Amazon Kindle开启了电子书革命(eBook revolution)，将数百万本书放在一个手持设备上触手可及。虽然Amazon Kindle仍然为(Amazon Kindle)电子书阅读(eBook reading)提供最佳体验，但您并不局限于它们——您可以使用Kindle 应用程序在您的(Kindle apps)PC 和移动设备上访问您的(PC and mobile)Amazon 电子书(Amazon eBook)收藏。
Kindle 桌面(Kindle desktop)应用程序可供您免费使用，适用于Windows和 macOS 设备。为了帮助您确定Kindle 应用程序是否与实体设备一样好，我们将与您讨论(Kindle app)Kindle Desktop背后的一些优缺点，并回答一个简单的问题——它和真正的Kindle一样好吗？
使用 Kindle 桌面应用程序的好处(Benefits Of Using The Kindle Desktop App)
如果您想要最好的电子书阅读体验，您需要一个电子书阅读器——这是毫无疑问的。但是，如果这是不可能的，那么Kindle 桌面(Kindle desktop)应用程序可能是下一个最好的选择。只要您使用您的亚马逊帐户(Amazon account)登录，它就可以让您立即访问您的Kindle 电子书(Kindle eBook)收藏。
为了节省空间，Kindle 桌面(Kindle desktop)阅读器会自动下载您选择打开的任何书籍，而不是一次下载数百本书。电子书不是很大，所以这通常只是增加了几秒钟的延迟。
Kindle 界面(Kindle interface)易于理解和导航，您的图书馆最突出，可从左侧菜单(left-hand menu)访问，但右上角有指向Kindle 商店(Kindle store)的快速访问链接。您在亚马逊帐户(Amazon account)上购买的任何书籍都会立即出现在这里供您下载和阅读。
它具有您希望从电子书阅读器(eBook reader)中看到的许多功能，包括在Kindle设备上看到的许多功能，提供更改字体和字体大小(font and font sizes)、更改页面(alter page)宽度以更好地阅读以及切换到可访问的查看颜色的能力模式(viewing color mode)。
您还可以使用内置的文本转语音模式来创建自动生成的有声读物，您可以在工作时收听，以及直接为您的图书添加注释——非常适合学生或学者。
Kindle Desktop vs. Kindle Mobile vs. Kindle Devices
虽然Kindle 桌面(Kindle desktop) 应用程序并非专为便携而设计，但它确实比(app isn)Kindle移动应用程序有一个明显的优势——大小。台式电脑和笔记本电脑上的大屏幕让您可以一次查看更多文本，这对于那些正在学习书籍和想要在电脑上继续阅读的人来说非常有用。
亚马逊(Amazon)希望你通过它自己的商店购买它的书籍，虽然在Kindle设备上阅读非(Kindle)亚马逊(Amazon)电子书并非不可能，但这并不是最简单的过程——除非你使用的是Kindle 桌面(Kindle desktop)应用程序。
这导致Kindle 桌面(Kindle desktop)应用程序优于其他Kindle产品的另一个直接优势。使用它，您可以在本机使用Kindle(Kindle)应用程序打开.mobi 电子书(.mobi eBook)文件，而无需大惊小怪。
否则， Kindle 桌面(Kindle desktop)应用程序、Kindle 移动应用程序(Kindle mobile apps)或Kindle设备本身之间并没有太大的区别。例如，许多辅助功能在所有Kindle产品中都很常见，尽管Kindle设备缺少一些更高级的功能，如文本转语音。
您还可以共享同一个收藏夹、保留您保存的位置并在您的设备上同步(position and sync)它，并对您在所有Kindle产品上所做的任何书籍注释执行相同的操作。
Kindle 桌面阅读器的替代品(Alternatives To The Kindle Desktop Reader)
如果您想逃离亚马逊生态系统(Amazon ecosystem)，那么桌面用户确实存在替代方案。其中最受欢迎的是Calibre，这是一款适用于Windows、Linux和 macOS 设备的桌面电子书阅读器。(desktop eBook reader)
与Kindle 桌面(Kindle desktop)应用程序一样，它允许您阅读您的电子书、与他人共享您的收藏、在多个设备之间同步它等等。它是免费的开源软件，您可以通过帮助直接开发它或创建其他插件供其他人使用来进一步扩展（如果您有技能）。
虽然它不如亚马逊自己的桌面应用程序(desktop app)那么精致，但Calibre仍然是一个很好的替代电子书阅读器(eBook reader)，它不仅能够支持您的亚马逊电子书(Amazon eBook)收藏（以及访问和使用其他非亚马逊电子书(Amazon eBook)）。
如果Calibre不适合您，则确实存在付费替代品，例如Adobe Digital Editions。它支持桌面和移动用户，并且与Calibre 和 Amazon(Calibre and Amazon)一样，它允许您在多个设备上共享和阅读您的电子书收藏。(eBook collection)
如何下载和使用 Kindle 桌面应用程序(How To Download & Use The Kindle Desktop App)
