Kindle for iPad adds children's books, comics, graphic novels

Amazon on Thursday updated its Kindle application for iPad, adding support for children's books, comic books and graphic novels purchased for the Kindle platform.

The new support was also added to Amazon's Kindle Cloud Reader, and Kindle for Android application. The free updated iOS software is now available on the App Store as a 19.9-megabyte download that requires iOS 4.2 or later.

Children's books, comic books and graphics novels on the iPad are presented in full color. Over a thousand children's titles are available, including "Brown Bear" and "Curious George," in addition to popular comics like Superman and Batman from DC.

"Children's books come to life with brilliant images, fixed layouts, and Kindle Text Pop-Up for supported titles to magnify text for easy reading on any size screen," Amazon's description reads. "Comics and graphic novels are presented in Kindle Panel View for supported titles, showcasing the artwork in a panel by panel experience that reads as the author intended."

The iPad application now also has a cleaner reading experience, thanks to smaller margins on the page.

In addition, version 3.1 of Kindle for iOS also adds new features for iPhone and iPod touch users, as well as those on iPad. Users can now quickly search for content by title or author, and an issue that prevented the lookup of words on Google or Wikipedia has been addressed.

Comic books, graphic novels and children's books first debuted on the Kindle platform late last year, with the launch of the Kindle Fire touchscreen tablet and its color display. Thursday's update extends that functionality to the iPad, and expands the availability of Kindle platform content on iOS devices.

Because Amazon doesn't comply with Apple's rules for in-app purchases, in which Apple receives a 30 percent cut of all content sold through iOS applications, the new content cannot be purchased directly through the Kindle application. Users must instead visit the Amazon website to buy the content, and can then download it through their account in the Kindle for iOS app.

Amazon is expected to expand its Kindle Fire lineup with a new 10-inch device this year that will compete more directly with Apple's 9.7-inch iPad.

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11 Comments

macvicta 18 Years · 343 comments

About 12 years ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Amazon is expected to expand its Kindle Fire lineup with a new 10-inch device this year that will compete more directly with Apple's 9.7-inch iPad.

Wish Apple would return the favor and compete more directly with Amazon by releasing an ultra lightweight e-ink iOS ereader. Call it the iBook. The iPad gets too damn heavy at times.

tallest skil 14 Years · 43086 comments

[quote name="MacVicta" url="/t/150709/kindle-for-ipad-adds-childrens-books-comics-graphic-novels#post_2127831"]The iPad gets too damn heavy at times.[/quote] You can't hold 1.5lbs? Books are far heavier.

ahmlco 17 Years · 432 comments

I absolutely, positively HATE the new margins and line spacing. Books read in the previous version had a light and open look and feel. Now I'm left with an uninviting, unappealing solid mass of text.

Also, books read in portrait mode are no longer easily scannable, as killing the margins increased the line width to the point where you have to deliberately shift your focal point in order to read the entire line. (This is why newspapers and magazines don't print articles in a single overly wide column.)

Changing the font size doesn't help, as going from 2 to 3 results in a comic doubling of the font size. (Note, this sucks too. Use the Apple smaller/larger method for changing font size. That allows for more increments than a mere 6 predetermined sizes.)

Amazon bought Stanza, and Stanza allowed for user-definable margins and spacing. They need to change the margins and spacing back to the way they were, or give me control over therm so I can set things up to suit me and MY reading style.

Fix it. Or I swear, I'll switch to iBooks. And I don't care if I have to replace the hundred or so Kindle books I own to do it.

razorpit 17 Years · 1793 comments

I think you'll do better by writing to kindle-feedback@amazon.com.

eliangonzal 14 Years · 490 comments

Neither does anyone else, man.