Kindle

In 2007, the Kindle reader took the world by storm, swiftly becoming one of the most coveted items on Amazon. The Kindle e-reader gives users the flexibility of reading e-books from a comfortable book-size digital tablet. What made the Kindle reader so popular amongst readers was probably the Kindle marketplace. Amazon’s solution to a bookshop for e-books.

Wonderful as the hardware was, it became a bit of a drag to manage a phone, a tablet and a Kindle device. So, the creators returned to the drawing board and the app was launched. The Kindle app is available on Android and IOS devices and can be downloaded onto almost any device.

You can also click the links at the end of this article to download the Kindle app to your device.

The app allows readers to enjoy the same functionality as the e-reader on their mobile devices. It bears mentioning that the Kindle app can also be used on BlackBerry 10, Windows Phone, MacOS and Windows. If you prefer to read from your computer, you can use the Amazon cloud reader.

How does the Kindle app work

Although there are several versions and models of the Kindle e-reader, that is not what we’re focusing on here. This review is about the Kindle app; one that can be downloaded from iTunes, the Play Store and other app stores.

To access the Kindle app, go to any of the app stores on your phone and download it. The app is free to download and there is no paid version.

The app does come with some free books, but it mostly serves as a gateway to the Amazon Kindle store. If you have already bought a few books, you can import them to the app. The app has an e-reader with seamless functionality. Meaning that it’s really easy to use and navigate.

Main Features of the App

• Instant access to your Kindle books without buying the Kindle e-reader
• Available on multiple platforms including IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows and BlackBerry 10
• Search, buy and download books directly from the Amazon Kindle store
• The last read page can be automatically synced between devices
• Easily adjust the text size
• Read in different orientations

Are there any Kindle Alternatives?

Several e-book readers are similar to the Kindle app. While we can’t strictly say that they are alternatives to the app, they are worth exploring. Kobo is an e-reader that also has an app which is compatible with various devices. It offers a wide range of books although its selection is nowhere as large as the Kindle store.

Others include Google Play Books, Apple Books and Barnes and Noble Nook. These are all platforms which offer e-reader apps. Why we say they are not quite alternatives to the Kindle app is mostly because of the Amazon Kindle Store.

Amazon has sold over 400 million eBooks and is the largest seller in the world. Thus, some e-books are only available on Amazon. The Kindle app remains superior to other e-reader apps in this regard.

Requirements to download the app

There are frequent updates on the Kindle app, with the latest update in February 2024. With each update, the requirements seem to change. Thus, older versions of an operating system might no longer be compatible with the updated Kindle app.

Thus, the latest version of the Kindle app requires recent versions of:

• Apple iPads
• Apple iPhones
• MacOS
• Android
• BlackBerry

Our recommendations

If you are an avid reader of e-books and Amazon is your go-to bookstore, then we highly recommend the Kindle app. Also, you can use the app to read e-books on your device even if they are not from Amazon. Overall, it’s a decent app and it does exactly what it was designed to do.