Amazon has updated their popular Kindle app for iOS, adding a new feature that’s sure to catch Apple’s attention: The ability to search Amazon’s library, download free e-book samples within the app, and email yourself a link to the book’s Amazon page in case you want to buy it later. This is a way around Apple’s restriction banning apps from directly linking to content stores other than Apple’s (in which Apple gets a 30% cut of all proceeds).
Previous versions of the app required you to leave the app and visit Amazon’s website to search for or buy books – and while Amazon’s latest update technically follows Apple’s rule by the “letter of the law,” it’s unlikely that Apple will simply look the other way as Amazon attempts to skirt their purchasing policies.
Other new features within the app are support for custom dictionaries, a quick reference summing up the various gestures supported in the app (particularly accessibility-related gestures for visually impaired user), faster loading of book covers, and a number of bug fixes.
From the release notes:
What’s New in Version 3.9
• Kindle Free Sample Search – From the existing Library Search, customers can now search Amazon’s catalog of millions of Kindle books and download free samples from within the app. New books are easier than ever to find.
• Bring Your Own Dictionary – Customers can now use previously purchased Dictionaries, such as medical, legal, or other translation references to define words in any of their other eBooks. Dictionaries downloaded to the device automatically appear in the selection list.
• Accessibility Quick Reference – Accessibility gestures for blind and visually impaired customers are included for quick reference and can be found under the FAQ section in settings. The guide has been translated for all supported languages.
• Instant Cover Loader – Book cover art displays quicker and more fluidly.
• Bug Fixes/Stability Improvements
The update is available now, as always, as a free download from the App Store.
- Kindle for iOS (Free, direct link)
