Amazon Improves iOS Kindle App With New X-Ray Update

An updated version of Amazon’s Kindle app hit the App Store today, bringing with it Kindle’s highly praised X-Ray feature. X-Ray gives readers an always present and detailed encyclopedia/glossary that they can use to improve their reading experience. Although it has existed on Amazon’s dedicated Kindle devices for over a year, today marks the first time it will be available on Apple devices.

Readers can use the X-Ray feature as a way to “see all passages from a book that mention the idea, person, or topic you’re interested in.” This means that if you’re reading a book and see the name of a character that hasn’t been mentioned in a while, you can X-Ray their name and you’ll be given a list of all previous scenes with this character. You could also use it to help understand something like a historical reference. If you see a historic name or battle referenced in the text, you can X-Ray it and be brought to a Wikipedia page telling you more about the subject. As one could guess, the feature also works incredibly well with textbooks.

This adds yet another benefit to Amazon’s Kindle bookstore over Apple’s trailing iBooks store. If you’re a frequent Kindle book buyer, the feature’s definitely worth checking out.

Image Credit: Laptop Mag

Toby is a writer of word and a lover of Apple, hip-hop, life, and technology.