You can read offline with the Kindle Cloud Reader

You can read offline with the Kindle Cloud Reader

Not too long ago, I did a post on the

Amazon’s Cloud Reader

That’s Amazon’s free way to read your Kindle books in many browsers…no software to install, no cost.

Sure, it’s generally better to read a book on an EBR (E-Book Reader) like the Kindle Paperwhite or a tablet, like Amazon’s Fire line.

However, you may want to read something on a laptop or desktop.

It could be that it has detailed images…charts, maps, anatomical illustrations, and it will just look better on your larger screen.

It could be that you are at work, and not allowed to install one of Amazon’s free reader apps.

It works pretty well.

What you may not realize is that you can download the books…you could read your Kindle book while commuting on a train without connecting to wi-fi.

How you do it varies by browser. Chrome and Safari have easy ways to do it, with clearly labeled functionality.

This Amazon Help page

Enable Offline Reading (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)

also has instructions for Firefox and Internet Explorer.

The Cloud Reader is becoming increasingly important. Amazon has “sunsetted” (retired) an older Kindle for Mac version, for example. One of my regular readers and commenters,, Lady Galaxy, asked me about that, and I checked with Amazon.

Their response was essentially that people with…older, non-supported devices/software could still use the Cloud Reader in their browsers to read the books they’d bought.

There are people who read e-books on laptops, so being able to download can have a real benefit.

Hope this helps…

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* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help!  

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy  Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

Cloud Reader, Kindle for iPad and iOS get update

Cloud Reader, Kindle for iPad and iOS get update

I don’t have time to check it right now (and I’ll only be looking at it in the Cloud Reader), but Amazon announced a new update:

Announcement Kindle for iPad and Kindle Cloud Reader Update

It brings the Panel Viewer (for comics/graphic novels) and improved children’s book display to the iPad, the iPhone, and the iPod touch.

The above post has links.

If you try it out, feel free to let me and my readers know what you think.

Update: I’ve tried out the Panel Viewer in my Cloud Reader on a desktop running Chrome.

I downloaded a sample of

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Honestly, I was a bit disappointed (not with the book, which I really like, but with the Panel View).

This book has some very panel rich pages…there can be many panels.

When I double-clicked one, it did enlarge…but not all that much, in my opinion. I was expecting the panel to fill the reading area of the screen. If I zoomed Chrome up to 200%, it looked nice and large. However, the next page button was then off the screen, so that wasn’t really a good choice.

It might be pinch and spreadable on a touch screen device, but I haven’t tried that yet.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.