News of Amazon’s Kindle app for Windows Store was released today, but it isn’t the news some readers might have hoped. According to Windows Central, Amazon is hoping to “simplify their process” by foregoing the newer Universal Windows Platform and focusing on its existing desktop presence.
The Amazon Kindle application lets you download and read books that have been purchased through Amazon. Originally intended as software solely for the Kindle device, the digital literature has been made available on multiple devices including mobile, PC, and Windows Store. But now it seems that they are opting to remove the app from Microsoft’s UWP platform for the previously distributed executable.
Here is the email sent to their customers (via WC):
For the past few years Amazon has supported two separate Kindle apps for Windows PCs. In order to provide our Windows customers with the best Kindle reading experience, we are simplifying our approach and focusing our efforts on the Kindle for PC app.
If you are currently using our other Windows app (Kindle for Windows 8) on one or more of your PCs, we recommend that you upgrade to the Kindle for PC app to get the best reading experience and latest Kindle features. We are regularly updating the Kindle for PC app, including recent features like multi-color highlighting, improved search performance, and support for textbooks.
To simplify the experience for Windows customers, we will remove the Kindle for Windows 8 app from the Windows Store on October 27, 2016. If you already have the app installed on your PC and wish to keep using it, you can continue to download and read books as you do today. If you uninstall the Kindle for Windows 8 app, you won’t be able to reinstall it from the Windows Store.
If you have questions (or if you have a Windows RT device), please see our Kindle for PC help page.
As of October 27, the Amazon Kindle app will be removed from Windows Store. Customers will still be able to download and read books for the Windows 8 version as long as they don’t uninstall. However, it will not be receiving any more updates and will fall behind compared to the PC version.
The sudden change brings up a lot of questions concerning Amazon’s relationship with Windows Store and whether or not this means they have their plans brewing for a Windows 10 app.
