Kindle App Gets Integrated Table Of Contents, Better X-Ray

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The iOS Kindle app just got an update, and it’s a good one. The left sidebar that you can summon while reading now has direct access to the table of contents, and you can access X-Ray info just by tapping on a word.

The ToC addition is a little confusing. If you open the sidebar and tap on Table of Contents, you’re whisked off to the same old ghetto that looks like a 1995-era webpage. To get the new version you need to scroll the sidebar. The new ToC is part of the list now, letting you hop between sections.

Be careful to bookmark your place before you leave though – I got lost pretty fast and couldn’t find an easy way back to my spot without hit the sync button to retrieve the furthest-read page.

My favorite part of this new feature is the description int he release notes:

Curious readers can tap a chapter to navigate directly to that part of the book.

No word on whether non-curious readers can get this to work.

X-Ray is Amazon’s neat metadata feature. It tells you about the characters and places in the book, and where they appear. It’s great for reminding yourself about characters that are mentioned early in the book and then disappear for a while, for example. Quality varies form title to title, and not all books that are marked in the Kindle store as X-Ray enabled are properly marked up.

Two great new features that you’re probably surprised weren’t already there. The update is available now, and the app is free to new users. And to curious users, too.

Source: iTunes

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