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iPad and iPhone Kindle apps get real page numbers

Amazon has released version 2.6 of its Kindle iOS app, which adds new features, including real page numbers and the ability to look up words on Google and Wikipedia without leaving the app.

David Carnoy Executive Editor / Reviews
Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET's Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He's also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.
Expertise Mobile accessories and portable audio, including headphones, earbuds and speakers Credentials
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David Carnoy
2 min read
The free Kindle for iPad app is now up to version 2.6. Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET

Much to the delight of many Kindle owners, Amazon recently announced that it was adding "real" page numbers to Kindle e-books that mirror the pages of paper books. With its 2.6 update to its iOS apps, that feature--along with a few others, including the ability to look up words on Google and Wikipedia without leaving the app--has now been extended to iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch owners.

Amazon has quietly made the update, saying that real page numbers are now available for "thousands of book in the Kindle Store," with more coming soon. So far, the company has yet to comment on Apple's new guidelines for its App Store subscription model, which potentially creates a huge problem for how Amazon and other e-book vendors sell products through their apps. Under the new guidelines, Amazon must remove its "Shop in Kindle Store" link from its Kindle application by June 30. Today, that link takes you to Amazon's Web-based Kindle Store, but Apple has said all content purchased via an iOS app must now be purchased within the app so Apple can take a 30 percent cut of the sale.

It's unclear how Amazon plans to deal with this issue, and many iPad owners are concerned that Amazon might pull its Kindle app to protest the new guidelines.

In a recent post, CNET reader GSOgymrat, commented: "I love my iPad but if Kindle and B&N pull out I will have to switch tablets, since my iPad is primarily an e-reader. The Apple bookstore is unacceptable..."

When Amazon will add the real page number feature to its Kindle for Android app (and its other apps), we don't know, but we assume it's coming soon.