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It’s amazing how a single app can change the way we enjoy books. The Kindle app for iPad and iPhone has many unique features that make it the most versatile book reading environment.
You are reading: Can i read kindle books on my ipad
The reason is not just how the app is designed. It’s actually simpler and easier to use than other book reading apps.
the kindle app for apple mobile devices is so powerful and provides so much reading pleasure because it is the tip of the huge and highly advanced digital content ecosystem created by amazon.
Below, you’ll read about the app’s most useful features, accompanied by easy step-by-step guides.
The guide includes tips for eBook beginners, such as how to import kindle books from another device. she’ll also find more advanced — and lesser-known — features, including just the ability to save articles to read later or book discovery tools.
kindle app for ios: tips and tricks
import ebooks from your kindle
many users who consider to buy an apple tablet or smartphone ask a question: “how to put kindle books on my ipad and iphone?”
Are you afraid of spending hours trying to back up your kindle and then uploading all the ebooks directly to your ipad?
stay calm. you can make it happen in minutes, using the free kindle app.
how to put my kindle books on ipad and iphone
1. download the kindle app for ios
on your ipad or iphone, go to the app store – the app with all the apps available for ios (ios is an operating system of ipad and iphone).
use the search feature to find the kindle app. tap the “get” button and wait until the download is complete (see screenshot above left).
2. register the kindle app with your amazon account
Enter the email and password combination you are using to log in to your amazon online store account.
If you have more than one Amazon account, be sure to choose the account that you signed in to on your Kindle e-reader. you used this account to buy the kindle in the amazon store.
When your kindle e-reader and the kindle app for ios are connected to the same amazon account, all your kindle books are synced through amazon’s servers, just like all your gmail messages are synced through google’s servers, no matter what computer you choose to connect to it.
ever registered your kindle on amazon? It can happen if you bought the amazon e-reader from a third party seller. If you have an Amazon account, I recommend registering your kindle with it.
Registering all your devices with the same account is the most convenient way to manage and sync all your kindle books. Also, there is no way to use the kindle app on ipad and iphone without registering.
3. import only the books you want
Are you afraid that the moment you start to sync your kindle and kindle for ios, all your kindle ebooks will automatically download and take up too much memory of your ipad? won’t happen.
When you open the kindle app, you will see two tabs at the bottom: “cloud” and “device”.
cloud tab
when you tap the cloud button, you will see all the books that are stored in your kindle cloud library.
the list includes all the books you have added to your amazon account:
- those you bought from the kindle store,
- those you downloaded to your kindle or a kindle app on another device: These personal documents also sync between devices
Although you see these books on your kindle app for ipad or iphone, they have not yet been downloaded to your device. you can easily do this by touching the book (see screenshot above left).
device tab
Your kindle app comes with a single pre-downloaded document. is a simple guide with some tips to get you started.
once you download any book from the cloud tab, it will appear in the device section. All available books are accessible in the offline device tab, which means you can open and read them even when your iPad is not connected to the internet.
I suggest you don’t import all the books to kindle for ios. there is no need to do that. download only the titles you’re reading now or will read next (plus the custom dictionary, if you’re using it).
could be a few of them, even a few hundred, but think twice before loading up the kindle app with thousands of e-books you won’t be reading anytime soon.
save web articles for offline reading
did you know that you can use the kindle app for ipad and iphone in the same way as the reading later services?
If you are not familiar with reading later platforms like instapaper or pocket, here is a brief explanation. these services allow you to save articles you find on the web so that you can access them later. This solution offers three main advantages:
- will keep all interesting articles in one place and access them when you have more time to read,
- you can access saved articles even when you are not connected to the web,
- you’ll see the article in a clean read-only view, with no distracting elements: banners, widgets, social sharing panels, or navigation bars.
You can accomplish the same thing using the Kindle app on iPhone and iPad. It’s possible thanks to a new feature called “send to kindle”. allows you to add content directly to the kindle application, using the ios share menu.
how to use kindle for ios as a read later service
1. find the item you want to save
What app(s) do you use to read news and blogs on the web? There are many possibilities. you can read in safari or chrome browser. you can use feedly. or news aggregators like apple news or google play newsstand.
No matter what your favorite app is, they all support the ios share menu, which helps send the content, your part, or a link to services like email, text, or note app.
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2. open the share menu and select send to kindle
when you find an article you can’t read right away (but want to save it for later), you can use the share menu to add it to the kindle ios app.
