Summary
- The Kindle App brings app-only perks: mint/yellow page colors, continuous scrolling, and a reading ruler.
- Track progress with Reading Challenges, set yearly goals, and unlock achievement bookmarks.
- Request e-book refunds right in the app; purchases still must be made on Amazon or a Kindle device.
E-readers changed the lives of bookworms everywhere when they started gaining traction in the early 2000s. Suddenly, you could take as many Vince Flynn novels with you anywhere you went, and still have (almost) unlimited space to dabble in all the genres you wanted. At a coffee shop and get the itch for LOTR fantasy in the middle of a friends-to-lovers rom-com? No more just dealing with it until you got home to switch up the vibe.
Amazon’s famous Kindle models have become synonymous with the term ‘e-reader,’ and the retail giant has done an admirable job of getting digital books into readers’ hands, even if you don’t agree with all of its actions. It didn’t stop at its single-use devices, either — Amazon released a free Kindle app in 2009 for users to read their downloaded books on their smartphones or tablets, regardless if you had one of its e-readers or not.
The Kindle App syncs with your Amazon account and gives you access to all the e-books purchased through it, exactly like your Kindle e-reader. The idea is the same — unlimited reading no matter where you go. If you forget your device on the morning train but can’t bear the cliffhanger from the night before, it’s great in a pinch to not miss out on any chapters. But, there are a few secret features exclusively available on the Kindle App that your e-reader can only dream of. Here are my six favorites.
1
Change the page color
Not just temperature or dark mode
On my Kindle Paperwhite, I can adjust the page to be in Dark mode, Light mode, or even the warmth of the page to be easier on my eyes. However, those are my only options if I’m reading on the e-reader.
If you’re reading on the Kindle App, you have more options: white, yellow, mint green, and black. The mint green color is particularly pretty, and changes it up if you’re getting bored with the traditional look. To change the page color, follow these steps:
- Open a book you’re reading on the Kindle App.
- Tap the top of the page to bring up menus.
- Tap the Aa setting in the upper right-hand corner.
- Select the Layout tab.
- Choose between white, yellow, mint green, and black under Page Color.
You can also toggle on “Update Page Using System Theme” if you want the page color to automatically adjust based on your device’s settings.
The good kind of scrolling
If you’re the type to get intimidated by thick books with long chapters, this app-only feature is right up your alley. The Kindle App has a setting to rid yourself of pages (and thus page turning) entirely by turning whole chapters into one long page that you scroll through rather than click through.
Here’s how to turn on continuous scrolling:
- Open a book you’re reading on the Kindle App.
- Tap the top of the page to bring up menus.
- Tap the Aa setting in the upper right-hand corner.
- Select the Layout tab.
- Toggle on Continuous Scrolling.
It’s a familiar way of reading, as almost all major social media platforms use this organization style for their timelines. It’s also familiar if you ever spent time browsing notorious fanfiction websites, like AO3 or Wattpad.
3
Reading ruler
Keep up the pace by keeping your place
The Reading Ruler creates a colorful overlay bar that you can drag up and down the page to keep track of which line you’re reading. It helps you stay focused on that part of the page and pick up where you left off if your attention is taken away for a few moments (or minutes).
This feature is a distracted reader’s best friend. Whether it’s physical books or your e-reader’s screen, it’s easy to lose your place when you’re reading. I ran into this issue almost every day when I was in college — particularly during the semesters I was pre-med and got lost on those teeny tiny lines in my biology textbooks. If I had the Reading Ruler, it might’ve kept me on track with the fine print (I could’ve been Dr. Fogarty at this point).
Instead, here I am in journalism to tell you how to get that reading ruler on your Kindle App:
- Open your Kindle App and select a book you want to read.
- Tap the top of the page to bring up menus.
- Tap the Aa setting in the upper right-hand corner.
- Select the More tab.
- Tap Reading Ruler, then toggle it on.
- Select the color, transparency, size, and style of ruler you prefer.
As for style, I like that you can opt for the ruler to highlight the text you’re reading or block out the text you aren’t. Sometimes my eyes can’t help but jump to the bottom of a page to spoil an upcoming cliffhanger.
4
Reading Challenges
For data nerds like me
Previously called Reading Insights, Reading Challenges is a section of the Kindle App dedicated to showing off information like the books you’ve read this year and specific reading achievements. It’s also a place where you can set a goal for how many books you’d like to read in a particular year.
I love this feature to look back on the year and see all the titles under my belt. It’s also fun to ‘unlock’ the different bookmarks that come when you fulfill an achievement.
Here’s how to access Reading Challenges:
- Open your Kindle App.
- Tap More in the bottom right-hand corner.
- Select Reading Challenges at the top.
- Under Reading Challenge, tap Challenge details.
5
Request a refund
But no buying books
Books typically aren’t something people return too often — unless you purchased it by accident. In the Kindle App, you can actually submit a refund request right from your phone or tablet. You cannot do this on your physical e-reader itself. Instead, you must go to Amazon’s website under “Your Orders” or “Manage Your Content and Devices” to submit a refund.
Funny enough, you can’t buy books through the Kindle App like you can on an official Kindle device. This is because the Kindle App can be downloaded to Apple, Android, or other devices outside Amazon’s walled garden, so if you were to make a purchase through the app, whichever app store you use would take a cut. Amazon doesn’t want anyone to take a share of the cake.
To keep all profits in-house, Amazon made it so the only way to purchase books for your Kindle library was through its website or natively on its own e-readers. On the other hand, refunds don’t take away any income, so Amazon doesn’t particularly mind if you use its iOS app to try to get your money back.
- Open your Kindle App.
- Tap More in the bottom right-hand corner.
- Select Help & Feedback at the bottom.
- Tap the book you’d like to return and select a reason.
Note that Amazon has a seven-day return policy for accidental e-book purchases.
