Amazon’s Kindle eBook service has long been considered a second-class citizen on Windows. For a few years, there was a Store app for Windows 8 devices, but it was removed in October 2016. There is also a “classic” desktop app, but it has been criticized as slow and awkward.
Fortunately, there is a simple solution that works better than expected in the new Microsoft Edge browser: Kindle Cloud Reader.
Here’s how it works and how to get it.
Kindle Cloud Reader: What is that?
The Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader is, at its heart, a simple web application that accesses your Kindle library. It is officially released as a browser plugin for Google Chrome (this extension, however, does not work in the new Edge for some reason).
The web app gives you access to all of your Kindle books online and offers many settings and features, including:
- Personalize your reading experience by choosing the font size, text color, background color, number of reading columns, etc.
- Create and edit notes, highlights and bookmarks
- Whispersync technology automatically synchronizes reading of your most distant pages, notes and marks on all devices, so you can start reading in your browser and pick up where you left off on your Kindle or any other device device with the Kindle app installed.
- Search the book to find a topic, character, or section you want to review
- Search word definitions and listen to their pronunciation (available in English only)
- Buy millions of Kindle books, including new releases and best sellers, from the Kindle Store
- Your current book is automatically made available for offline use, and you can choose to save a book for offline reading at any time
- Receive automatic software updates without having to download new software
But really, the most important and useful features come down to three things: (1) Support for offline reading, (2) Dark mode and (3) Portrait mode.
Kindle Cloud Reader: How to get it
Installing Kindle Cloud Reader in the new Edge browser is simple and is the same method to install any website as an app, including Disney +.
Note: You can whitelist read.amazon.com in any adblocker extension you use. Otherwise, your Kindle library may not display properly. The same goes for the Night Eye extension.
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Go to read.amazon.com in the new Edge browser.
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Log into your Amazon account.
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Select the browser menu “…” in the upper right corner of Edge.
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Move towards applicationsand select Install this site as an app.
Source: Windows Central
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Name the application if you want and press Install.
Source: Windows Central
The “Kindle Cloud Reader” application will now appear in the Windows 10 application menu as expected. From there, you can right-click it to pin the Start menu or send it to the taskbar for quick access. Right-clicking on the icon also allows you to uninstall the “application” if you no longer need it.
You now have a Kindle Reader app!
Using the Kindle Reader app on Windows 10 and Microsoft Edge is pretty good. Because it is a web shortcut, it only takes a few kilobytes of information (compared to the 54MB .exe installer for the desktop drive).
To download your books for offline use, right click on a book and select Download and pin in the menu. Your books will be placed in a separate tab called “Downloaded”, which you can access when your PC is in airplane mode (the books will synchronize your reading position when you are back online).
There are limitations to the Kindle Cloud Reader app. Expressly, tactile support is mainly limited to moving forward and backward in the book (turning page). Although there are advanced features for setting fonts and taking notes, you will need to use the keyboard and mouse pointer to make these changes. It also doesn’t seem to be possible to do this in full screen, so you’ll see the Windows taskbar.
Overall, usage of the Kindle Cloud Reader on the Surface Pro X and Surface Go was very satisfactory. Launching the player in dark mode and hitting the pinned icon is fast, and the “application” is fairly fluid.
While I still prefer Amazon to create an appropriate app with inking and Microsoft Store support, it’s a reliable alternative for those who don’t want to carry around a Kindle reader (or forgot to pack one) .