Read Kindle eBooks in Ubuntu with Kindle Cloud Reader
Since Amazon supports reading Kindle eBooks on Windows and Mac, there are many desktop applications in Windows and Mac for browsing, shopping and reading Kindle eBooks. In this case, Ubuntu platform has been the missed out one. You can use WINE to install and run the Kindle desktop applications for Windows in Ubuntu. Well, another alternative is to use a web application for Kindle Cloud Reader.
Kindle Cloud Reader is a web service that works with Google Chrome and Chromium in Ubuntu Linux and lets you read your Kindle ebooks within your browser. The web service is available for Google Chrome and Safari in Windows and Mac also. The best feature of Kindle Cloud Reader is that it makes all eBooks available for reading and syncs them for offline reading as well.
To get started, you have to install Kindle Cloud Reader web application in Chrome or Chromium. At first, you have to visit the read.google.com .
Then, you have to log in with your Amazon account. If you don’t have one , you can create it. Once you are done, you will be prompted to set up Kindle for Offline reading. Click on Enable Offline option to set it up.
Then, Kindle Cloud Reader is downloaded and you are prompted to install it . Click on Install to start the installation.
Once installed , you can launch the web application through the Apps section of browser once you open the Google Chrome or Chromium.
You have to log in with your Amazon account to start using Kindle Cloud Reader service.
which provides you the slick and user-friendly interface with handful of buttons at the top to navigate to specific parts of the viewed books, tweak viewing settings, and bookmark pages. Like in other Kindle applications, it allows you to sync a book for offline reading in different platforms.
Kindle Cloud Reader is integrated with the Amazon Kindle Store. You can buy and download the ebooks from the Amazon Kindle Store. As soon as you buy a book from Amazon Kindle Store, it immediately appears in your reader’s library.
Kindle Cloud Reader doesn’t provide the complete functionality of Kindle desktop applications. But it is a very easy solution for reading all eBooks bought via Amazon Kindle without leaving the convenience of your browser.
i’m currently running Ubuntu 11.04 and started using the Kindle Cloud Reader last night. Kindle Cloud Reader seems to be Amazon’s response to Apple prohibiting Amazon links in Apple stores.
it doesn’t run on Firefox just yet, but i’m running it on Chromium browser. it was a bit buggy at first, and froze up, as I was tweaking settings in preferences, but once I finished messing around with such, it has been working fine. as far as the basic reading aspect of the program goes: I like it. I will probably begin to use it more often; keeping an eye out for some possible upcoming Firefox version.
an occasional problem I have experienced with Kindle for PC running on Wine is how it tends to break with program updates. so then I jump over to Crossover Linux which tends to be laggy, but considerably more trustworthy in comparison.
I can see it’s handy for booksellers to be able to slot every book into a given genre, but it has nothing at all to do with quality. This mitigates against many a harmless good book
Works fine on firefox for me, but how can I (once downloaded for offline reading in Amazon cloud reader) import this in calibre? No way to find where the plugin downloads the book.
thanks.
Google can bite me. Not running Chrome. See ya.
It’s working fine on Firefox.
No need to install anything.
Just go to read.amazon.com and fill in your credentials.
I’m using Firefox on Ubuntu and it’s working fine for me too.
I had some issue in the method used in Ubuntu 12.04. For some reason, it refused to allow me to download the Chrome app directly from the cloud reader.
The solution was going directly from the application store and downloading the application there. If you have already signed into the cloud on Chrome previously, it automatically logs you into the application and you have the ability to download books for Offline Access.