Amazon Updates Kindle for iOS App With New Design and Goodreads Integration

[MacRumors]

Amazon today announced an all-new version of its Kindle iOS app, which has been redesigned to provide streamlined access to some of Kindle's most popular features. The company said this will let users more easily move between pages of a book, access their library and the bookstore, and more. Amazon has also built Goodreads into the iOS app for the first time, similar to the implementation its e-readers have seen over the years.

Details of the new design include larger book covers, new fonts, a new app icon, and a new light background theme to go with the existing dark option. The new bottom bar navigation allows one-tap access to the book you're currently reading, as well as tabs for Home, Library, Store, and more options. There's also now a search bar available throughout the app, allowing for instant searches of your library or the Kindle Store.

"We've built the new Kindle app from the ground up for book lovers, giving readers easy access to everything they might want to do with their books, all in one place," said Chuck Moore, Vice President, Kindle. "It's now easier than ever to turn your phone or tablet into a book and immerse yourself in an author's world at any time."

iOS users will also be able to sign into their Goodreads accounts to discuss books and get recommendations from fellow readers, thanks to integration with the social network built directly into the app. Amazon owns Goodreads, and has added functionality for the reader-based social network into a few of its Kindle devices since it purchased the company in 2013.

Goodreads features in Kindle for iOS include a Community tab to stay up-to-date with what friends are reading, as well as suggestions for people to follow who have similar tastes in books. You can post notes and highlights from the book you're currently reading so friends can comment, share when you start and finish a book, rate books, and more abilities taken from Goodreads' social network features.

Goodreads will be available in the Kindle app only on iOS for users in the United States, and will expand to Kindle for Android in a future update. The Kindle app is available to download for free from the iOS App Store [Direct Link], and the new update is rolling out in the App Store beginning today.

Article Link: Amazon Updates Kindle for iOS App With New Design and Goodreads Integration

 

[powaking]

Um where is the home button? Is that the 2018 iPhone 8s?

 

[canadianreader]

I like the new version

 

[Apple blogger]

Okay, I have an iPad/iPhone, and this app, why do I need a kindle?

Kindle has no colours, kindle has no apps...

 

[Colman R]

Still no split screen support on iPad, which is the only update that would matter.

 

[EdT]

Okay, I have an iPad/iPhone, and this app, why do I need a kindle?

Kindle has no colours, kindle has no apps...

Kindle used to have games you could download. My wife still plays a couple on her old Kindle.

 

[7thson]

Amazon today announced an all-new version of its Kindle iOS app, which has been redesigned to provide streamlined access to some of Kindle's most popular features. The company said this will let users more easily move between pages of a book, access their library and the bookstore, and more. Amazon has also built Goodreads into the iOS app for the first time, similar to the implementation its e-readers have seen over the years.

Details of the new design include larger book covers, new fonts, a new app icon, and a new light background theme to go with the existing dark option. The new bottom bar navigation allows one-tap access to the book you're currently reading, as well as tabs for Home, Library, Store, and more options. There's also now a search bar available throughout the app, allowing for instant searches of your library or the Kindle Store.

iOS users will also be able to sign into their Goodreads accounts to discuss books and get recommendations from fellow readers, thanks to integration with the social network built directly into the app. Amazon owns Goodreads, and has added functionality for the reader-based social network into a few of its Kindle devices since it purchased the company in 2013.

Goodreads features in Kindle for iOS include a Community tab to stay up-to-date with what friends are reading, as well as suggestions for people to follow who have similar tastes in books. You can post notes and highlights from the book you're currently reading so friends can comment, share when you start and finish a book, rate books, and more abilities taken from Goodreads' social network features.

Goodreads will be available in the Kindle app only on iOS for users in the United States, and will expand to Kindle for Android in a future update. The Kindle app is available to download for free from the iOS App Store [Direct Link], and the new update is rolling out in the App Store beginning today.

Article Link: Amazon Updates Kindle for iOS App With New Design and Goodreads Integration

I was hoping they would add scrolling to the option menu. Also, has anyone experienced that Amazon apps and website don’t function with a VPN? Losing interest in their services.

 

[RobinInOR]

So why the heck does it still not support split screen. Makes it hard to use on a 12.9

 

[dearfriendx]

I was hoping they would add scrolling to the option menu. Also, has anyone experienced that Amazon apps and website don’t function with a VPN? Losing interest in their services.

I always use a VPN on all my devices. Never experienced trouble with Amazon, Audible, Kindle etc

 

[Brenster]

Front page design reminds me of the Audible app, with the current book forming a 'home' button at the bottom centre of the screen. The reading experience once in the book isn't fundamental changed, which is good.

My Paperwhite 3 is my primary ereader but also use my iPad Pro or Phone in a pinch when out and about and have a few mins to kill.

 

[npmacuser5]

Okay, I have an iPad/iPhone, and this app, why do I need a kindle?

Kindle has no colours, kindle has no apps...

True to a point. Reading on an iPad, more eye strain, outside reading, Kindle lighter weight, reading fonts, just an overall enhanced reading experience on the Kindle. Especially for those readers who are more then casual readers. I use both, prefer the Kindle.

