We clicked Shop in the Kindle Store to add some titles you can buy e-books, but there are literally millions of free titles available to download through directly to your Kindle or, as we discovered, to Kindle for PC, from sites like the Open Library, Internet Archive, and Gutenberg Project.
Kindle for PC works much like the handheld device, with a basic but quite user-friendly interface, simple controls, and PC-specific features, such as an outlined graphic that pops up with helpful instructions for using the mouse to do what you do with your fingers on the handheld device. Clicking Archived Items accesses your saved titles. Installing and setting up Kindle for PC is a snap if you already own a Kindle or have an account: just enter your ID and password, and Kindle for PC opens with your account in place. Its Whispersync feature automatically syncs your last page read, bookmarks, notes, and settings between a wide range of compatible devices. Kindle for PC is freeware that lets you access your Kindle titles without a Kindle device. A lot of work went into making Kindle as book-like as possible while still preserving the advantages of an electronic device, such as a customizable interface, variable type size, notes, data storage, and more.
It’s free, open-source software that you can extend further (if you have the skills) by helping to develop it directly, or by creating additional plugins for others to use.Electronic books have changed the public's reading habits, and millions worldwide now read books, magazines, and other content on handheld readers like Amazon's Kindle. Like the Kindle desktop app, it allows you to read your eBooks, share your collection with others, sync it across multiple devices, and more. The most popular of those is Calibre, the desktop eBook reader available for Windows, Linux, and macOS devices. If you want to escape the Amazon ecosystem, then alternatives do exist for desktop users. Alternatives To The Kindle Desktop Reader You can also share the same collection, keep your saved position and sync it across your devices, and do the same with any book annotations you make across all Kindle products. For instance, many of the accessibility features are common across all Kindle products, although the Kindle devices lack some of the more advanced features like text-to-speech.
Otherwise, there really isn’t a huge amount of difference between the Kindle desktop app, Kindle mobile apps, or Kindle devices themselves. mobi eBook files using the Kindle app natively with no additional fuss. This leads to another direct advantage that the Kindle desktop app over other Kindle products. The larger screens on desktop PCs and laptops allow you to view much more text at once, which could be useful for those studying books and those who want to catch up on reading from their PC.Īmazon wants you to buy its books through its own store and, while it isn’t impossible to read non-Amazon eBooks on Kindle devices, it isn’t the easiest process-unless you’re using the Kindle desktop app. While the Kindle desktop app isn’t designed to be portable, it does have one distinct advantage over Kindle mobile apps-size. You can also use a built-in text-to-speech mode to create auto-generated audiobooks you can listen to while you work, as well as annotate your books directly-perfect for students or academics. It has many of the features you’d expect to see from an eBook reader, including many seen on Kindle devices, offering the ability to change font and font sizes, alter page widths for better reading, as well as switch to an accessible viewing color mode.