Different apps have the share icon placed in different positions. the icon usually shows the arrow coming out of the box.
In the safari browser, the share menu icon is in the bottom bar, right in the middle (see screenshot above left). tap it and the share menu will slide out from the bottom edge of the screen.
In the top row, you should see the “send to kindle” icon. it looks the same as the kindle app icon. if you don’t see it, scroll the row to the right. if you still don’t see it, tap the “plus” icon and turn on send to kindle.
3. choose options and send the article
after tapping the send to kindle button, a simple panel appears with a few things to customize:
- you can change the title and font of the article,
- you can choose where you want the article to be sent: a kindle library or a single device.
By default, the Save to Kindle Library option is enabled (see screenshot above, left). if you don’t uncheck the option, the item will be sent to your kindle cloud library and will be available shortly in the cloud tab in the kindle for ios app.
If you disable saving to your kindle library, you will need to choose the target device. If you have more than one device connected to your Amazon Kindle account, be sure to pick up the iPad or iPhone you’re currently using. the item will be sent only to this one device and will not be synced across your kindle library.
I only use the second option, as it makes it easy to delete read articles (and I’m saving a lot of them in the kindle app).
download free kindle ebooks
once you install the kindle app on your iphone or ipad, it will become the easiest way to download and read e-books from different sources.
There are several sites on the web that offer free eBooks for download in a variety of formats compatible with almost any device.
What is very important, all these sites offer publications in a totally legal way, since the books come from the public domain, which means that they can be freely reused and shared.
Below, we’ll walk you through the process of adding free eBooks to your kindle app.
how to add free ebooks to kindle for ios
You can find free ebooks in the kindle store, but there is no way to add them directly from the kindle app for ios. well, you can add them, but only partially, as free samples.
Instead, you can browse the Amazon website in a dedicated Amazon shopping app or in a web browser such as Safari or Chrome.
And since you’re in a web browser, you can also check out other sites that offer free e-books. our favorites are project gutenberg, internet archive, europeana and dpla.
See Also: 6 Books to Read Before Visiting the Great Wall of China
let’s visit the gutenberg project. This site is optimized for mobile devices, so you can easily navigate on a smaller screen as well.
1. find the book file in a browser
When you open the mobile version of the Gutenberg project on your iPhone or iPad, you can easily find the most popular titles. choose the one you want to download and tap on it (see screenshot above left).
2. select the correct format
When on a page with book details and download options, it’s important to choose the file format compatible with Kindle e-readers and apps.
in the gutenberg project, it is simply called “kindle”. on other sites, be sure to find formats called “mobi” or “prc”. you can also download the pdf file, but it is not as flexible as mobi. for example, you won’t be able to increase the font size, adjust the margins, or turn on night mode.
the gutenberg project gives the option to select the kindle file with or without images (see screenshot above right).
3. open the file with the kindle app for ios
When you touch the download link or button, a dialog window will appear asking you to decide what to do with the file. tap the “open in kindle” link (see screenshot below, left).
The eBook will open in the Kindle app and you can start reading instantly. enjoy!
optimize the reading experience
One of the biggest benefits of e-books is the ability to adjust the settings of the book reading app, so the text appears exactly how you want it.
Setting up the kindle app for ios is simple and easy to use. some apps offer more options, that’s true. on the other hand, the kindle app has everything you need to customize the look of the text.
how to customize the skin on kindle for ios
When you touch the screen, the view will change to reveal the full interface. To adjust the settings, on the top bar, tap the “aa” icon (see screenshot below, left).
in the settings panel, you can change:
- brightness level,
- background color,
- font size,
- font type,
- line height ,
- justification.
adjust font
Some people love to read books with a smooth serif typeface. others prefer a bold font, especially after reading for long hours.
font size and type can be changed instantly in the kindle app for ios. therefore, you can adjust the appearance of the text to your needs here and now.
my favorite typeface is bookerly, the modern font designed from the ground up exclusively for use in e-readers and kindle apps. it’s easily readable when its size is small, and it’s not too heavy when you enlarge it.
if you need a heavier typeface, you can always choose the original kindle e-readers font: caecilia. Amazon has also added a bold face, aimed at readers with vision problems. the font is called ember bold and it’s at the top of the list of available typefaces.
adjust the background
many book reading apps offer a selection of backgrounds so users can choose the one that suits them best.