 

[OS-SEX]

Great, now where the hell is the prime video app?!

 

[Hodar1]

Yet another Kindle update; and yet no Amazon Video on AppleTV. Wasn’t this promised “soon” with “soon” being a month ago?

Hello, Bezos? You do not mind taking my Prime payments for the past 5 years, I would appreciate you delivering on the promise YOU made, of your own free will.

 

[Loge]

So, does this have support for the 10.5 inch iPad without scaling?

 

[C DM]

Great, now where the hell is the prime video app?!

In the App Store?

 

[Defthand]

Digital books, in general, haven’t proven superior. Visionaries imagined interactive textbooks but the genre never flourished. As for literature, or longreads, the digital experience is soulless. Paper and ink are more sensory. It’s comparable to looking at an image of coffee versus sipping the real thing.

I own reference books in the ebook format. I found the medium to be convenient. Yet, I can skim an actual book faster, and find needed content faster than with the digital variety. And don’t get me started about the sh**y so-called responsive layout of digital books. The typography is crude and images and callouts never align with the text.

 

[rhett7660]

I love my Kindle. Like others have mentioned it isn't the be all end all. For my graphic novels and comic books I like the real thing. But for my casual reading, I almost exclusively use my Kindle. I do some of my study work on the Kindle also, but for researching and finding content within a book fast, aside from a specific word, having the physical book to skim through is a lot faster.

Hands down for me though, reading books, the Kindle is my go to device. I do like the fact I can also read on my iPhone, iPad, or Computer both Mac and Windows and have it sync across all my devices. That is nice.

 

[artfossil]

True to a point. Reading on an iPad, more eye strain, outside reading, Kindle lighter weight, reading fonts, just an overall enhanced reading experience on the Kindle. Especially for those readers who are more then casual readers. I use both, prefer the Kindle.

Plus, for reading outdoors, nothing beats a Kindle. It's perfect on the beach! It's also my preferred device for travel. I read studio books with color photos on my iPad but for other books, reading on the Kindle is much easier on my eyes. Plus the battery lasts a long time.

For nonfiction books, I especially value the ability to make highlights and to have those archived and retrievable online. That's much faster than the old "underline and then type out method" that used to take me hours.

As for literature, or longreads, the digital experience is soulless. Paper and ink are more sensory. It’s comparable to looking at an image of coffee versus sipping the real thing.

Speak for yourself. I get plenty of soulful/sensory experience with digital books, plus they fit better with my nomadic and small-space lifestyle than dead tree books.

 

[RMo]

Okay, I have an iPad/iPhone, and this app, why do I need a kindle?

Kindle has no colours, kindle has no apps...

The Kindle is exactly what this article isn't talking about, but since you asked: I also have an iOS device with the Kindle app, but I still own a Kindle e-reader. The reason is simple, and it's the screen. You can complain about the lack of colors (though very expensive screens do exist like this now, I've read), but the e-ink screen makes for a far more paper-like reading experience than an LCD. An LCD is backlit (with LEDs in the case of iOS devices), where as e-ink relies on ambient light (or an on-screen light on high-end Kindles) to illuminate the screen. This makes it great for reading outside, but many people also find it less straining to read inside. It also lets the battery last days or weeks.

If you're happy with the app, that's fine; people who read a lot often prefer the separate device for the above reasons. It's one of the reasons I wouldn't buy a Fire tablet for the primary purpose of reading--and perhaps why Amazon dropped "Kindle" from the name of this product line.

 

[RedTomato]

I got a Kindle paperwhite a long time ago, and ended up never using it. Something about the blue white glare of the screen and the graininess of the screen texture rubbed me up the wrong way. Also the flashing between pages bugged me. I could never get it set up just right - the brightness always seemed wrong, the font the wrong size etc.

I ended up doing a hell of a lot of reading on my iPhone 5S - the Retina screen seemed a lot better for me (and short sighted me could read it very easily without my glasses). Then I realised I wasn't really absorbing a lot of what I was reading. I'm now moving back to paper books - I was shocked to find I'd lost the ability to read longform on a book. It's been a long slow journey back to reading actual physical books, but I find they exercise my mind better, and I engage with the book more when it's on paper.

Another benefit is when I was reading late at night on the phone in bed, often I'd move on to scanning various websites and end up not getting to sleep until 2am. Now I've banned my phone from my bedroom - it charges in the living room each night, not next to my bed. With paper books, when I get too tired to hold it up, I just put it down and go to sleep - there's nothing else to distract me from sleeping or keep my mind buzzing till 2 am.

 

[SteveW928]

What in the world is up with these companies and nasty UIs? Don't they have any graphic designers and UI/UX people?

 

[Perene]

They still haven't fixed the hyperlinks bug. Damn...

This is the bug I am talking about (that was only introduced a while ago - in old versions it was not there):

- Upload a MOBI or any allowed file extension to the Amazon cloud.
- Open the ebook and go to table of contents *.

* Let's assume this is located in page 11 and the ebook has 300 pages total.

In that table of contents we have 5 chapters. The hyperlink that redirects you to chapter 2 should go to page... 98 (for example).

