The iPhone Mom

Hip Hip Hooray! I could end this review right now because the Kindle app just put a whole lot of "Hooray" into my iPhone.  I’ve never been the least bit curious about Amazon.com’s Kindle. I like the feel of a book in my hand and being able to turn actual pages. Still, I was intrigued when I heard about the Kindle iPhone app. First of all – it’s free and you can’t go wrong with a free app. If you hate it you just delete it and don’t look back. Second of all – you can download the first chapter of a book, right to your iPhone, again for free. So I figured it couldn’t hurt to give the app a try. Just to see what all the fuss is about.

I was sitting in the dance studio parking lot tonight with time to kill and decided this would be a good test to see how the Kindle app performed, with no computer to take me to Amazon.com for back-up. When I first opened the app I had to register my iPhone with Amazon. If you’ve already got an Amazon account you log in with your usual name and password. If you don’t you’ll need to spend a minute setting it up. The "Home" screen will show you what Kindle books you’ve downloaded. If you’ve already got a Kindle you can select "Archived Items" and download any previous book purchases. Since I was brand new to the whole Kindle experience my list was empty. At the top right of the screen is a button that says "Get Books". Tap this button and  you’ll see an explanation of how to find the Kindle books on Amazon.com. It’ll tell you that you can use your Mac or PC at home, or use Safari on your iPhone. Since I was stuck in my van, I opted for the Safari method. If you touch the word "Safari" it takes you directly to the Kindle section on Amazon. So, so easy. From there you can browse through all the available books. It’s not as smooth of a browsing experience as it would be on your computer, but for being in the car it worked out fine.  I found the book I was looking for and touched the title. All of the wonderful Amazon.com information showed up so I could make an informed decision about my purchase. On the right of the browser window were two choices: "Buy now with 1-Click" or "Send Sample Now". Beneath these were the words "send wirelessly to" followed by my iPhone.  I chose the sample and got a message that said my sample was being sent to my iPhone and would be available the next time I started the Kindle app. I opened Kindle up, it synchronized and like magic, there was my book. When I got home later I tried it out using Amazon.com on my PC. It worked just as smoothly and again, like magic, my book showed up on my iPhone.

A few things about actually using the Kindle app to read a book. Once you’ve downloaded a book or a free chapter it’ll show up on the list on Kindle’s Home screen . Touch the title and the book opens up. When you’re reading and you want to "turn the page" slide your finger from right to left. To turn back, slide your finger from left to right. If you tap the screen you’ll see some symbols on the bottom. The plus sign marks your page. The book symbol brings up a "Go To" screen. From here you can go to the cover, table of contents, beginning of the book or the location you choose. At the very bottom you’ll see a list of where you’ve marked the book (with the plus symbol). To get back to your book’s page just touch the cancel button. Back on the page again, there are some more symbols. The "A"s allow you to change your font size. Touch the circular arrows and Kindle retrieves the farthest page you’ve read.  The sliding bar at the very bottom of the screen lets you adjust your location in the book. Slide to the right and you skip ahead. Slide to the left and you go back.  You can always get back to the Home by touching the screen then the "Home" button at the top left of the screen. Whenever you return to the Home screen or turn off the Kindle app it remembers what page you were on. The next time you open up your book you’ll be right where you left off.

I’m not ready to give up my real books anytime soon but I’m also not giving up my new Kindle app. It’s going to give me the ability to always have a book to read without having to carry one around in the car or my bag. I mentioned in a previous review that I’m not a shoe buying girl. I am however, a book buying girl and the allure of being able to instantly download books is one I don’t think I’ll be able to resist. No driving across town to the bookstore or ordering online and then having to stalk my postman. The Kindle books start at $9.99 and if you’re planning on buying a new book that doesn’t seem too unreasonable to me. If you’re buying a hardcover you’re going to spend at least that much anyway, even if you find the book at Costco. And I absolutely love the idea of being able to try out a first chapter. If I hate the chapter there’s no book buyers remorse. If I love it then I get online and download the rest of it.

Like I said at the beginning of the review before I became horribly long-winded – Hip, Hip Hooray!

Seller: Reinke LLC/Amazon.com

Price when Reviewed: Free

Click here to see the app at the iTunes store