Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Further thoughts on the Kindle iPhone experience
It hasn't been a week since Amazon released the Kindle for iPhone app [App Store link] but the aftermath has been almost seismic. Kindle for iPhone has remained in the top ten free apps list since it was released. For a few days, it was number one. It looks like it was a good gamble for Amazon, and probably for Apple as no other smart phones (so far) have this app available. The Kindle for iPhone app also runs on the iPod touch.How is it to use? Actually, pretty darned good. Readability is high, and you can change the font size to your liking. Turning pages is just a matter of swiping your finger across the screen. A single touch gives you access to the table of contents of any book, and you can bookmark pages.
I liked the idea of the Kindle app so much, I actually broke down and bought the Kindle 2. The two devices interact, and you can have all your books on both devices. In fact, the iPhone Kindle app will come up on the same page you left off on the Kindle 2, or vice versa. I thought that would be an automatic function, but you have to tell each device to sync when you leave. Your mileage may vary, but that's what I am seeing.
Of course, even that rather cool function is a bit tricky with the iPhone, because its smaller screen can't display as many words as the Kindle 2 screen. Even though you are synced, you won't get a page that looks exactly the same. No big deal, though.
Read on for more...
Illustrations look pretty good, and you get color on the iPhone screen, while the Kindle 2 remains grayscale. I'd like to be able to zoom in on those images though, which is something I can do on the Kindle 2.
What are the other downsides of the Kindle for iPhone app? I'd like to be able to read in landscape view, but the app only supports portrait. The dictionary feature is missing. On the 'real' Kindle you can move the cursor to a word and get a dictionary definition.
Finally, there are no magazine or newspapers subscriptions available on the iPhone side. Even if you have those subscriptions on the Kindle 2, they won't show up on the iPhone. Rumors are that they are coming, but nothing yet.
Apple's App Store gatekeepers didn't have to approve this application. It is to their credit that they did, especially given some of Steve's prior comments about reading and the Kindle.
I expect the Kindle for iPhone app will sell a fair number of books for Amazon, and maybe even a few Kindles as well. If buying books is not your thing, this site has thousands of books already in Kindle format ready to download. There are also thousands of free books available for the other iPhone readers like Stanza and eReader. In fact, Stanza will now sell you books for money, and like Amazon they have several selections from the New York Times best seller list.
As the market opens up, more choices will appear. That's all for the good. A few years ago it would have been hard to conceive of reading Dostoyevsky on my cell phone, but it has come to pass. Imagine what the next 5 to 10 years will bring.
What are the other downsides of the Kindle for iPhone app? I'd like to be able to read in landscape view, but the app only supports portrait. The dictionary feature is missing. On the 'real' Kindle you can move the cursor to a word and get a dictionary definition.
Finally, there are no magazine or newspapers subscriptions available on the iPhone side. Even if you have those subscriptions on the Kindle 2, they won't show up on the iPhone. Rumors are that they are coming, but nothing yet.
Apple's App Store gatekeepers didn't have to approve this application. It is to their credit that they did, especially given some of Steve's prior comments about reading and the Kindle.
I expect the Kindle for iPhone app will sell a fair number of books for Amazon, and maybe even a few Kindles as well. If buying books is not your thing, this site has thousands of books already in Kindle format ready to download. There are also thousands of free books available for the other iPhone readers like Stanza and eReader. In fact, Stanza will now sell you books for money, and like Amazon they have several selections from the New York Times best seller list.
As the market opens up, more choices will appear. That's all for the good. A few years ago it would have been hard to conceive of reading Dostoyevsky on my cell phone, but it has come to pass. Imagine what the next 5 to 10 years will bring.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ed said 7:12AM on 3-11-2009
"Apple's App Store gatekeepers didn't have to approve this application. It is to their credit that they did, especially given some of Steve's prior comments about reading and the Kindle."
What excuse do they have for not approving it? I know they can block things with whatever excuse they want, but "reading books" is hardly against any of their conditions, and many of the first apps available were app versions of books...
What a strange thing to say.