Kindle 桌面(Kindle desktop)应用程序可供任何拥有Amazon 帐户(Amazon account)的人免费使用，即使是那些没有任何现有Amazon Kindle电子书的人。下载它并在您的PC 或 Mac(PC or Mac)上进行设置是一个非常简单的过程。
- 首先，下载适用于您操作系统(operating system)的 Kindle 桌面应用程序(download the Kindle desktop app)并进行安装。打开Kindle 应用程序(Kindle app)后，您需要使用您的亚马逊帐户(Amazon account)详细信息登录——输入您的详细信息，然后按登录(Sign-In)开始。
- 登录后，您的Amazon Kindle 电子书(Amazon Kindle eBook)收藏将自动开始同步到Kindle 桌面(Kindle desktop)应用程序。要访问您收藏中的任何书籍，只需双击它们——下载完成后，该书将立即下载并打开.
- 默认情况下，Kindle 桌面(Kindle desktop)应用程序将默认只显示一个页面。您可以通过打开电子书并单击顶部菜单栏中的页面宽度选项之一来更改此设置。(page width options)
- 要全屏查看电子书而不会分心，请按菜单栏中的全屏图标(full-screen icon)。
- 要访问Kindle 桌面(Kindle desktop)应用程序的辅助功能以更改字体、字体大小、配色方案(color scheme)等，请点击菜单栏中(menu bar)的Aa 按钮(Aa button)。这将打开选项菜单，允许您根据需要更改各种字体和样式设置(font and style settings)。
- 如果您想通过Kindle 桌面(Kindle desktop)应用购买任何Kindle电子书，请点击左上角的Kindle Store图标。这会将您直接带到Kindle 商店(Kindle store)，您购买的任何书籍都会自动同步到应用程序供您下载。
在桌面和移动设备上阅读电子书(Reading eBooks On Desktop & Mobile)
虽然Kindle 桌面应用程序是您的(Kindle desktop)Amazon 电子书(Amazon eBook)收藏的绝佳选择，但您还可以通过其他方式免费阅读您最喜爱的书籍，BookBub等网站与(BookBub)Calibre等第三方Kindle替代品很好地配合，无需亚马逊(Amazon involvement)即可建立电子书收藏(ebook collection)参与。
尽管如此，Amazon Kindle仍然是最好的电子书服务之一，拥有数百万本书、大量的电子书阅读器，以及面向桌面和移动用户的功能丰富且易于使用的应用程序。如果您是一位热心的作家，您甚至可以编写自己的电子书并将其发布到Amazon Kindle 商店(Amazon Kindle store)供其他人欣赏。
The Kindle Desktop App: Is It Any Good?
The Amazon Kindle kickstarted the eBook revolution, рutting milliоns of books within reach on a single, handheld device. While Amazon Kindle still offers the best еxperience for eBook reading, you’re not restricted tо them—you can access your Amazon eBоok collection on your PC and mobile using Kindle apps.
The Kindle desktop app is free for you to use and is available for Windows and macOS devices. To help you decide whether the Kindle app is as good as the physical device, we’re going to talk you through some of the pros and cons behind the Kindle Desktop and answer a simple question—is it as good as a real Kindle?
Benefits Of Using The Kindle Desktop App
If you want the best eBook reading experience, you need an eBook reader—there’s no question about it. If that’s out of the question, however, then the Kindle desktop app is probably the next best thing. It gives you immediate access to your Kindle eBook collection as soon as you sign in using your Amazon account.
To save space, the Kindle desktop reader will automatically download any book you choose to open, rather than downloading hundreds of books at once. eBooks aren’t very big, so this is usually only an added delay of a few seconds.
