Kindle cloud reader offline disappear

[Iris-maybe]

Kindle cloud reader offline doesn't work anymore. The "Cloud" and "Downloaded" tabs are disappear.

[Nate the great]

https://read.amazon.com/

Still works for me?

[hyegeek]

While the site does come up, the cloud and download tabs are missing for me as well.

Not only that, but DRM books can no longer be read, they prompt me to enter my email address for a link to the kindle app.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

https://read.amazon.com/

Still works for me?

Yes...I can get there, and I can read books that were previously opened even if I'm offline. There is no way to see at a glance which books are available offline, but I don't ever remember seeing that, so I can't tell you if it's gone or was never there. I don't use the cloud reader very often--usually only as a proof of concept.

Shari

[shalym]

Originally Posted by hyegeek

While the site does come up, the cloud and download tabs are missing for me as well.

Not only that, but DRM books can no longer be read, they prompt me to enter my email address for a link to the kindle app.

I'm not having any problem opening DRM'd books in the cloud reader, either online or offline.

Shari

[hyegeek]

Originally Posted by shalym

I'm not having any problem opening DRM'd books in the cloud reader, either online or offline.

Shari

Under linux using either firefox or chromium, I'm not able to open a book with DRM.

I'm not near the browser I used in the past, this was done on a different machine that has not previously been used for the cloud reader, so I don't know if it still works on the other one.

[hyegeek]

After gaining access to the browser I used in the past, what I'm seeing is that the download and cloud tabs were still there until I read a new book. At that point I got a message about download the app for offline reading and then those tabs were gone.

As for the DRM, apparently, this is not DRM across the board, but just some books that are not compatible with the could reader. The previous downloaded books with DRM still worked, some DRM books do download and work, some books get the "can't open this book" message.

Since I had not tried the incompatible books before, I can't tell is this is a change.

The books I brought up in the reader this morning were indeed downloaded to my machine so it does not look like there is a change to what the reader does, just to what it shows.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by hyegeek

Under linux using either firefox or chromium, I'm not able to open a book with DRM.

I'm not near the browser I used in the past, this was done on a different machine that has not previously been used for the cloud reader, so I don't know if it still works on the other one.

Interesting. I'm on Windows 10 using Firefox, and all is well. Can someone else who uses Linux try this and see if they are able to open any books with DRM using read.amazon.com?

Shari

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by shalym

Yes...I can get there, and I can read books that were previously opened even if I'm offline. There is no way to see at a glance which books are available offline, but I don't ever remember seeing that, so I can't tell you if it's gone or was never there. I don't use the cloud reader very often--usually only as a proof of concept.

Shari

Originally Posted by hyegeek

While the site does come up, the cloud and download tabs are missing for me as well.

Not only that, but DRM books can no longer be read, they prompt me to enter my email address for a link to the kindle app.

thanks for this - I didn't understand what the OP meant

[jhowell]

I believe that Amazon made this change to simplify the user interface. Previously you could right click on a book thumbnail and select an option to "pin" the book. That option would download a locally cached copy which could be read offline.

Now the option to pin books is gone. Instead once a book has been open for a short while it automatically downloads to local storage without the reader needing to take any action.

When selecting some books you will see a message "We're sorry. Kindle Cloud Reader cannot open this book, but you can read it with our free Kindle app." As far as I can tell that is not associated with DRM, but with formats that the Cloud Reader does not support, such as fixed layout textbooks. Unsupported books isn't anything new. If someone has a contrary example I would like to learn about it.

[hyegeek]

There is a bit more going on than just a change to the interface.

On a Window 10 box, I brought up the cloud reader and while I can see my books and read the compatible ones, the reader did not download the book for offline reading. Checking out the storage on the windows box confirms that the books is not there. Turning off the network gives and error when you try to read a book you already had started reading as well.

On my Linux box, when I go to the cloud reader, as soon as I enter a book, I get a message about downloading the book and offline reading works fine.

[jhowell]

I see that Goodereader has taken this to the next level and is claiming "Amazon is discontinuing the Kindle Cloud Reader" with no actual evidence beyond what others have posted.

I think the opposite. Amazon making changes to how it works indicates to me that they have development resources working on it. My guess is that the offline mode is problematic and not much used so may have been dropped to reduce support calls. (And unlike Goodereader I will say that this is just my speculation.)

[shalym]

Originally Posted by hyegeek

There is a bit more going on than just a change to the interface.

On a Window 10 box, I brought up the cloud reader and while I can see my books and read the compatible ones, the reader did not download the book for offline reading. Checking out the storage on the windows box confirms that the books is not there. Turning off the network gives and error when you try to read a book you already had started reading as well.

On my Linux box, when I go to the cloud reader, as soon as I enter a book, I get a message about downloading the book and offline reading works fine.

That's weird...as I said above, I am absolutely able to open a book online, close it, turn off the network, and then read the book offline. I wonder what's different about your system?

Shari

[hyegeek]

Originally Posted by shalym

That's weird...as I said above, I am absolutely able to open a book online, close it, turn off the network, and then read the book offline. I wonder what's different about your system?

Shari

Brand new install and first time I went to read.amazon.com? Other than that, I don't know why it would be different.

[Iris-maybe]

Originally Posted by shalym

That's weird...as I said above, I am absolutely able to open a book online, close it, turn off the network, and then read the book offline. I wonder what's different about your system?

Shari

Yes, you can still dow it. For some computers, when you open the book, just check the bottom-right corner, you can see the downloading progress. That means you book is saving for offline use. If the book is downloaded completely, right click the book cover, you can see two options ’open book" and "read book".