Steve thinking 'people don't read anymore' hardly is an excuse for not allowing people to read if they want to... It's hyperbole to say that people don't read anymore - even if they don't actually read books, they certainly buy them - around 3 billion are sold in the US each year.
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JD said 1:20PM on 3-11-2009
Came over here to say the same thing. Amazing how TUAW unthinkingly accepts and endorses the idea of Steve Jobs's whims dictating what programs we can and can't run on our own phones. I'd understand if it was simple sycophancy, being positive when they need to to preserve their access to Apple, but it's clear from asides like this one that some of them really do believe that this dictatorial and capricious control is perfectly fine.
ill trooper said 3:34PM on 3-11-2009
"People don't read anymore."
Yeah, when I heard that Steve Jobs quote, I felt he was blurting out a quick assessment of why it's not a sound move for Apple to try to profit from that area with a product - that a tech object from Apple was not needed in that area, not literally that people don't read any more. "People" being the buying public en masse, and how they're not supporting the printed, published word as a mainstream media as much.
Obviously, people still read. Whoever took that clearly over-the-top quote at face value really missed the more subtle point: Jobs doesn't see a profitable venture for Apple into that area, that's all. He was speaking as a CEO, not the cultural prophet that he's sometimes considered.
As for the Kindle app, I think it's great. I had begun feeling a small bit of guilt about not carrying my Kindle with me all the time, even though I was only running out across town on 1-hour errands, with some time on the subways that I could have used for reading - but carrying that thing would have been excessive. Now I catch a few pages on my phone, and do the longer reading sessions on my Kindle later. The 'book' is now in the cloud - I love it.
VanillaSpice said 9:03PM on 3-11-2009
The reason it is a 'good' thing that Apple have approved this app, is because TUAW and just about every other blog has loudly stated that it is a 'bad' thing when Apple rejects an app.
Saying that it is bad when Apple rejects but that it is not good when Apple approves, is an untenable position. It does not make sense. What it actually says is that Apple does wrong no matter what they do - approve or reject, and like I said, that is untenable.
What I believe, and what I think some other people have concluded, is that it is neither a 'good thing' nor a 'bad thing' when Apple rejects an app, and so conversely it is neither a 'good thing' nor a 'bad thing' when Apple approves an app.
I wish the bloggers had come to this sensible conclusion rather than going on about the supposed evil of rejection, but they didn't and they are now bound by logic and fairness to say that approval is good, because they have taken the position that rejection is bad.
Ed said 3:59AM on 3-12-2009
Vanilla :That's like saying we should praise people who don't murder people, because we condem those who do...
Approving apps should be (and is) the norm, and hence deserves no praise.
Bob Montgomerie said 7:32AM on 3-11-2009
Unfortunately not yet available in the Canadian store :(
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docnilay said 7:29AM on 3-11-2009
I got the app, and have already bought two books from the Amazon Kindle store. I think its a great reading experience, and have had no trouble synchronizing new purchases while on the National Railways in the UK while on Holiday.
Overall, I think its a win for both companies, Apple and Amazon. I am only slight tempted to get a Kindle, but loathe having to carry multiple devices in my stuff. Once the Apple Kindle app allows you to get the "free content" which Kindle owners get (such as blogs), then there really won't be a reason, at least for me, to get a Kindle. I'm so used to watching movies on this small iPhone screen already, so reading books is easy enough.
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bhavesh patel said 4:39PM on 3-11-2009
can't you already get "free" content, such as blogs, on your iPhone for "free" using Safari? Why would you want to access them through your Kindle app?
Starfire said 8:18AM on 3-11-2009
I did not have a Kindle, couldn't get one, since I am in Germany. When the Kindle-App came out, I got one from my US iTunes account. Been using it ever since, already bought three books :) I like it, readability is pretty slick, and you don't have to bring a bulky book...
How do I get past the regional restrictions of amazon just selling certain books only in the US? Well, use your brains, I am not gonna disclose it here, but it works ;) Great app, recommendation goes out to everyone.