When you click in said hyperkink you go to page 98. And if you switch to the previous (or next) page you will go to pages 97 or 99.

The problem is that once you click in that hyperlink (from the table of contents) that sent you to chapter 2 you're still seeing page 11 after that event.

This does not affect ebooks downloaded from Amazon. Only ALL ebooks we upload to the cloud. And it does not affect my Kindle Paperwhite, too. The hyperlinks are working there, from the ebooks we sent to the Amazon cloud.

I tried to report this to Amazon and explained patiently. They haven't done anything. Sadly this is still broken despite Amazon releasing a new Kindle app version for iOS every week.

 

[EdT]

Digital books, in general, haven’t proven superior. Visionaries imagined interactive textbooks but the genre never flourished. As for literature, or longreads, the digital experience is soulless. Paper and ink are more sensory. It’s comparable to looking at an image of coffee versus sipping the real thing.

I own reference books in the ebook format. I found the medium to be convenient. Yet, I can skim an actual book faster, and find needed content faster than with the digital variety. And don’t get me started about the sh**y so-called responsive layout of digital books. The typography is crude and images and callouts never align with the text.

You don’t own an ebook, companies can and have modified and removed ebooks without the Kindle owners consent -see Amazon and the “1984” & “Animal Farm” ebook deletions- and there isn’t a large price advantage between physically printed books and ebooks, which was supposed to be a big difference between physical and electronic media. Amazon is the largest source for ebooks, not quite a monopoly but close. Yes there are sites with public domain ebooks that you can convert and load into your Kindle, either the device or the app, but the quality is even worse than standard ebooks and it requires (admittedly simple) extra steps to acquire.

You can’t give an ebook to a friend or sell the ebook. Technically when you die the rights to that book do also, you can’t leave your library to anyone. Right now the only real advantage is the ability to travel with hundreds, and if you have access to the internet, millions of books in a small portable device.

I was initially buying ebooks but with the costs, map/pictures formatting problems and the legal restrictions imposed upon me for using ebooks I have gone back to buying physical books.

 

[SteveW928]

You don’t own an ebook, companies can and have modified and removed ebooks without the Kindle owners consent -see Amazon and the “1984” & “Animal Farm” ebook deletions- and there isn’t a large price advantage between physically printed books and ebooks, which was supposed to be a big difference between physical and electronic media. Amazon is the largest source for ebooks, not quite a monopoly but close. Yes there are sites with public domain ebooks that you can convert and load into your Kindle, either the device or the app, but the quality is even worse than standard ebooks and it requires (admittedly simple) extra steps to acquire.

You can’t give an ebook to a friend or sell the ebook. Technically when you die the rights to that book do also, you can’t leave your library to anyone. Right now the only real advantage is the ability to travel with hundreds, and if you have access to the internet, millions of books in a small portable device.

I was initially buying ebooks but with the costs, map/pictures formatting problems and the legal restrictions imposed upon me for using ebooks I have gone back to buying physical books.

Yea, I agree with you and the post you responded to. But, I also got sick of moving what had eventually become 6 floor-to-ceiling bookshelf of books each time we moved. Plus, in grad-school, it became quite handy to start buying digital versions to always have with me and to be able to copy/paste phrases or keep all the notes/highlighting together.

The downsides, though, are very real. I'm hoping some day there is a good solution, and until then, there are ways to strip the DRM from the important ones. We're now down to about 1.5-2 bookshelves and could probably eliminate some more. It's worth nothing, that now several years on from grad school, about 75% of the books we just donated and didn't replace with digital versions... as we'd probably never read them again. And, I doubt our kids would want them either (or, sometimes if they were some of the poor required reading for a course, maybe it's better if they didn't. Some, I hesitated about even donating, as maybe it's better if they go out of circulation!)

 

[EdT]

Yea, I agree with you and the post you responded to. But, I also got sick of moving what had eventually become 6 floor-to-ceiling bookshelf of books each time we moved. Plus, in grad-school, it became quite handy to start buying digital versions to always have with me and to be able to copy/paste phrases or keep all the notes/highlighting together.

The downsides, though, are very real. I'm hoping some day there is a good solution, and until then, there are ways to strip the DRM from the important ones. We're now down to about 1.5-2 bookshelves and could probably eliminate some more. It's worth nothing, that now several years on from grad school, about 75% of the books we just donated and didn't replace with digital versions... as we'd probably never read them again. And, I doubt our kids would want them either (or, sometimes if they were some of the poor required reading for a course, maybe it's better if they didn't. Some, I hesitated about even donating, as maybe it's better if they go out of circulation!)

The number of books was an original reason I started buying ebooks. I have 6 bookshelves full of books. Besides which my wife and me have an additional 30 boxes we’ve moved from place to place, at least at the last count. My current solution is, after reading, to sort the books. I tend to re-read books that I really like. Those go on the bookshelf. Books I’ve read, but don’t have an interest in re-reading go to a used book store, where I get some money back. Which leads back to one of my points. Ebooks that I’ve bought and never re-read sit in my cloud library, useless.