Windows Phone 8 App Pick: Kindle

Today, Amazon upgraded its Kindle app for Windows Phone to version 2, adding native support for Windows Phone 8 and elevating this gotta-have-it app even further in my estimation. The Kindle app is one of the very first apps I install on Windows Phone, and now it’s even better.

For the most part, Kindle works as before, integrating with your cloud-based Kindle library and allowing you to download books to the device and read them online and off. It uses Amazon’s vaunted Whispersync technology to keep your place in a book that’s read on multiple devices, and of course has all the same user experience customization capabilities as before. Functionally, it’s pretty much the same as always, with the same gorgeous Metro user interface.

(As with many other Kindle mobile app versions, however, what you don’t gain access to are periodicals (New York Times and so on) and the intriguing Whispersync for Voice feature that still requires Kindle devices, not apps. Since Windows Phone has both Kindle and Audible apps, I have to think this is coming.)

What’s new in version 2, of course, is Windows Phone 8 support. And this support is pretty meaningful:

Supports all Windows Phone 8 resolutions

The Kindle app now supports all Windows Phone 8 resolutions, including 720p and 1280 x 768. If you used the previous app version, you may have seen black bars at the top of the screen.

Now the Kindle app fills the entire screen, as you would expect:

New live tile capabilities

Amazon changed the Kindle tile from its previous familiar graphic to what appears to be, at first, a plain orange tile.

But the new tile supports the three possible tile sizes and, best of all, it’s dynamic. So it will display information about the book you’re reading now as well.

(Yes, you can still pin individual books to the Start screen if you prefer.)

Overall, what we’ve got here is the excellent Kindle app we’ve always enjoyed, nicely updated for Windows Phone 8. Highly recommended.

You can download the Kindle app for Windows Phone 8 (and Windows Phone 7.5) from the Windows Phone Store.