Kindle app
Ranked 4 of 7 ebook reader apps by recommenders
Lets people read Kindle books across devices, especially on phones and tablets, with smooth scrolling. Critics say the Windows app is poor and books cannot be exported.
Lets people read Kindle books across devices, especially on phones and tablets, with smooth scrolling. Critics say the Windows app is poor and books cannot be exported.
21 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 12
- approval share
- 43%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Runs well on phones and tablets
“I can also use the iPad and iPhone apps for kindle to read on the go”
Comment from 20 Apr 2026 in “I'm never buying another Kindle, and neither should you” “the Kindle app, although annoying, works well enough”
Comment from 18 Apr 2026 in “Amazon is discontinuing Kindle for PC on June 30th” “my 5+ year old phone runs the kindle app just fine”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “Tiny $70 Xteink X3 e-reader” - Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers”
Syncs between devices for reading
“Kindle app syncs between devices, and makes it easier to read a few pages here and there”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” “I can also use the iPad and iPhone apps for kindle to read on the go”
Comment from 20 Apr 2026 in “I'm never buying another Kindle, and neither should you” Smooth scrolling instead of page-turning
“The android kindle app has a neat smooth scrolling feature that works really well.”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Kindle loyalists scramble as Amazon turns page on old e-readers” “I really like scrolling instead of page-turning”
Comment from 4 Oct 2026 in “Amazon introduces a redesigned Kindle family”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Windows app is poor
“I'm quite disappointed that they didn't continue in the vein of the Windows 8 app which was touch friendly and worked quite nicely w/ a stylus.”
Comment from 18 Apr 2026 in “Amazon is discontinuing Kindle for PC on June 30th” “As for the Windows app, it's terrible. Horrible. Awful. Nobody liked it.”
Comment from 18 Apr 2026 in “Amazon is discontinuing Kindle for PC on June 30th” “Agree the PC interface is pretty crappy though.”
Comment from 18 Apr 2026 in “Amazon is discontinuing Kindle for PC on June 30th” Books cannot be exported
“the new types of Kinds require a method of extracting Kindles to PDF which is an order of magnitude harder”
Comment from 18 Apr 2026 in “Amazon is discontinuing Kindle for PC on June 30th” “this is 100% about preventing people from liberating DRM from their books”
Comment from 18 Apr 2026 in “Amazon is discontinuing Kindle for PC on June 30th” “Then the Kindle app became horrendous. Now exporting is not a thing.”
Comment from 8 Nov 2025 in “Apple is crossing a Steve Jobs red line” Cannot buy books in app
“Too bad for them it's caused me to buy all my ebooks elsewhere.”
Comment from 18 Apr 2026 in “Amazon is discontinuing Kindle for PC on June 30th” “being unable to buy books in the Kindle app”
Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “Apple to Soon Take Up to 30% Cut from All Patreon Creators in iOS App”
Other ebook reader apps people recommend
The four most recommended other ebook reader apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KOReader | 193 | 32 | 86% | 11 | 1 yr7 owners | Approved |
| Bookshelf | 15 | 5 | 75% | 6 | 3 mo3 owners | Approved |
| Apple Books | 10 | 29 | 26% | 6 | — | — |
| Kindle appThis page | 9 | 12 | 43% | 6 | — | — |
| Librera Reader | 8 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
20 of the 21 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Some, e.g., Kindle, are outright non-functional when the phone is open.”
“I really like scrolling instead of page-turning”
“my 5+ year old phone runs the kindle app just fine”
“they blow the Kindle app out of the water”
“their library view for Kindle on iOS was inaccessible to VoiceOver”
“I find the Kindle UX better on my iPhone or iPad.”
“The android kindle app has a neat smooth scrolling feature that works really well.”
“I can also use the iPad and iPhone apps for kindle to read on the go”
“Agree the PC interface is pretty crappy though.”
“the Kindle app, although annoying, works well enough”
“the new types of Kinds require a method of extracting Kindles to PDF which is an order of magnitude harder”
“I'm quite disappointed that they didn't continue in the vein of the Windows 8 app which was touch friendly and worked quite nicely w/ a stylus.”
“As for the Windows app, it's terrible. Horrible. Awful. Nobody liked it.”
“this is 100% about preventing people from liberating DRM from their books”
“Too bad for them it's caused me to buy all my ebooks elsewhere.”
“being unable to buy books in the Kindle app”
“Kindle app syncs between devices, and makes it easier to read a few pages here and there”
“it is very limited in adjustability which makes reading harder for me”
“Then the Kindle app became horrendous. Now exporting is not a thing.”
“access to the kindle app on play store”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.