09-03-2023, 04:42 AM | #1 |
Cloud Reader
Posts: 1,118
Karma: 4000066
Join Date: Aug 2010
Device: Kindle Oasis, Kindle Scribe, iPad Pro 11
|
New Kindle for Mac app announced
I just received an email from Amazon telling me that a new ‘and improved’ Kindle for Mac app will be coming in September and that the current app will stop working in October and will be discontinued. They promise reading and library management improvements for the new app.
They explain in detail how to transfer collections from the old app to the new one (start them side by side for the transfer to initiate) but there's no new app in the Mac App Store yet (where it should be ‘starting September’). My guess is that they will finally bring the iOS app to Mac (like they did with Prime video), which should bring a few welcome improvements in terms of library management and should also be a snappier experience overall. |
09-03-2023, 05:50 AM | #2 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 6,753
Karma: 86500093
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Charlottesville, VA
Device: Kindles
|
There have been mentions by others here of testing the new Kindle for Mac app.
Would someone who has received this email please post a copy here? I am curious about the exact phrasing of the statement that the "current app will stop working in October". |
Advert | |
|
09-03-2023, 08:09 AM | #3 | |
Junior Member
Posts: 8
Karma: 10
Join Date: May 2021
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Sage, & Forma, Kindle Oasis & Paperwhite SE
|
Quote:
We are replacing the current Kindle for Mac with a new and improved app, which will include an enhanced book reading and library management experience. Support for the current app will be ending by October 2023. The new Kindle for Mac will be available to download from the Mac App Store in September 2023. To copy any collections you created in the old app to the new app, please complete the following steps: Update to the latest version (1.40.1 or higher) of the current app. Open the latest version of the current app. This will trigger the transfer of your collections. Thank you for being a Kindle customer. Regards, The Kindle Team |
|
09-03-2023, 10:43 AM | #4 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 6,753
Karma: 86500093
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Charlottesville, VA
Device: Kindles
|
Thanks for that.
So it says that support will be ending for the old version. It says nothing yet about whether or not it will continue to function or for how long. Also, it does not say that both the old and new apps have to be open at the same time to transfer collections. Just that opening 1.40.1 or higher will trigger the transfer of collections. The old Kindle for Mac app did not support cloud collections shared across apps and devices. The new one, being Kindle for iOS, does support them. So the extra step done by opening 1.40.1 is to transfer the local collections into the cloud. That transfer of local collections has the potential of creating duplicate cloud collections so some cleanup of cloud collections may be needed afterwards. |
09-03-2023, 02:35 PM | #5 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 6,766
Karma: 26974049
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: USA
Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3
|
I've been running beta for 7 months on my MacBook.
As I stated on other thread, there probably will not be a DMG download any longer. App Store only. Will Intel be supported? It doesn't say it isn't. The beta only works on Apple Silicon. I also want to check if it will open anything from file system. And figure out where it stores files. Interesting that it transfers collections. I don't have any to migrate. I plan to deregister, remove content, uninstall old version and then install the new one (assuming Intel is supported). I think we have it installed on my wife's M1 iMac. I will let it do the upgrade there. |
Advert | |
|
09-03-2023, 03:21 PM | #6 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 6,753
Karma: 86500093
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Charlottesville, VA
Device: Kindles
|
Quote:
I also wonder where it stores the registration data for the app. It is very accessible in the old Kindle for Mac app. I expect to new one to be more locked down. |
|
09-03-2023, 04:27 PM | #7 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 6,766
Karma: 26974049
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: USA
Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3
|
Quote:
