[pwalker8]

I noticed on the most recent update that Amazon added series to the Kindle app (iOS version). This is something that Apple added about a year and a half ago. They do it the same way that Apple does, which is show what books are in the series and which ones you don't have. It's pretty nice, IMPO.

However, since they don't want to pay the Apple fee, they don't give you the option of buying. You have to go to your browser for that. It's one of those extra steps issues that is the difference between a kludge and a quality user experience. Series info hasn't made it to my kindle device yet.

Apple does group by series with missing series titles that you can then buy. Since Apple allows side loading on their app, the question is how it handles series titles that you didn't purchase from the Apple store. The answer is that they don't and there is no method for adding series information.

Kobo has had group by series for a while as well. It works pretty well and series can be marked in Calibre, and then updated on the device if you have the right add-ons. Maybe there is something similar for the kindle and I haven't found it yet.

When buying books at the various app stores, series information is usually included. Since I buy mostly from Amazon, I notice it the most. They really improved how they handle series several years ago. It notes which books are in the series and which books you already have. You do have to click on the right links to get there, but for me, it's not nearly as much of an issue when I'm already in the browser. There are some gaps, but I suspect it's because Amazon pushes maintaining the book catalog back onto the publishers.

One thing that I've noticed is that when I buy from Baen books, the calibre series metadata is already filled in. This is something that I think that other publishers could add value by doing.