The latest change to the iOS Kindle app (6.84) has made
Downloaded a Library Filter setting, just like Kindle has had for awhile, and so there's no longer a visible way to toggle between ALL and DOWNLOADED. It is probably just a matter of days or weeks before the Android/Fire Kindle app follows suit.
Not a big deal for me, having adjusted to Kindle's way of doing things long ago.
But it is curious that they have been so timid in converging the 3 UIs more generally (leaving aside Mac (**) and Windows for the moment), given how much Kindle UI has already changed to bring them closer.
The visual presentation of Filters and Sort options is still different: on Kindle you get a dialog of buttons to toggle on and off and then close, after which the filters can be cleared individually without the full dialog. The apps have a dropdown list of options that can be toggled, and a way to clear all filters without the menu. Is the jury still out on which is 'better'?
Other differences are with managing content options:
- only Kindle has Return to Public Library, Go to, Search this book, View on Goodreads, Add to Goodreads shelf, Share Progress on Goodreads options
- only the apps let you Manage Household Sharing
- only iOS lets you Archive downloaded items from List view by swipe left gesture (at least the Android/Fire should have this convenient option)
- Kindle has no multiple select option
- Android/Fire is multiple select by default and requires separate tap to reveal options
- iOS is single select by default and you have to choose multiple select and then tap Action button to see what you can do after having selected some items
- iOS lets you sort by Publication Date; Android by Author (Z-A); Kindle has neither
Collection presentation is probably the area which remains most different:
- Kindle Collections view has Filter functionality enabled in Collections mode (and when viewing a collection), the apps do not
- the apps generate collection thumbnails, the Kindle does not
- only Android app lets you view a collection in List mode (*)
- On Kindle, when viewing a collection Add/Remove lets you filter and sort the list, but there's no search by keyword. At least this add/remove is in list view with both thumbnail and author/title.
- iOS and Android/Fire has search by Keyword, and no filter/sort option. But you only see thumbnails, there is no author/title text to look at, so it's not always so clear what you are picking
- Collection sort options on Android are Most Recent, Title, Author (A-Z), Author (Z-A), and Custom (manual sort)
- on Kindle they are Most Recent, Title, Author, Publication Date
- on iOS there's only Manual sort
(*) apparently Kindle is getting ability to have collections in List view (see below), but I have yet to see it on any of my Kindles
(**) the Kindle app for Mac has a beta version that is pretty much the same as the iPad version. I expect it will release for at least Apple Silicon Macs at some point. The beta has been going for more than six months already and is very stable, so not sure what they are waiting for.
In reading mode, the app toolbar has Close and ToC icons on the left, and Search/Notes/Aa/menu icons on the right. Kindle has only close on left, and then Aa/ToC/Notes/Bookmarks/Search/menu on the right. I slightly prefer the app toolbar, but given the common icon look and function, why should the order of presentation be different?
I do not expect much progress, frankly, but as someone who uses all 3 regularly, it is annoying to encounter some of these seemingly arbitrary differences.