Storage is in: /Users/[user]/Library/Containers/Kindle/Data/Library/eBooks/ .azw for personal documents (no DRM) and .kfx tree. So upgrade presumably will move things from the previous location (which is currently configurable). "Registration data": for...?? where was it, I will check there. There are some things that could be better (even on iPad, since it supports external display): - Print replica/PDF only displays one page (as contrasted with non-fixed document content, which offers 2 columns. Also dark mode would be nice. - multiple document support (Apple Books has this on Mac) - cursor should fade out when in reading mode and over the app window. But other than that I like really having it at parity with the iOS app. Last edited by tomsem; 09-03-2023 at 05:33 PM. |
|
09-03-2023, 05:35 PM | #8 | |
just an egg
Posts: 1,697
Karma: 5514284
Join Date: Mar 2015
Device: Kindle, iOS
|
Quote:
Also, earlier versions of the beta appeared to be identical to Kindle for iPad, but the latest version is a little different. The file directory for the beta is totally different from 1.40.1, including how it stores book data. They really are two separate apps. I have both versions running on my Mac without any problem. I have poked around a little and could not find anything resembling registration data. Granted, my poking around skills are VERY limited. But I suspect you are right that the new K4Mac will be hard to crack. Last edited by odamizu; 09-07-2023 at 11:52 PM. |
|
09-03-2023, 05:49 PM | #9 |
just an egg
Posts: 1,697
Karma: 5514284
Join Date: Mar 2015
Device: Kindle, iOS
|
nevermind
Last edited by odamizu; 09-07-2023 at 11:51 PM. |
09-03-2023, 07:19 PM | #10 | ||
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 6,753
Karma: 86500093
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Charlottesville, VA
Device: Kindles
|
Quote:
/Library/Containers/Kindle/Data/Library and seeing if the app detects their presence up when restarted. Quote:
In addition KFX format has different variants depending on the platform to which it is sent. The new app will likely get a different set of files than the old one, likely the same files that are delivered to iOS devices. There are two components (DSN and account secret) established when the app is registered and used as part of the key for DRM. Without a way to discover those the Kindle for Mac app is going from being one of the more insecure Kindle apps in terms of DRM to being completely unbreakable. In the old app this data is stored encrypted in a file named .kinf2018 found in either /Library/Containers/com.amazon.Kindle/Data/Library/Application Support/Kindle/storage or /Library/Application Support/Kindle/storage. I assume that the new app takes advantage of more secure storage options now available in MacOS. The Kindle for PC app is going the same way, however it is going to take longer to happen there. Windows 11 includes built in Android emulation with apps supplied by Amazon, including the Kindle app. Users can use both the old Kindle for PC and this new app and they are independent of each other. I suspect that once Windows 10 reaches end-of-life in two years there will be a similar deprecation and transition to the new app on Windows. Last edited by jhowell; 09-03-2023 at 08:13 PM. |
||
09-03-2023, 08:59 PM | #11 | ||||
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 6,766
Karma: 26974049
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: USA
Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
|
||||
09-03-2023, 10:24 PM | #12 | ||
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 6,753
Karma: 86500093
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Charlottesville, VA
Device: Kindles
|
I agree that Windows 10 will not run Android natively and I so doubt Amazon will discontinue support for Kindle for PC while Windows 10 is still supported by Microsoft.
Quote:
Quote:
Last edited by jhowell; 09-03-2023 at 10:28 PM. |
||
09-05-2023, 02:39 PM | #13 | |
Cloud Reader
Posts: 1,118
Karma: 4000066
Join Date: Aug 2010
Device: Kindle Oasis, Kindle Scribe, iPad Pro 11
|
Quote:
I suspect, like you said, that either the old app will continue working on Intel Macs, or they will release it to work on Intel as well (they did that, btw, with the Prime Video app which is a port of the iOS app but runs, albeit poorly, on Intel Macs). |
|
09-07-2023, 05:38 AM | #14 |
Member
Posts: 24
Karma: 4087612
Join Date: Sep 2010
Device: Kindle Paperwhite (10th generation)
|
The Kindle app on my Mac just updated to 1.40.02 and now calls itself Kindle Classic.
|
09-07-2023, 09:17 AM | #15 |
Member
Posts: 16
Karma: 10
Join Date: Aug 2019
Device: Kindle
|
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Kindle Mac app, automatic adding | emmgee | Library Management | 18 | 05-08-2016 07:43 PM |
Kindle app on Mac laptop | Hoppity | Amazon Kindle | 3 | 02-15-2013 10:12 AM |
Mobi thumbnail on Kindle PC/Mac app | mo79 | Kindle Formats | 7 | 08-04-2012 08:02 PM |
Kindle for Mac - Amazon vs App Store | gers1978 | Amazon Kindle | 15 | 05-05-2012 01:53 PM |
K4 Mac or PC Transferring ebooks from Kindle App for Mac to Kindle | kitchenette | Amazon Kindle | 2 | 03-03-2011 06:39 PM |