# Kindle app **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-app/573628 "2011-03-05T23:03:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-app/573628/1 "2011-03-05T23:03:02Z")
or other phone apps for reading. I don’t own a kindle but many people have recommended the Kindle app. Please help me on this. Do I have to buy a kindle for the app to work on my phone? Do I download books to my phone? doesn’t that take up a lot of space? Are there better apps that can download other books (like nook as well as kindle) or does it not make a difference? What else do I need to know? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-app/573628/2 "2011-03-05T23:28:11Z")
> [@adhemar](#): > > Do I have to buy a kindle for the app to work on my phone? Hell no. [Installs on iphone or itouch like any other app](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kindle/id302584613?mt=8) > [@](#): > > Do I download books to my phone? Yup > [@](#): > > doesn’t that take up a lot of space? Eh, depends on how many books, and the ones I have are around 500kb each. For comparison’s sake my Angry Birds lite is 18,000kb. > [@](#): > > Are there better apps that can download other books (like nook as well as kindle) or does it not make a difference? [There is a nook app too](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/barnes-noble-nook-for-ipad/id373582546?mt=8), and no law saying you can’t have both. > [@](#): > > What else do I need to know? Reading on an iphone is tiny, but the app is free, and the Kindle store has bunches of free books and sample chapters for most paid books so you can try out and see if that’s a problem for you. If so, delete and go about your business ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-app/573628/3 "2011-03-06T00:04:12Z")
The Kindle app came on my Droid X, but good grief is it a pain to read on, and the Droid X has a huge screen by smart phone standards. I’m not looking to go blind before I’m 50 thank you very much. Yeah, the app is free, but no thanks. I’ll stick to reading books on my ‘actual’ Kindle. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-app/573628/4 "2011-03-06T00:10:35Z")
> [@Annie](#): > > Reading on an iphone is tiny Meaning the _screen_ is tiny. You can increase the size of the font if you like–and if you don’t mind flipping the page every couple of sentences. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-app/573628/5 "2011-03-06T00:21:24Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Meaning the _screen_ is tiny. You can increase the size of the font if you like–and if you don’t mind flipping the page every couple of sentences. Yeah, that too. Annoying. Definitely reduces the enjoyment of reading. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-app/573628/6 "2011-03-06T11:08:12Z")
I had a HTC Desire (3.7"). I liked using the Kindle app on that so much that I upgraded to the 5" Dell Streak. I ended up reading on my Streak much more than on the actual Kindle, so I sold the latter. The drawback (for me) of the Kindle is that reading in poor light is very difficult. Smartphones have the opposite problem, so neither is perfect. Carrying around just one device is so much easier than two. I have found that I am reading much more than I used to, because I can whip out my Streak when I have a few minutes to spare. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-app/573628/7 "2011-03-06T11:27:05Z")
Heh. I don’t mind reading on my iPhone-sized phone screen; I’ve read a dozen or so novels on it. The last three were Matt Ruff’s **Bad Monkeys** and **Sewer, Gas, and Electric: The Public Works Trilogy** , and Greg Egan’s **Incandescence**. But I much prefer the Mobipocket application to the Kindle app or the Nook app. Unfortunately, they don’t have a Mobipocket version for iPhone or Android (and ironically, no Kindle or Nook apps for Windows Mobile 6.5), so when I switch to Android, I guess I’ll have to suck it up and use one of those. Grumble. I have the Kindle and Nook aps installed on my Motorola Xoom and my wife and daughters have them on their iPhone/iPod Touch devices. They get a fair amount of use. Definitely better than nothing. You don’t need a Kindle or a Nook to use them. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-app/573628/8 "2011-03-06T15:39:06Z")
I read books on my Droid X and I can see just fine. The increased font size is bigger than the size I can use to read the Dope. You can change the background brightness so there’s less contrast, which I find easier on the eyes. Just download it, get a free book, and play around with the settings. Then you’ll see if you like it or not and it won’t cost you anything. I love it. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-app/573628/9 "2011-03-06T20:16:28Z")
I have the Kindle app for my Samsung Captivate, and I haven’t had any trouble with it. There are plenty of free books available for download, and you can store them on the external SD card. There are enough settings to allow reading in a variety of lighting conditions. I haven’t tried the Nook app yet; some of the reviews I’ve read have made me hold back a bit. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-app/573628/10 "2011-03-06T22:08:46Z")
> [@adhemar](#): > > Do I download books to my phone? doesn’t that take up a lot of space? > > Thanks Anything you purchase from Amazon is yours for all time. Once you read a book, you can delete it from your device and leave it archived on Amazon’s servers if space is a concern for you. You can re-sync any of your purchases back to your iPhone for no charge. It’s as quick and easy as purchasing it was. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-app/573628/11 "2011-03-07T10:07:53Z")
When I added the Kindle app to the iPhone, it loaded a PC version onto my computer, too. I don’t have a Kindle, but I’m pretty sure the instructions said if I did, it would sync all three with whatever books I purchased. Neat. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-app/573628/12 "2011-03-07T14:09:49Z")
I use the Kindle App on my iPad and enjoy it. The screen is big enough to let me read without having to turn pages constantly. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-app/573628/13 "2011-03-07T20:17:20Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > When I added the Kindle app to the iPhone, it loaded a PC version onto my computer, too. I don’t have a Kindle, but I’m pretty sure the instructions said if I did, it would sync all three with whatever books I purchased. Neat. Yep. My Kindle iPhone app syncs to the page with my Mac desktop app.