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Nico S said 3:50PM on 3-11-2009
I'd be interested to know how you (or anyone not living in the US) got an iTunes account in the US and how you are able to get apps to iPhone from there. I am in the UK and I get very very frustrated not to be able to use some apps only sold in the US.
As to regional restrictions from Amazon, I would be grateful for a clue.
If it involves jailbreaking my phone I will have to pass.
cubsfan61 said 7:42AM on 3-11-2009
The sync works automatically for me. No need to "tell it to sync" when you leave.
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Phil Palmieri said 7:48AM on 3-11-2009
I have a kindle 1, and i got the iphone app. at first i thought it was gimmicky, but i am using it more often than i thought i would. I used to carry my kindle everywhere, now i read from my phone in lines, or waiting in a store etc.
The experience is pretty good, but i would like to see a landscape mode - but definitly not a deal breaker. Also, Feedbooks, is an awsome free book source, you can subscribe to it and browse/download books right from your kindle.
Phil
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JeffQ said 10:28AM on 3-12-2009
If you download books to your kindle, are you able to get them to sync to your Iphone? I thought only the Amazon purchases would sync.
Dan Neuman said 8:01AM on 3-11-2009
What is the DRM like?
For the e-reader.com app, the book is tied to the credit card number that bought the book. If you change phones, or want to read on any computer or device, you just have to enter the right credit card number (and no calling a server).
This also means you can "lend" your e-book to anyone you trust with your credit card number.
This will definitely increase the number of books available electronically, I think. I still can't believe Harry Potter is not available because Rowlings was afraid it would be pirated. Ironically, the last several books were all pirated within a week of publication.
I don't read a lot at home, but it's pretty awesome to be able to get in a few pages whenever I've got some waiting to do. And I would never have a Kindle with me at those times.
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Rick Lobrecht said 8:12AM on 3-11-2009
The Kindle's DRM is tied to your Amazon.com account. You have to authorize the Kindle on your account. Apparently there is a limit as to how many devices can be authorized, but it is reasonably high.
I too like the eReader DRM scheme. I just hope I still like it after B&N actually takes the reins.
breadwild said 8:43AM on 3-11-2009
I like the app, the typeface is crisp and surprisingly easy to read. My biggest complaint is the justified type and the "rivers of white" as we designers call really bad justification. Only sophisticated desktop programs, like InDesign, can really weight the lines properly. I just wish I could turn off the justification and go with flush left, ragged right (which is actually easier to read). Minor detail, maybe.
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Geoff said 10:00AM on 3-11-2009
Notes is clunky, yes, but it's what my employer uses nationally. I need more than email: I need calendar, email, address book, tasks, and so on. I have to keep my BlackBerry for now because I especially need my calendar available. I not only need to read my calendar, but modify it. BES is the only way to go, for now, to do this. The other things I really want from iPhone are availability on CDMA-EvDO (Sprint) network and tethering (use as a wireless modem).
Geoff said 10:05AM on 3-11-2009
(Gah! 1Password filled that comment above in an submitted it for me -- oops!)
What I was going to says is that publishers can apparently turn on or off the justification, as not all titles seem to be fully justified. Perhaps in the future there'll be a setting to force left-justification.
danielsan9 said 11:46AM on 3-11-2009
I agree with you about the type not being able to flush left, rag right. Seriously, if you can't adjust the hyphenation or line spacing to be more readable, you should be able to do this. And I really don't like that there's only one font option, when the iPhone has many fonts available to it. I think that it's virtually unreadable at it's current text setting options. They should look at Classics for inspiration. The text in that app is way more readable.
I don't want to be all negative, so I do think that it's a great app otherwise, and the syncing worked very well for me with free chapter samples. Oh, and I got to download books that I designed (so maybe it's more personal for me).
CoreyJF said 11:25AM on 3-11-2009
So far I am very impressed. Sync works automatically and well for me. As soon as I open either the App or the Kindle I get a message telling me the time and section of other device and asking if I wish to go to the new page. I am sure it is very dependent on 3g coverage, fortunately the DC area has pretty good reception...
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