How to purchase and download books with Kindle for iPhone and iPad

Kindle how to
(Image credit: Future/ Tammy Rogers)

There are literally hundreds of thousands of books available to download and read on the Kindle store, and you can download and read them all with the Kind app on your iPhone or iPad. You'll need an Amazon account for this, bear in mind, so if you don't have one yet go and make one now and then come back.

Apps used in this guide

Apple App store: Amazon Kindle (opens in new tab) (Free)

How to buy Kindle books on Amazon

There are over a million books, comics, magazines, and newspapers to choose from in the Kindle store - but to read them you're going to have to buy them and add them to your Kindle library. The first port of call is the Amazon Kindle e-book store that you can access on any device, whether it has the app or not. There, you can buy Kindle books or add free ones to your library.

1. Open safari or your preferred web browser on your iPhone, iPad, or computer.

2. Head over to the Amazon website (opens in new tab).

3. If you aren't already, log in to your Amazon account:

Kindle How to

(Image credit: Future/ iMore)

4. Now that you're all signed in, head on over to the Kindle books page on the Amazon website - you can find it like this, or by heading over to the Amazon Kindle page (opens in new tab):

Kindle how to

(Image credit: Future/ iMore)

5. Here on the Kindle store, you can choose an e-book that takes your fancy.

6. When you press 'Buy now' The book automatically sent to your Kindle Library, available to read and download on both the Kindle App as well as any Kindle device.

Kindle how to

(Image credit: Future/ iMore)

How to download your Kindle Library books in the Kindle app

Once you've bought at least one Kindle e-book, you'll find it in the Kindle Library on the Kindle app. You can browse your books, and it syncs with the rest of the devices using your Kindle account so that you'll never be searching through pages to find where you left off if you transfer from your iPhone to your iPad.

1. Open the Kindle app on your iPhone or iPad.

2. Along the top is a glance at your library, where you'll find your most recently read books.

3. Find the library icon at the bottom of the screen

4. This is your full library where you can download your purchased Kindle e-books.

Kindle how to

(Image credit: Future/ iMore)

5. Tap on a book to download it to the device.

6. When it's finished downloading (there'll be a checkmark on the cover) tap the book to open it.

(Image credit: Future/ iMore)

How to remove books from your device in the Kindle app

E-Books take up barely any space, but when your collection starts to get really big you might start to notice it on the storage screen. Perhaps you want to clear some room, or you want to get rid of a book that was offensively bad. Either way, it's super easy to remove a book from the Kindle app. Removing a book from your device will not delete in from your library - if you wish to scorched earth, you will find out how below.

1. From the library, select the 'downloaded' tab at the top.

2. Press and hold the book you'd like to remove.

3. From the menu, select 'remove download'

4. If you really hated a book, press 'Permanently delete'. This will delete the book from your library, and you'll have to buy it again if you want to read it again. Not recommended.

Kindle how to

Tap Downloaded, then touch and hold on the book, then tap Remove From Device (Image credit: Future/ iMore)

Alternative readers

If you want to read digital books from Amazon's vast Kindle library, you won't need a Kindle device to do it - you can use the app as above. If you want the best experience possible, however, you'll need a Kindle reader. You'll get a top-quality e-ink screen that's good for your eyes, and you can even buy books on the device over WiFi.

Tammy Rogers
Buying Guides and Deals Writer

As the Buying Guides and Deals writer for iMore, Tammy puts over a decade of experience in finding the best prices of Apple products to work, helping you save money on the equipment that you want. An audiophile at heart, she loves all things audio and visual, but you’ll also find her drooling over the latest Macs and MacBooks. With a Masters in screenwriting, Tammy likes to spend her free time writing feature-length and TV screenplays or driving digital cars around virtual circuits, to varying degrees of success. Just don't ask her about AirPods Max - you probably won't like her answer.