Amazon launched an official Kindle app for macOS more than eight years ago, allowing Mac users to download and read their ebooks from Amazon’s platform on their computer. However, it seems that Amazon has plans to discontinue the current Kindle app for the Mac while it works on a new, revamped version.
Amazon working on a new Kindle app for Mac
On Tuesday, the official Kindle app available on the Mac App Store was updated to version 1.40.2. But while the release notes mention that the new version brings “stability improvements and bug fixes,” we also noticed that the app has been renamed “Kindle Classic.”
Top comment by Inkling
Amazon knows the proper statistics, but I suspect that most of those who read Kindle books do so on iPhones and iPads not Macs. Given that situation, I can understand why the Mac app languished. App development costs money. But that doesn't change the fact that if a company the size of Amazon wants to be taken seriously by Apple fans, it needs a full-featured Mac app.
I can explain why. Before the iPad and iPhone, Sony came out with a digital player. I owned one and hated it for several reasons, the main one being a overly complicated UI. But there was another reason.
To protect the intellectual property of Sony Music, their music required a Windows only app to put it on the player. I wasn't planning to buy their music, but that did not alter the fact that excluding Macs still ticked me off.
For Amazon, the issue isn't the relatively few Kindle books read on Macs. It is the principle of the thing. Mac/iPhone users get ticked of that their favorite computer OS is being slighted.
Think of it this way. A guy dates your sister once and doesn't ask her out again. You don't like the guy, and yet you are also ticked off that he hasn't asked her out again. That's how iPhone/Mac users feel when someone like Amazon doesn't support their favorite platform very well. It is an insult.
According to Good E-Reader, this is because Amazon is going to discontinue the current app, which is quite old, and launch a new one soon. The report mentions that Kindle Classic will be removed from the Mac App Store in October and that users may no longer be able to use it afterward. The report also states that a revamped Kindle macOS app will be released in the next few weeks.
The new app is expected to have “an enhanced book reading and library management experience.” It should look more similar to the current Kindle app for iOS, as Amazon has been working on “homogenizing all of their software” to make the experiences similar between different devices.
While Kindle Classic was made with Java, the new app will be based on React Native. The last time the Mac app received an update was five months ago. On the Mac App Store, most of the reviews for the Kindle Classic app are 1-star, with users complaining about broken features, crashes, and a few other bugs.
Of course, having a new app may limit its availability for some older Macs since Kindle Classic only requires macOS Mojave (10.14) or later.
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