How to Make it Easier to Buy Kindle and Nook Books on Your iOS Device

Now that Apple has changed their App Store policies, apps like the Amazon Kindle app and the Nook app are no longer allowed to have access to their appropriate book stores.  This means that you can no longer purchase books from within the Kindle or Nook app, or have links to the Kindle or Nook stores.  You must now navigate out of the app and go to the Kindle or Nook store via the Safari browser.  This is a little annoying, but there is a relatively easy way to reduce the amount of work it takes to shop for books on your iOS device.

Below is a quick tutorial on how you can make a shortcut (link) to the Amazon Kindle store in order to purchase Kindle books.  See the note at the below of the page if you want to make a shortcut (link) to the Nook store.

1. The first thing you must do is open Safari, and within Safari enter www.amazon.com into the address bar.
2. You should now be at the Amazon.com homepage, scroll down, and under the words "Shop All Departments" choose Kindle Books → Kindle Store.

3. Now that you are at the Kindle Store, all you have to do is select the action button (highlighted in the below picture on the left) and choose "Add to Home Screen."

4. You will be asked to name this item, I chose "Kindle Store", but you can choose anything you want.  Now you can move this item for organizational purposes or leave it where iOS places it.

This should make it easier to look for books in the Kindle Store.  If you have the Kindle app open in the background you can use the newly created Kindle Store link to purchase a book and then just double-tap the home button (multitask feature) to easily jump back to the Kindle app for reading.  (If you are in the Kindle app and want to switch back to the Kindle Store link you just created, you can use the multitask feature and choose Safari.)

Left Side: Switching from Kindle Store in Safari to Kindle App
Right Side: Switching from Kindle App to Kindle Store in Safari

Enjoy!

Note:  A similar procedure would be done to create an easily accessible Nook Store link.  In Safari you would enter www.bn.com/nookbooks, and then follow steps three and four.

HP TouchPad Overview

I recently had the chance to play with a HP TouchPad.  I didn't spend an extensive amount of time with it, but I did spend about 10-15 minutes playing around with it in a store.  WebOS has always intrigued me.  I like the look and feel of WebOS a lot!  There are two things that seem to plague WebOS, which in turn also plagues the HP TouchPad.

1. Lack of Content
2. Speed

WebOS has seen improvement in available content, but the number of apps available for WebOS is pretty small in comparison to everyone else.  Many of the more important apps are available on WebOS, but it is the constant updates and newly released apps that make iOS exciting.

The other thing that seems to be an issue with WebOS is speed.  I know that WebOS is known for being sluggish on phones, but has continued to improve this.  When using the HP TouchPad the first thing I noticed is that it takes a little too much time to load some of the apps.  I don't know about you, but I don't like having to wait for an app to load.

I liked the feel of the HP TouchPad, though it didn't feel as polished or solid as the iPad, and I like WebOS.  HP just needs to beef up the content, and work in improving the speed of WebOS.  If HP really wanted to compete with Apple they would create an iTunes like store.  Overall the HP TouchPad is a good alternative to the iPad that shows some potential, but needs further refinement to be a major contender.