Although the iPad has its own reading software, iBooks, the device is also a great platform for buying and reading Kindle books.
The main difference is that the software to read Kindle books isn’t installed by default – but adding it is free and easy.
The first step is to download the free Kindle app from the iTunes store. (If iTunes asks you to change which country’s store to buy from, then do this.)
You can find the app from within the iPad’s App Store by searching on ‘Kindle’.
Installation is quick, normally just a few seconds.
The next step is to register your iPad with your Amazon account. If you’ve not already been prompted when you first launch the app, hit the i button at the bottom right of the screen. Then choose ‘register this device’.
All you have to do then is enter the e-mail address and password of your Amazon account, then press ‘register this device’.
It’s that simple – assuming you have an Amazon account. (If you don’t, just log into Amazon’s website and create one – if you’re in a country where buying Kindle content from that country’s website isn’t yet supported, you will be redirected to buy Kindle content from the US store.)
You now have access to the full range of Kindle books – all on your iPad.
Despite iBooks having some nice visual touches, I personally believe that the Kindle app provides a superior reading experience. Rather nicely, if you have a Kindle – or any other device with the Kindle app on it, such as an iPhone, PC, Mac or Android phone – then the app keeps the book you’re reading synced between all of them, automatically, so you’re always on the right page.
Perhaps the first Kindle novel you might want to read after downloading the app could be The Well?