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Windows Phone 8 Gets Updated Kindle App

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Windows Phone users can expect a new update to the platform’s Kindle app that comes complete with all the features they’d expect from an native application for Microsoft’s mobile platform.

So what can users expect from the update? For starters, Kindle for Windows Phone 8 now supports fast app resume in Windows Phone. This means that Kindle won’t need to almost completely restart itself every time a user switches away from the application to answer a message.

Amazon has added better support for Windows’s Phone’s native Live Tiles too. Starting with this update, users can pin a book to their start screen and actually see the progress they’ve made without having to open the application. Users who prefer wide live tiles on their Start screen will find that Kindle’s for Windows Phone 8 also showcases a book’s cover on their Start screen as well.

kindle for windows phone 8

Finally, it seems Amazon has taken this opportunity to address some of the bugs that cropped up since it last updated the Kindle on Windows Phone a year ago. According to the app’s update log, Kindle for Windows Phone 8 seems to have stopped causing some books to render blank pages. Amazon has also fixed the dead link that led back to its own online Kindle Store.

Unfortunately, there are still more than a few missing features. iOS and Android users can actually route documents to the Kindle service. That feature remains missing here. Kindle on Windows Phone users don’t have access to Amazon’s assortment of comics either. Also, there’s still no way to highlight text and easily see text you’ve already highlighted. All told, Kindle for Windows Phone is still miles behind what is available to users on other platforms.

That’s a huge problem for Windows Phone users. Microsoft is the only one of the four-largest consumer technology companies to not offer its users a book service directly. Instead, the company counts on Amazon and its Barnes & Noble’s Nook platform to supply users with periodicals, books and comics. To date, Nook is only available on Windows RT and Windows 8 devices. Ironically, Nook is run by Nook Media, a joint venture between Barnes & Noble and Microsoft.

Users can download the updated app today, however this update is specifically for devices running Windows Phone 8.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Ruben Martinez

    11/26/2013 at 11:35 am

    Is it just me or has WP been on a roll as of late? It’s (to my surprise) been developing into quite the platform. Something I appreciate as a 1020 owner.

    • majorrockstar

      11/26/2013 at 2:15 pm

      Yeah, in fact I’m finding it hard to keep up with the updates that have been showing up on the store tile. But there is definitely something going on. Although most of the new apps and games I don’t use, it is exciting to see stuff showing up.

  2. Mike E. Delta (@MediaCastleX)

    11/26/2013 at 1:09 pm

    I’m still a bit unsure which is actually better, Windows Phone 8 Gets Updated Kindle App or Windows Phone 8 Kindle App Gets Updated? If a user switches platforms, I can see them “missing” something, but if I don’t know that they can do something that I cannot, is it really “hurting” me? I would love it to no end if anybody who really had something to say about the differences in platforms would kindly explain the why of the disparity instead of alleging that its a crime that Microsoft has committed by daring to have an alternate platform that “takes features away” from common apps…but then I guess these stories require a villain, may as well be Microsoft? Just throwing ideas out there (comments = peanuts for the gallery) =[

  3. Win Migration

    12/06/2013 at 4:14 am

    Microsoft’s products are very professional and interesting to use.Windows 8 Update
    3 is very good.

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