Amazon today revealed a redesigned Kindle mobile app, featuring a new light theme, a subtle aesthetic and layout revamp, and deeper integration with social reading site Goodreads. The app icon has also received a long overdue upgrade. Gone is the Kindle logo, leaving only the brand’s signature “Tree Kid” silhouette with a flatter look more in line with modern app design.
The light theme is much appreciated, giving users a choice between white or black borders in the library, home, and store sections of the app. There are a few other visual changes astute observers may pick up on, including the addition of Amazon’s custom Bookerly font for book titles and an added emphasis on book covers with larger display images. Beyond the fresh coat of paint, Amazon is adding a new “one-tap access” feature that floats your current book at the bottom of the app in a miniaturized rectangle that follows you around the app. That way, you can easily jump back in at any time. The search bar is also more prominently placed.
Goodreads, which Amazon acquired back in 2013, has been a fixture in the Kindle app for quite some time, allowing you to mark books as read on your Goodreads account and to share what you’re current reading with your followers. But starting today, Goodreads is more deeply woven throughout the mobile app’s entire look and feel.
Now, you have quick access to your friends’ profiles and recommendation lists from the sidebar, alongside a Goodreads-infused profile section taking the place of the Kindle app account page. The Kindle app’s redesigned notification center also contains customizable pings from your Goodreads account, including notes and highlights from your friends on books they’re reading.
Amazon says it’s adding a new community tab featuring Goodreads-powered discovery and discussion features, but that will remain iOS only for the launch, with Android coming soon.
