me popping Skittles in the reading carrel.
 
pdaholic

pdaholic

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2011
1,843
2,550
Jessica Lares said:
Yeah, I didn't get the new syncing feature at first, but it makes a lot of sense if you're going back and forth through something.
Click to expand...

Can't tell you how much I agree here. Amazon equivalents are usually cheaper than iBooks, but I still purchase the latter because of the scrolling aspect. Amazon knows we want it, why won't they implement it?!?
 
Jessica Lares

Jessica Lares

macrumors G3
Oct 31, 2009
9,612
1,056
Near Dallas, Texas, USA
pdaholic said:
Can't tell you how much I agree here. Amazon equivalents are usually cheaper than iBooks, but I still purchase the latter because of the scrolling aspect. Amazon knows we want it, why won't they implement it?!?
Click to expand...

Oh, are you talking about the fact that iBooks has scrolling and the Kindle app doesn't? See, I don't understand why people want that except it feels like a webpage.
 
pdaholic

pdaholic

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2011
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Lol my bad, I think I quoted the wrong person. And vertical scrolling is easier in the eyes, at least it is for me.
 
Parasprite

Parasprite

macrumors 68000
Mar 5, 2013
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Jessica Lares said:
Oh, are you talking about the fact that iBooks has scrolling and the Kindle app doesn't? See, I don't understand why people want that except it feels like a webpage.
Click to expand...

I always feel like I'm going to reach the end and in large letters it will say "Try RISK FREE for 30 days!" or some such nonsense.

----------
pdaholic said:
Lol my bad, I think I quoted the wrong person. And vertical scrolling is easier in the eyes, at least it is for me.
Click to expand...

I just don't like when it is a single page and I'm never sure if I accidentally moved more than one page or not. It's a bit harder to do that with two pages side by side or verticals scrolling (unless your cat sits on it or something).
 
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