In the Kindle app for iPad and iPhone, you can select one of three background+font color schemes. In addition to white, you can set sephia, a color scheme designed to ease eye strain and resemble the appearance of an old printed book page. however, this option is not good if you want to read e-books outdoors.
the black color of the background is combined with white font. is the night mode, perfect when there is no external light source. the screen doesn’t emit as much light as in white or sephia mode, and you can read for longer without straining your eyes.
more information about the book
In addition to the standard reference tools, such as a dictionary, google or wikipedia, the kindle app for ipad and iphone has some additional features that will allow you to learn more about the book and its author, better follow the plot and discover the passages more valuable.
The easiest way to access all the features is through the menu (see the screenshot above, left). we’ll take a closer look at this book, the highlights, and the x-ray.
about this book
about this book is a card with all the essential information about the book and its author. you can’t just access it from the menu list. an even quicker way is to tap the info icon in the top right corner (see screenshot below, left).
When you open about this book card, you’ll see the following sections:
book essentials
includes the title and author, accompanied by ratings and reviews. below is a book review of a book details page on amazon.
You’ll also find a share icon here, which you can use to spread the word about the book you’re currently reading.
typical time to read
Information about the number of pages is available in the main view at the bottom, but in this about this book section you will also find the average time it takes to finish the book.
about the series
If a book is part of a series, you’ll find the relevant information here: what the name of the series is and what volume in the series the book is.
about the author
here you will read information about the author taken from the author’s page on amazon. Covers of other popular books written by the author can be found below.
The section also includes a follow button that will connect you to the author on amazon.
popular highlights
a brief information with the number of passages in the book that other users highlighted and how many times it happened.
popular highlights
highlights do not appear in the about this book section. if you want to find out which passages have been highlighted by other readers, tap the menu icon and then the popular highlights section (see screenshot below, left).
When you open the window with the most popular book highlights, you will see your favorite passages accompanied by information about how many times they were highlighted.
The feature that shares what others like in the book I’m currently reading is an inspiring way to compare your point of view with others. It’s also a great and convenient way to reread the most valuable parts of the book (besides the passages you’ve highlighted, of course).
radiography
x-ray is a unique feature available for some books in the kindle store. In Amazon’s own words, “X-ray lets you explore the bones of a book.”
what is an x-ray? is an advanced reference tool that helps you track what’s going on in the book and analyze plot dynamics. is an extremely useful reading companion when there are too many characters in the book and you missed who’s who.
You can access the X-ray in two ways:
- from the menu, like other features described above (see screenshot below, left),
- in the top bar via the dedicated x-ray icon (the screenshot below, on the right). this icon will only be seen in books that have radiography enabled.
x-ray is a comprehensive guide to characters, locations, and terms used in the book. when you open x-ray while on a specific page, descriptions of characters and terms found on this page will be displayed at the top (see screenshot below, left).
In the x-ray list, the character is represented by the profile icon. you can limit the results to characters by tapping the “people” tab at the top.
everything else, for example, places or historical events mentioned in the book, is included in “terms”. the icon looks like an open book.
When you touch the entry, you will see the detailed description. if it’s a character, the card opens with a one sentence description of the character and a simple bar showing the presence of this character throughout the book.
See Also: How to Convert a Kindle Book to PDF Using Free Tools | Digital Trends
Below, you’ll find all the instances where the character was mentioned in a book. this feature is a great tool if your book has a lot of characters and you don’t want to get lost in who they are and how they are connected.
The card that presents the terms is similar to the characters but includes the extended description from wikipedia and a link to the full article. Below the description you can find a bar with the presence of the term in the chart.
X-ray is a great way to analyze the plot and see how it unfolds: how the characters evolve and where the action takes place.
find new books to read
Although you can’t buy eBooks directly from Kindle for iOS, you may find the app surprisingly helpful when it comes to discovering new books to read.
