Just in time for the holidays, and after deploying a hefty package of updates for its Kindle line, Amazon is giving iOS another look and releasing a new care package for the Kindle app that runs on Apple's mobile platform.
Amazon is integrating Goodreads into the iOS version of the Kindle app, so users can share their reading progress and highlights with friends.
The update brought along a new "[g]" button, with which users can share quotes with one another on Goodreads, Facebook or Twitter. After completing a book, users can also use the new button to draft a review at the Before You Go screen. That screen also delivers information about the next book in a series, offering a synopsis of what lies ahead.
The Goodreads integration also brings the Welcome experience to Kindle's iOS apps. After rating books you have read and specifying favorite genres, the Goodreads recommendation engine will serve up a relevant selection of book samples.
Audiobooks can now be played after the downloads have passed the user's current location in the e-book. The audiobooks can also be played before they have finished downloading.
Per customer request, Amazon has delivered book details pages that can be called out by tapping and holding onto the cover of a book. Details like reviews and overviews are presented in the book detail pages.
Rounding out the collection of Kindle iOS updates, Amazon has released a book browser for the iPad. Subscribers to Kindle Unlimited can browse a collection of more than 700,000 books and use the new book detail feature to find out more about interesting titles.
Amazon released an over-the-air package of updates for its Kindle series back in November, which also brought better Goodreads integration to the e-readers and tablets. That update included several goodies not wrapped in Kindle iOS' latest gift basket.
In the November update, the Kindle series received family sharing, a book loaning feature, and an update X-Ray tool, which allows users to scan both their libraries and the Kindle Store. The headlining feature of the November update, Word Wise was launched to help young readers better leverage Kindle's dictionary and to do so without completely breaking the pace of reading.
"Word Wise makes it easier for kids learning to read and readers learning English to understand more challenging books more quickly, with short and simple definitions that automatically appear above difficult words," said Peter Larsen, vice president of Amazon Devices.
