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Amazon is Killing the Execrable Kindle for Windows App (Finally)

kindle-for-windowsAmazon told users on Monday that it is killing the "app" it developed for Windows 8 and Windows RT, and was recommending that users upgrade to the older Windows for PC  app or switch to Kindle Cloud Reader.

You can find the announcement at the end of this post, or you can find more info on the related help page on Amazon.com.

As for why the app is being EOLed, well that requires some background.

When Microsoft launched Windows 8, many companies rushed out new apps which supported both new versions of Windows, Win8 and Windows RT, or "Really Terrible".

Amazon is one of the companies which took the cheap and lazy approach to supporting Windows RT; they wrapped up their browser-based reading app, Kindle Cloud Reader, and called it Kindle for Windows.

That app didn’t work well when it launched, never received the same support as other Kindle apps, and it didn’t support nearly as many features as the Kindle apps for Android, iOS, or macOS.

In fact, the Windows 8 app was largely sidelined in favor of the older Kindle for PC app, which ran on everything from Windows XP to Windows 10.

K4PC is that app which got all the updated, including support for Kindle textbooks,etc, while the Kindle for Windows app never even gained support for reading your own ebooks (just ebooks bought in the Kindle Store).

And now Amazon is killing the app which it never put any effort into.

What took them so long.

O O O

For the past few years Amazon has supported two separate Kindle apps for Windows PCs. In order to provide our Windows customers with the best Kindle reading experience, we are simplifying our approach and focusing our efforts on the Kindle for PC app.

If you are currently using our other Windows app (Kindle for Windows 8) on one or more of your PCs, we recommend that you upgrade to the Kindle for PC app to get the best reading experience and latest Kindle features. We are regularly updating the Kindle for PC app, including recent features like multi-color highlighting, improved search performance, and support for textbooks.

To simplify the experience for Windows customers, we will remove the Kindle for Windows 8 app from the Windows Store on October 27, 2016. If you already have the app installed on your PC and wish to keep using it, you can continue to download and read books as you do today. If you uninstall the Kindle for Windows 8 app, you won’t be able to reinstall it from the Windows Store.

If you have questions (or if you have a Windows RT device), please see our Kindle for PC help page.

Liliputing, Windows Central

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Comments


Basem October 17, 2016 um 11:59 pm

Well, it doesn’t solve the problem. If I was to use a Windows tablet as an e-reading device (no chance) I would need an app version to run with tablet mode (e-reading is much better in tablet mode). I just don’t understand why Amazon doesn’t release a version to match Android or iOS (Windows isn’t exactly some niche Linux distro).


Geoffrey Kidd October 18, 2016 um 12:13 am

Thank goodness the Kindle for Win7 app is still alive. If it left, I’d have no legitimate source of eBooks, since Barnes and Ignoble is [f-word as adjective] useless.


Carmen Webster Buxton October 18, 2016 um 12:56 am

I got my email from Amazon about this. Interestingly, the only way the user could tell they had the Kindle app for Windows 8 was by comparing the home screen to the email. Nowhere in the app itself was there any kind of version number.


BDR October 18, 2016 um 11:28 am

Of more concern to me is the Amazon video app which Amazon killed on Windows Mobile. Since videos won’t play on WMP 10 from their website, there’s no option to play Amazon video content. Want to view an Amazon video on your Windows phone? Big Brother Bezos says no, you don’t. Google poses the same problem.

The real villain for all of this — e-reading, video, lack of google services — is Microsoft because they’re letting these bullies push them around. Both Google & Amazon need Microsoft a helluva lot more than Microsoft needs them and they should retaliate.


Tom S October 18, 2016 um 12:12 pm

Well the Windows 8 app is lacking in features but Kindle for PC is not appreciably better, and does not look like a modern Windows app. I have no plans to 'upgrade'.


timothy December 9, 2016 um 1:12 am

i thought it was just a matter of time. users wouldn’t need two applications with the same features. Good decision. I think Amazon Kindle app for pc is enough, users will get better support.


Gilbert January 10, 2017 um 7:24 am

NO connection to Goodreads nor Facebook, nor Twitter, and no foreign language dictionary support either. All of this is perect on ios but my screen is too small there so I am stuck


Tony f November 16, 2017 um 7:41 pm

New Kindle software for Android is unusable and clumsy going back to booos


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