Kindle for iPhone

In Amazon | 4 Stars | E-Readers

Summary

The good: Free; books are backed up on Amazon.com; convenient synchronization between iPhone and Kindle; Kindle not required to use this app.

The bad: Kindle edition periodicals, such as magazines, newspapers, and blogs are not available for viewing on iPhone; can't highlight a section or make notes.

The bottom line: Great e-reader whether you're a Kindle owner or not; 350,000 titles available from the Kindle Store, optimized for Safari on iPhone or iPod touch.

Price: Free

Reviewed on an: iPhone 3G

Version reviewed: 1.1

This Week In Ed Tech’s Review

by Buzz Garwood

Kindle for iPhone is a e-reader application for the iPhone (and iPod Touch) you can use, even if you don’t own a Kindle. When you launch the app for the first time, you are required to input your Amazon account information (e-mail address and Amazon password). If you don't have an Amazon account, you'll need to create one first, or the app won’t work because when you purchase books, you're buying them from Amazon. iPhone immediately checks Amazon for new items you have already purchased, and synchronizes. If you’ve bought ebooks for the Kindle in the past, these titles appear as "archived items." In my case, all three books I had purchased on my Kindle appeared on my iPhone, which was very nice.

To buy books, you just select the "Get Books" button on the top-right of the screen. At that moment, Mobile Safari is launched, and you are whisked away to the Kindle Store. It’s disappointing the whole experience can’t just stay within the app, but once you’re in the Kindle Store and begin browsing by category, you quickly forget how klunky it feels, and just find yourself looking for a good book. One book in particular, "Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know," caught my attention. Scrolling down the page, you’re given the option to buy with 1-Click. You then select which device you'd like the book to be sent to: Kindle (if you have one) or your iPhone. If you select iPhone, you’re promptly asked if would like to go back to the app OR if I would like to keep shopping. In any event, you can be reading your new book in under a minute. 

All purchases are archived on the Amazon's servers, so in the event you ever purchase a Kindle, or move to another iPhone, books will be available for download any time. You can also receive free book samples and read the first chapter, so you can try before you buy. Unfortunately, Kindle newspapers, magazines and blogs are not currently available on the iPhone or iPod touch.

The reading experience is less than ideal for long books because it’s annoying to flick the page from left to right so often. Most people turn the page every couple hundred words. Flicking every 50-75 words gets old fast. Another caveat is that the LCD screen can be hard on the eyes for extended periods of time. The iPhone's battery life isn't that long, especially if you're using your iPhone to do all it's core features. Ask yourself how much of “Moby Dick” you think you can squeeze in between texting, placing calls, checking email, and listening to music.

If you tap the middle of the screen, the Home button appears along the top the screen, which can take you back to a listing of all your books. Along the bottom of the screen, you can tap the an icon that looks like a book, and it takes you to a "go to" section. From there, you can tap to view the Cover, Table of Contents, Beginning, or go straight to a specific location. You can also get to your notes and bookmarks from there. Unfortunately, you can't actually annotate on the iPhone! You can only read notes and annotations you created on your Kindle (if you have one). Adding this feature should be a no brainer. Along the bottom of the screen, you can also tap the "font size" icon and select from five font sizes, and three text colors. At the bottom, there's a white/blue slider-like progress bar. Sliding it left to right can take you to any location. The accellerometer allows readers to choose between landscape and portrait mode, and then lock this preference by pressing a lock button. 

If you do own a Kindle, your iPhone becomes a terriffic Kindle companion. For example, automatic synchronization of your last page read between devices with Amazon Whispersync is a godsend. Just the other day, I went to the beach and realized I had left my Kindle at home. At first, I was disappointed because I was hoping to get some good reading in. Then I remembered that Kindle for IPhone includes Whispersync's data synchronization. I simply launched Kindle for iPhone, selected the book I'd been reading on my Kindle, and continued where I left off. When I got home that night, I picked up my Kindle and picked up right where I left off from the iPhone.