The most important thing to remember is that while you can’t buy the entire book, you can always download a free sample.
in no time you can get free samples of as many books as you like. And there’s no better way to check if the book is worth buying than to read a couple of the first few pages.
how to discover new books with kindle for ios
There are a few ways the kindle app will suggest free samples to download from the kindle store.
when you search the library
If you’re in library view (see screenshot below, left) and use the search function to find the book in your kindle library, the app will also suggest books from the store. kindle that match the search term you entered.
for example, when you type “harry potter”, in the results list you will see all the harry potter books you have bought, and below, in the kindle free samples section, you can find the books from the kindle store that match your search (see screenshot below, right).
each suggested book comes with ratings. when you tap on the cover or title, the free sample will start downloading.
free samples are not synced between devices, so they will remain only in your kindle for ios app until you delete them.
when you finish the book
Is there a better time to find the new book to read than after finishing the one you loved?
when you reach the end of the book in the kindle app for ios, a “before you go” card will appear (see screenshot below, left).
the card includes the following sections:
- an invitation to review and rate the book,
- more books by the same author,
- more books in the same category,
- recommendations based on which books the customers who bought this book bought.
when you tap on the book cover in the before you go section, a short description and a button to try the free sample will appear (see screenshot above right).
the card before you go is also available in the menu list in the upper left corner.
in the about this book section
if you read a book by an author you didn’t know, you can always check the about this book section and find more books by the same author.
enjoy enhanced eBooks
ipad is a fantastic multimedia companion. the book lover who owns the ipad will sooner or later try to read an improved ebook.
The first destination for enhanced and interactive books is the app store. the books category lists many e-books that are sold as stand-alone applications.
Did you know you can also use the Kindle app to read eBooks rich with media, animations, and interactive elements?
the kindle store offers two types of enhanced e-books:
- kindle edition with audio/video: the format has been available to users since 2010. users were able to play videos and audio tracks embedded in the text of the book,
- kindle in motion edition – a new format, introduced in 2016. it is more flexible and versatile than the kindle edition with audio/video.
One of the best examples of how much you can amplify the reading experience on your iPad or iPhone is the Kindle in motion edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
what to expect from kindle in motion e-books? take a look at the list of functions:
- animated illustrations: like animated gifs, they play in an endless loop,
- animated book cover: a book cover is shown as an animation not only when it opens the book in the kindle app, but also on the detail page of a book on amazon,
- videos: they are integrated into the content of a book,
- custom page backgrounds: they can be still images or gif-like animations.
The best part of the Kindle in Motion eBook is that it can also be opened on devices that cannot play animations or sound. yes, you can read those books on kindle e-reader, media elements just won’t show up.
Also, when you read the Kindle In Motion eBook on your iPad or iPhone, the enhanced content is optional. you can turn it on and off instantly with the touch of a button.
listen to audible audiobooks
unlike the android version, the kindle for ipad or iphone does not provide a text-to-speech feature.
There is, however, a way to listen to the kindle book you have purchased. it’s possible thanks to an advanced feature called voice-synchronized whisper.
what is whisper for voice? is a service that allows you to seamlessly switch between reading a kindle book and listening to its audiobook version.
As you may have noticed, you’ll also need to purchase an audiobook to accompany the Kindle edition you own, to enable voice-synchronized whispering. be prepared for an additional cost of between $0.99 for the classic title up to $15 for the current bestseller.
There are over 60,000 kindle books that come with audiobook narration. how to find them? Amazon provides a smart feature that will let you find out which of the Kindle books you own have the audible narration. you can find your match starting at the audible narration home page.
how to enable audible narration on kindle for ios
once you add audible narration to your kindle book, follow the steps below to enable whisper sync for voice.
1. open the kindle book that has the companion audiobook
When you open this book in the kindle app on iphone and ipad, the audiobook availability message will appear at the bottom of the screen (see screenshot below, left). tap the text that says “tap to download” and wait for the download to complete.
make sure you are connected to wi-fi as the audiobook file can be larger than 100mb.
2. switch between reading and listening
done! From now on, when you open a kindle book with audible narration, the headphone icon will appear in the bottom right corner of the screen (see screenshot above right).
Tap the headphone icon to reveal the audiobook bar and play the audiobook. while you listen to the voice, matching parts of the text are highlighted.
The magic of voice sync for whispers is the ease of switching between reading and listening, and the beauty of delving into the story in different ways.
kindle for ios – useful links
If you’d like to learn more about using the kindle app on iPhone and iPad, be sure to check out the links below:
- amazon: support pages for the kindle app for ios: here you will find more information on how to download, register and use the application
- amazon: reading newspapers and magazines: a quick guide guide on how to use the kindle app for iphone and ipad to read the current issues of the magazines you’re subscribing to,
- kindle support community: do you have any questions or want to troubleshoot your kindle for ios? ask kindle forum members,
- free kindle reading apps overview: a download center and overview of the main features of kindle apps for ios, android, mac and pc.
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In this article, we use screenshots from the following books:
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