iPhone Performance/speed, sideloaded vs. Amazon

[amn]

I've been reading on Kindle iOS App for about a year now on three different devices. I mostly read sideloaded books that I've converted to mobi with Calibre and those work great. I've also bought some books from Amazon and those are sooooo slow! Every single time I unlock the screen the book refreshes for a few seconds and then restarts the "learning reading speed" -process. Also page turns are noticeably slower and it seems like I have to swipe instead of my usual light tap to even get the page to turn at all.

Is this normal? Does the same thing happen on an actual Kindle? I've been meaning to buy a Kindle and start buying books from Amazon 'cause that would be convenient, but not if this is what I have to look forward to.

The oldest device is a 3rd Gen iPod Touch with iOS 5.1.1 and a really old Kindle App, the newest is an iPhone with the latest iOS and latest Kindle App. Page turn animation is off on all devices.

Originally Posted by amn

I've been reading on Kindle iOS App for about a year now on three different devices. I mostly read sideloaded books that I've converted to mobi with Calibre and those work great. I've also bought some books from Amazon and those are sooooo slow! Every single time I unlock the screen the book refreshes for a few seconds and then restarts the "learning reading speed" -process. Also page turns are noticeably slower and it seems like I have to swipe instead of my usual light tap to even get the page to turn at all.

Is this normal? Does the same thing happen on an actual Kindle? I've been meaning to buy a Kindle and start buying books from Amazon 'cause that would be convenient, but not if this is what I have to look forward to.

The oldest device is a 3rd Gen iPod Touch with iOS 5.1.1 and a really old Kindle App, the newest is an iPhone with the latest iOS and latest Kindle App. Page turn animation is off on all devices.

I only have Amazon purchased books in my Kindle app on my iPhone 6+, but I can confirm that whenever I open a book or start the app it takes a moment to refresh/sync. That is annoying and I don't remember the app doing that in the past. I'll try to sideload a book to see if it does the same.

ETA: My iPhone is rather fast, so it only takes a second or two to refresh. But it is still annoying. I do have a sideloaded PDF and that loads without the refreshing. I still need to sideload a customized mobi book to see if it that also refreshes.

Okay, I sideloaded a customized mobi book to the Kindle library on my iPhone 6+. I can confirm that the book does not refresh when opened nor does the app refresh when I open it with that sideloaded book open. So I guess it is only the Amazon books that were directly downloaded that refresh. I'm guessing that the Amazon books have so many bells and whistles now what with Xray, and all the other junk I rarely use or want, that they have become bloated. My iPhone is fast enough that I don't see any slow down in page turning or other functions though. And no, I never noticed my Kindle Voyage doing the refresh thing like the iOS app is doing.

[amn]

OK thanks a lot jswinden! I'm mostly interested in the fact that the Voyage does not do this. So I can continue reading sideloaded books until I can get a Voyage (I'm in Europe). And after that I can start reading the books I've already purchased from Amazon.

[eschwartz]

E-Ink Kindles download new bookinfo as a background process and don't have to wait for the book to open. I guess that is a benefit of the ereader controlling the OS.

Originally Posted by eschwartz

E-Ink Kindles download new bookinfo as a background process and don't have to wait for the book to open. I guess that is a benefit of the ereader controlling the OS.

The Kindle for iOS app used to do the DLing/syncing in the background, or at least it was invisible to the user even on older devices. Amazon has changed something in the app. I doubt it has anything to do with Apple or iOS. And for the record, the Kindle for iOS app has been the flagship "device" app for quite a while with tons more features than the Android crapp which always lagged way behind. Not only that, but Kindle for iOS is still much faster than any of the eInk Kindles.