Amazon has launched Kindle Cloud Reader, an HTML5 app that lets you read Kindle books in your browser both online and offline, no installation required.

Your library will be automatically synced between the Kindle Cloud Reader and the rest of your Kindle apps and devices, meaning that if you leave off on page six while reading in your web browser, you can continue reading in the same place on your Kindle ereader or iPad, so long as you are able to connect to the Internet on both devices.

Although the Kindle Cloud Reader is optimized for browsers such as Firefox and Chrome, Amazon has really designed this for Apple devices. Last month, Apple began enforcing its new in-app subscription rules, which require developers to remove external links to sites where users can purchase digital content or subscriptions without having to share any of the proceeds with Apple. Consequently, users have been forced to close out of the Kindle app and open their web browsers every time they wanted to purchase a book — an unwelcome inconvenience, to say the least.

Now you can open up the Cloud Reader on your iPad's native Safari web browser and shop for books in the same window. You can even save the web app to your home screen alongside the rest of your apps:







The Cloud Reader is certainly a bit clunkier than the iOS app version, but those who shop for books frequently might very well prefer it. We expect an identical app will be optimized for the iPhone shortly.