Amazon: Kindle app for PC moves to the Microsoft Store
Amazon will no longer offer the current Kindle app for PC after June 30. It will be replaced by a new version from the Microsoft Store.
The Kindle online shop
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The current Kindle app for PC is being discontinued: Users of the new version will be notified by warning messages at program startup that the application will no longer be available after June 30. It will be replaced by a "new and improved" Kindle app for Windows 11, which will be offered in the Microsoft Store. There will apparently no longer be a Windows 10 variant.
Amazon has repeatedly moved the Kindle app for PC back and forth between the Microsoft Store and a separate download version. It is unclear why Amazon is once again deciding to discontinue the current app and offer a new version in the Microsoft Store instead. The industry magazine Good e-Reader speculates that Amazon wants to make it more difficult to crack the DRM systems of Kindle books. Amazon did not immediately respond to inquiries from heise online.
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The Kindle app for PC is a rather rudimentary tool for managing the library and reading e-books on the PC. You can add books to collections and download them to read within the app. The books are then also available as DRM-protected local files, which are located by default in the "My Kindle Content" subfolder in the "Documents" folder. According to Good e-Reader, many Kindle users only use the app with the intention of cracking the DRM of these files. Amazon has repeatedly tried to counteract this with updates for the Kindle app.
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No more downloads for older Kindles
Amazon recently caused a stir with the decision to exclude older Kindle readers from e-book downloads. Users of the affected models can no longer download new books, and USB transfer has already been deactivated. From May 20, the readers can only be used to read books already downloaded by the deadline.
The following models are affected:
- Kindle: Kindle (1st generation, 2007), Kindle DX and DX Graphite (2009 and 2010), Kindle Keyboard (2010), Kindle 4 (2011), Kindle Touch (2011), Kindle 5 (2012), and Kindle Paperwhite (1st generation, 2012).
- Kindle Fire Tablets: Kindle Fire (1st generation, 2011), Kindle Fire (2nd generation, 2012), Kindle Fire HD 7 (2012), Kindle Fire HD 8.9 (2012).
Purchased content on Amazon's Kindle service is linked to an account and can therefore be accessed on a computer or mobile phone, for example. So no purchased e-books will be lost, but the readers themselves will become significantly less useful due to the change. (dahe)
