You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Amazon has launched a Kindle Cloud Reader app, just two weeks after it, along with other e-booksellers, was forced to remove links to its Kindle store from its native app by Apple.
The company said the new tool could be used through Safari for iPad, Safari on desktops and Google Chrome browsers. Readers can access their e-books on or offline. The web app means customers can browse their Kindle books on the iPad and other devices and also make Amazon purchases from within the app.
Apple’s recently enforced app rules demanded that all links to purchase content readable in the app externally had to be removed, or replaced with an in-app buying option, which gave Apple a 30% cut of any purchase. Amazon's new app bypasses this since the application is available to download from its website and uses HTML5.
The Kindle Cloud Reader automatically synchronises users’ Kindle library as well as their last page read, bookmarks, notes and highlights made on e-books. Dorothy Nicholls, director at Amazon Kindle, said: “We are excited to take this leap forward in our 'Buy Once, Read Everywhere' mission and help customers access their library instantly from anywhere.
“The flexibility of HTML5 allows us to build one application that automatically adapts to the platform you're using - from Chrome to iOS. To make it easy and seamless to discover new books, we've added an integrated, touch optimized store directly into Cloud Reader, allowing customers one click access to a vast selection of books."