Amazon has quietly rolled out the Send to Kindle feature to its Kindle for iOS application that allows you to save articles and documents found on the web to the app. That means your Kindle device or app can replace your preferred read it later application like Pocket or Instapaper, for example apps where regular web readers often store the longer news articles, features or profiles they want to dig into at a later date.
Amazon, of course, already supported saving web content to Kindle through desktop browser extensions, emails to your Send-to-Kindle email address, and from Android phones. But now that lineup includes the default iOS browser, Safari, which will make the feature more accessible to a large number of users.
Whats funny about read it later apps is that they sometimes become a black hole for content. The act of marking something as to read instead of devouring it then and there on the spot typically means its not content youre all that obsessed with in the first place. You sort of do want to read it, you probably should read it, but well, lets save that for another day!
Kindle, on the other hand, is more a regular destination for readers at least those who are not real book purists who prefer flipping actual pages to virtual ones. With each launch of the Kindle app, youll be reminded of the web content you bookmarked for a later read and that increases the chance that youll finally complete the task instead of continuing to ignore it, as is easier with more isolated apps like Instapaper.
According to Amazons App Store description, to use the new feature which works with documents as well as web pages youll first have to enable it in Safaris settings. To do so, youll tap on the Share button in the mobile browser, then add Kindle as one of the destinations by toggling the switch.
From then on, when youre on the web and dont have time to complete your reading, you can tap on Share, then scroll over to Kindle to save the article to the Kindle app.
When you launch the Kindle app, the article will be saved at the top of your Library, ready for your reading. It will also appear on the Kindle app on any platform, not just iOS, and on Kindle hardware devices themselves just like any e-book download would. By saving the web article to Kindle format, youll be able to do things like adjust the text, font, page color, and spacing to your liking. You can also use other Kindle features, like the ability to look up words in the dictionary, translations, or search Wikipedia. Plus, you can add bookmarks, highlights, and annotations, as well as track your reading progress, as with any other Kindle ebook.
However, Kindle is not a fully featured read it later app. It lacks features you may miss from competitors apps like Instapapers text-to-voice option with multiple speeds, or Pockets community-powered Recommendations section, for example. But Kindle has a sizable audience as #3 Books app on the App Store.
The update with the feature is available now in the latest version of Kindle for iOS, according to the App Stores release notes. However, several users spotted its arrival last month in Safari, which could mean either a phased rollout or a belated announcement on Amazons part.