Amazon has officially released a version of its book-reading Kindle application for low-spec devices for users in India called Amazon Kindle Lite – 2MB. Read millions of eBooks. As the name implies, the app itself takes up less than 2MB of storage space on a given device but Amazon has gone a bit further still. So it should work well, even on older devices, as long as they run Android 4.4 KitKat or newer. The deeper optimizations of this variant on the Kindle app are intended to ensure that it works even when network connections are not at their best. In fact, the company says it will even work on 2G or 2.5G networks within the country. Best of all, Kindle Lite also boasts features more akin to a file or space management application. It will tell users how much space books are taking up and allow those to be deleted at the click of a button.
Beyond that, this doesn’t necessarily lack in terms of features from the full-fledged application either. Books can begin to be read in 5 different India-specific languages – Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati, Marathi, and Malayalam – while they’re being downloaded. Thousands of free books are included and tons more are available via a variety of purchase methods ranging from Amazon credit cards to more standard bank or credit cards. A huge number of those can be previewed before purchasing. Meanwhile, font sizes can be adjusted for easier reading and there’s a dedicated night mode to make reading at night easier on the eyes. The app will also save a reader’s place in each book automatically, so there’s no need to spend a lot of time trying to remember any of that.
It makes sense that the burgeoning smartphone market of India would be chosen for the first release of this application, given the proliferation of budget devices in the region. It’s a familiar strategy to those undertaken by several other major tech companies, including Google. However, there’s still no official word as to when or if the online shipping giant plans on releasing this version of its app to other regions. For now, users within the region can download the app for free via the Google Play Store by clicking the button below.
