12-29-2012, 01:25 PM | #1 |
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Kindle App for Windows 8 - incredibly slow
Hello all, I'm mainly curious to see if others are having a similar experience here.
My main reading device is a Kindle 3. In conjunction with that I've used the Kindle apps on both Android (little slow, but that mainly was due to hardware) and Windows Phone 8 (works great). I recently ended up with a Windows 8 tablet through my work: Samsung ATIV Smart PC 500T - runs the full version of Windows 8, not the RT (ARM) version. I've been trying the Windows 8 Kindle app on there and have found it is *really* slow at formatting pages, e.g. page turns, changing from portrait to landscape, changing font size, etc. Because the screen is larger than most tablets at 11.6" I actually like reading in landscape where with the Kindle app I get 2 columns of text so it's like having a paperback held open. Not sure if this adds to the sluggish performance. Anyone else have any experience with this? I know a lot of the Metro Apps (or whatever Microsoft is calling them now) tend to be a bit sluggish, but this is ridiculously bad. At the worst takes as much as 4 or 5 seconds for a page turn! It averages maybe 2 full seconds for a page turn. Otherwise it's a surprisingly pleasant way to read, better than I had expected. I've just learned to try and time the page turn as I'm reading the last couple lines on the page so it'll turn right as I finish the page. Thanks for any input you have. |
12-29-2012, 02:25 PM | #2 |
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How does the standard "Kindle for PC" perform on it?
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12-29-2012, 02:42 PM | #3 |
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Good idea to compare. I just installed it and that version is pretty much instant in all aspects. Definitely the Metro app is the problem. I did search around for a while last night trying to find other mentions of this online, on Amazon's support forum, etc. and never really got anywhere.
I'd be fine to use the "Kindle for PC" version, but it's not nearly as nice to use with touch controls. I know, first world problems and all that, but no reason not to search for the best solution, right? |
12-29-2012, 04:03 PM | #4 |
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No, I completely agree with you. If you have a touch screen device, naturally you want apps which are optimised for the touch UI.
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12-29-2012, 04:51 PM | #5 |
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Seems to be a Windows 8 app problem in general. I have a dozen apps installed which are extremly slow, whereas the system in general is perfectly fine. I just don't use them anymore, kinda frustrating.
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12-29-2012, 05:12 PM | #6 |
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Yeah that's been my experience, too. Doesn't make sense why the framework for the metro apps would be so poor.
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01-31-2013, 08:09 AM | #7 |
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I know this is an old-ish thread, but I thought I would mention my experience.
Like you, ShadowPlay, I found page turns to be a little slow - but only occasionally. When going forward through a book, every fifth page or so would take several seconds to turn. But other pages would turn instantly, as was also the case when paging backwards. I got the impression that the software was reading and caching several pages ahead each time. However, I had a couple of more serious. Firstly, there seems to be no way of searching within a book. You can only search the titles in your library or in the Kindle store. Worse, there was no easy way of reading a book not purchased from Amazon. Unlike with the traditional version of the Kindle for PC app, you can't simply double-click on a file in Windows and have it open in the app. For that reason, I also decided to revert to the original "Kindle for PC" program. (This was partly on Harry T's advice; see https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=203729.) I now use that in preference to the Windows 8 version. I don't agree that the Windows 8 app has better touch controls. In both versions, you can simply touch the side of the screen to turn the page. Also, in the traditional version, the page slider (at the bottom of the screen) is always visible, whereas in the new version you have to slide upwards from the bottom of the screen to make it visible. It's true that the new version also lets you change pages by swiping rather than touching, but I don't see any compelling reason to do that. I do agree with your general comments about Windows 8. I've found the whole thing enormously frustrating. I recently acquired a Windows 8 hybrid machine (a laptop with a detachable touch screen), but I doubt that I'll be using it much. Mike |
02-01-2013, 08:01 AM | #8 |
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If anyone's interested, I've now written a blog post on the problems mentioned in this discussion, with the recommendation of reverting to the "standard" version of Kindle for PC where possible. Welcome any comments or corrections.
Mike |
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