My kindle app is probably my most loved and revered app on any of my devices. I use it hours on end and almost every single day of the year I am on it for one reason or the other. Over 87% of my library is digital and I am always on the hunt for my next great rid solely because of how easily accessible of a resource it is.
It doesn’t hurt either, that its capable to be on all of my devices—from my computer to my phone, and even to my iPad; the kindle app is everywhere I am. But one of the great debates I have seen floating around my sphere of the internet is whether the app is better than an e-reader itself. For the sake of this Sunday tea, I am going to be focusing on the Kindle app or app reading versus the kindle paperwhite/e-readers. I’m not going to mention the Kindle fire, as I think that encompasses the same heart as the kindle app.
I have both the Kindle Paperwhite (2018 generation) as well as every single app version of the kindle app in each of my devices. After years of use, I can without a doubt say that reading on the kindle app is the far superior method out there. From functionality, user friendly interface, and actual color–Kindle app is the honest way to go.
Paperwhite Conundrum
I got my Kindle Paperwhite back in 2018 and thought it was the sun and moon, I was able to read in the dark and not wake up my family, I had access to all my books so long as I downloaded them before hand (I was not about to spend that extra dough for 3G when Wifi was a thing), and it was small and compact enough that it fit in almost all my bags. It was perfect…
Until a year later when it wasn’t.
I started to notice that the battery wasn’t lasting about 8 months into owning my paperwhite, but thought nothing of it and chalked it up to “well I’ve been using it more apparently”. But then as the weeks went on, my battery lasted maybe a day or two at best before passing out. At that point I contacted Amazon, used the warranty, and got a replacement.
This is where my downfall truly began. Like I mentioned earlier, I own a lot of digital books (over 4,000 to put it in perspective), so when I went to resync my new paperwhite—it took forever to sync. I remember having to contact Amazon yet again because I still hadn’t synced not even 10% of my library. Conversations turned into troubleshooting and two and a half weeks later I was completely synced. Hip hip hooray! Not. Three months later the battery began to fail again and I was back to square one again.
It wasn’t until my third replacement in 2019 that I hung up my fighting gloves and said goodbye to the e-reader family and fully immersed myself in the kindle app lifestyle.
Saved by the…app?
The kindle app felt like it understood my woes and gave me a soft pat pat on the back, while it handed me my favorite read. Everything was already sync’d and all in one place. I could navigate things swiftly and efficiently without ever having to wait for my screen to catch up or process my touch. With a smooth interface I had the ability to customize my reading experience to fit any screen I was reading on—and boy did I have choices! I installed the app on every device I owned and it’s been a game changer ever since.
No matter where I am, I am able to pull out the app and immerse myself in the stories I love so much. And unlike the paperwhite, the ability to switch between different orientations and changing font sizes to better use those orientations is so much easier with the kindle app. Not to mention, the added perks of different color highlighters for those who notate/annotate as well as the built in feature of reading along with your audible audiobooks (which is literally my favorite thing ever!). It also has the great aesthetic advantage of showing the actual covers of documents instead of the standard said gray document cover. Vibrancy is etched into the coding of the app I think, and because of that reading comics on the kindle app is by far the most superior way of digitally reading comics. On the kindle, everything is black and white, but with the app I get to enjoy the comics the way they were intended.
The kindle app has changed my reading for the better I think, and I don’t think I could ever go back. Sometime I pull out my paperwhite to give it “another chance” but I almost always find myself switching back to my iPad in the middle of the book.
What about you? How do you read? and if it’s digitally—what’s your go to e-reader or app?
I do love that kindle has various ways you can read. I never had the paperwhite. I had the voyage and now have the Oasis. I honestly love reading e ink. I had a detached retina surgery a few years ago, so a glaring screen just makes it more challenging to read, my oasis I love because it relaxes my eye more. And the battery is that I only charge it about once a week. So I think it just depends on what your preferences are
I totally forgot about the eye-strain! Definitely a plus on the e-reader side of things, as well as the ability to read outside without a glare! (I’ve gotten so use to my bad eyesight I forgotten about that perk!) I’ve never used the Oasis or Voyage before, so maybe those are better than the Paperwhite 🤔 like the paperwhite is the experimental child that Bezos tested all its kinks on to make the others look nicer lololol.
You know, these are valid points! I have an Oasis and I do like it for long reading sessions because I don’t get distracted and it doesn’t strain my eyes as much (I’m def one of those people who benefits from the Kindles’ e-ink screens), but that’s pretty much the only time I reach for it: if I know exactly what I want to read and I’m settling in and getting comfy to read for a long while. Otherwise, I go for my iPhone or iPad and use the app because it really is so much smoother to scroll through and it’s a lot faster in general!
I’ve never used the oasis before so maybe on my next second chance moment for e-ink readers I’ll give that one a go! I do agree, e-ink really helps on the eye strain portion as with reading outside, but ugh am I a lover of vibrant colors and speed with technology. 🤣🤣
This is such a useful post because I’ve been considering getting a kindle e-reader. I personally love the kindle app for the same reasons you mentioned but I was worried about my eyesight because I spend A Lot of time reading at night and I know that some of the newer kindle readers have features to help with night reading. I think I’m going to hold off on buying them, though, because I don’t want to really deal with any of the issues you mentioned, especially when I’ve already got a fantastic app that caters to my needs! Great post!
Thank you! I agree with you that on the e-ink readers helping so much with eye strain, definite plus on their side that I forgot to mention in the post! I’ve also heard from a couple friends after posting this that the updated versions of the e-readers have addressed the battery issue, but I personally don’t know how well they addressed it to warrant mentioning. I’m on the fence on upgrading just because of my bad experience, but If you are thinking about getting one, I’d highly recommend taking the plunge for them during Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales as the newer versions are up there in prices and I know the cut down by almost half during those days! Happy reading! <3
Not me having flashbacks to when you were having problems with your e reader and then realising dang, we’ve been friends for that long already?! Time flew by sunshine *sobs* Interestingly I have always been more of a physical reader, I am slowly (albeit VERY slowly) transitioning to using digital books simply because I don’t want to keep buying physical books unless they give me joy. I did know that I didn’t want just an e-reader, my dad got us a tablet that I use mostly (ahem I use it for Genshin more than reading atm oops) because it enabled me to use the reading apps I wanted without limiting me to Amazon’s library. That was my main issue, and to an extent still is, I don’t want to have to buy ebooks through Amazon although I have a feeling I may have to at some point :/ For now when I do read ebooks its using my library app, which has been really nice. Also I like having colour not gonna lie, as for eye strain which I would guess is more on a tablet than an e-reader which is designed to help give you comfort whilst reading. I just wear my glasses and turn the brightness down low as well as swapping the page to be black with white text. It’s much nicer on my eyes I’ve found.
FINALLY! SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS ME! I remember you mentioning about your e-reader issues way back in the day (wow I remember that? Also that’s how long we’ve been friends?), and I definitely had similar issues too. Not exactly the battery, but I do know my reader screen started getting blacked out and eventually it became too much but it was right after my warranty so Amazon couldn’t do anything and I ended converting to the app instead. It’s been an absolute lifesaver thankfully (especially since I can download most ARCs there too otherwise I’d be out of luck for ages lol).
WE ARE THE SAME PERSON! I am an avid lover of the Kindle app and have it on my phone, laptop, and iPad. I never bothered buying an actual Kindle device because I find the app so convenient, and then when I found out the highlighter colors was an app thing I was like HELL NO.
And on the device side, I swear that Amazon electronics don’t last long. My dad and I have both gone through 2 fire sticks. Like… if I decide to get an e-reader, it will be the Nook I think. Great post!