Like many popular apps, Amazon’s Kindle app for iOS got a new coat of paint today just in time for people to start updating to iOS 7. But for Amazon, the beauty is more than skin-deep.
In addition to its facelift, the Kindle app also offers users some new features, including Collections, which allow users to categorize books into whatever categories they want. Unlike a physical bookshelf, one book can go into multiple categories, so you could keep your copy of “The Odyssey” under Epics and Poetry if you wanted. Amazon also integrated its “X-ray” technology into the app, which allows users to learn more about the book with content from Shelfari.com and Wikipedia.
Amazon is still trying to skirt Apple’s rules that apply a 30 percent tax to the sale of any item through an iOS app by offering free samples through the app though requiring people to purchase the actual books through Amazon’s online store.
Surprisingly, Apple’s own iBooks app hasn’t gotten an iOS 7 refresh yet. It’s possible that Apple may be saving its new look for a rumored iPad event in October.
Here are some more shots of what the new app looks like:
