Kindle Cloud Reader is here
Feeling a bit annoyed by the recent changes to how Apple’s App Store guidelines are enforced? Clearly, Amazon is. They’ve now have an alternative Kindle option for iOS users interested in stepping away from the whole “downloaded app” situation. Readers can now load up the Kindle Cloud Reader in their internet browser and get on with their reading. No fuss or input from the device manufacturer required.
To get any use out of the new service as it stands right this minute, you’ll need to have either Google Chrome or Apple Safari installed on your system. While at the moment this locks out many non-iPad tablet users, it does have the pleasant side effect of opening up officially supported Kindle eBook access for Linux users. The browser is the only installed software required, though once inside you can enable book downloading for offline access to your library.
Get started by heading to https://read.amazon.com/ and following the prompts to log in and approve downloading. I’m making the assumption that you want to download your Kindle books since offline viewing is always a plus. iPad users can have up to 50MB worth of books cached, according to Amazon’s help page, and PC users probably don’t even have to worry about that. Once you’re logged in, you’ll see a familiar library browsing screen with sorting, resizing, different viewing styles, and everything one would expect in a Kindle app. You can open or download any of your Kindle titles from here. As they mention in a recent Washington Post article, the offline usefulness of this web-based technology is quite possibly the coolest thing about it, both in execution and future implications beyond the scope of this application. BlogKindle that has been specializing in "all things Kindle" has a slightly different take on Kindle Cloud Reader impact.
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