Last month I asked why three-and-a-half years after the release of the Kindle there was still no Kindle for Mac software from Amazon. Well, maybe they were listening because out of the blue they released Kindle for Mac yesterday and I’ve taken a look at it to see what it’s like. The good news is there’s no need to own an Amazon Kindle device to use Kindle for Mac. The bad news is that considering the amount of time it has taken, it’s nothing to get too excited about. It’s simple, does the job but that’s about it.
Kindle for Mac is a very simple e-book reader which allows you to read and sync your library with your Kindle. You can purchase books online and have them directly delivered to Kindle for Mac and then sync it with your device. When you first install it you’re required to enter in your Amazon account details or sign-up for one.
You can then either transfer books from your Kindle to Kindle for Mac by clicking the rather small synchronization symbol or go directly to the Amazon site by clicking Shop In Kindle Store.
You can sort titles by name, author or most recently purchased but other than that there are absolutely no other preferences. It’s a little annoying that long book names are truncated on your library page and there seems no way of changing this:
Reading is a simple case of dragging pages up and down with your mouse or using your mouse wheel. Alternatively, you can use the white arrow on the right to skip pages. Strangely though, you can’t seem to zoom in or out which you’d imagine as a basic feature in an e-book reader.
You can add bookmarks on any page by just clicking Bookmark and a small fold will appear in the top right corner of the page for when you return too the book later. There are extensive keyboard shortcuts also, details of which can be found on the Kindle for Mac Keyboard Shortcuts page.
Overall Kindle for Mac does an efficient but basic job of managing your Kindle books and considering how long its taken to arrive, its a little disappointing.