The Kindle interface is simple to understand and navigate, with your library most prominent and accessible from the left-hand menu, but with a quick-access link to the Kindle store in the top-right. Any books you purchase on your Amazon account will appear here immediately for you to download and read.
It has many of the features you’d expect to see from an eBook reader, including many seen on Kindle devices, offering the ability to change font and font sizes, alter page widths for better reading, as well as switch to an accessible viewing color mode.
You can also use a built-in text-to-speech mode to create auto-generated audiobooks you can listen to while you work, as well as annotate your books directly—perfect for students or academics.
Kindle Desktop vs. Kindle Mobile vs. Kindle Devices
While the Kindle desktop app isn’t designed to be portable, it does have one distinct advantage over Kindle mobile apps—size. The larger screens on desktop PCs and laptops allow you to view much more text at once, which could be useful for those studying books and those who want to catch up on reading from their PC.
Amazon wants you to buy its books through its own store and, while it isn’t impossible to read non-Amazon eBooks on Kindle devices, it isn’t the easiest process—unless you’re using the Kindle desktop app.
This leads to another direct advantage that the Kindle desktop app over other Kindle products. Using it, you can open .mobi eBook files using the Kindle app natively with no additional fuss.
Otherwise, there really isn’t a huge amount of difference between the Kindle desktop app, Kindle mobile apps, or Kindle devices themselves. For instance, many of the accessibility features are common across all Kindle products, although the Kindle devices lack some of the more advanced features like text-to-speech.
You can also share the same collection, keep your saved position and sync it across your devices, and do the same with any book annotations you make across all Kindle products.
Alternatives To The Kindle Desktop Reader
If you want to escape the Amazon ecosystem, then alternatives do exist for desktop users. The most popular of those is Calibre, the desktop eBook reader available for Windows, Linux, and macOS devices.
Like the Kindle desktop app, it allows you to read your eBooks, share your collection with others, sync it across multiple devices, and more. It’s free, open-source software that you can extend further (if you have the skills) by helping to develop it directly, or by creating additional plugins for others to use.
While it isn’t as polished as Amazon’s own desktop app, Calibre is still a great alternative eBook reader that is more than capable of supporting your Amazon eBook collection (as well as accessing and using other non-Amazon eBooks, too).
If Calibre isn’t for you, paid alternatives do exist, like Adobe Digital Editions. It supports desktop and mobile users and, like Calibre and Amazon, it allows you to share and read your eBook collection across multiple devices.
How To Download & Use The Kindle Desktop App
The Kindle desktop app is freely available for anyone with an Amazon account, even those without any existing Amazon Kindle eBooks. Downloading it and setting it up on your PC or Mac is a pretty straightforward process.
- To start, download the Kindle desktop app for your operating system and install it. Once you open the Kindle app, you’ll need to sign in using your Amazon account details—type your details in, then press Sign-In to begin.
- Your Amazon Kindle eBook collection will automatically begin to sync to the Kindle desktop app once you sign in. To access any of the books in your collection, simply double-click on them—the book will download and open as soon as the download has completed.
- By default, the Kindle desktop app will default to showing only a single page. You can change this by opening an eBook and clicking one of the page width options in the top menu bar.
- To view your eBook in full screen without distractions, press the full-screen icon in the menu bar.
- To access the Kindle desktop app’s accessibility features to change font, font size, color scheme, and more, tap the Aa button in the menu bar. This will bring up the options menu, allowing you to change various font and style settings as desired.
- If you want to purchase any Kindle eBooks through the Kindle desktop app, tap the Kindle Store icon in the top-left. This will take you straight to the Kindle store, where any books you purchase will sync automatically to the app for you to download.
Reading eBooks On Desktop & Mobile
While the Kindle desktop app is a great option for your Amazon eBook collection, there are other ways you can read your favorite books for free, with websites like BookBub working well with third-party Kindle alternatives like Calibre to build up an ebook collection without Amazon involvement.
That said, the Amazon Kindle still remains one of the best services for eBooks, with millions of books, a great set of eBook readers, and feature-filled and easy-to-use apps for desktop and mobile users. If you’re a keen writer, you can even write your own eBook and get it published on the Amazon Kindle store for others to enjoy.
