Kindle vs Kobo

2025. Kobo discontinued its desktop app



Kobo has discontinued its desktop app for PC and Mac, which was launched in 2010 and allowed users to purchase and read ebooks, manage books on their Kobo eReader and sync reading progress across devices. The first sign of problem was that the desktop app didn't work with new models Kobo Libra Color, Kobo Clara Color and Kobo Clara BW. And now the app can't download new books and Kobo redirects users from kobo.com/desktop to its online reader kobosetup.com. Their web reader was launched in 2023 as a response to Kindle Cloud Reader. It's known to be quite confusing. To use the web reader, you must log in to your Kobo account and it does not support offline reading.


2023. Kindle for PC update is required to download newer eBooks



Amazon is now requiring Kindle for PC and Mac users to install an update in order to download and read any new Kindle ebooks released as of January 3rd, 2023. The reason the Kindle for PC and Mac apps need to be updated is because newer ebooks can now only be downloaded in Amazon’s KFX format, rather than the older Kindle formats. This isn’t encouraging news for ebook buyers and some see it as just another way for Amazon to exert control over content purchased from them. Changing formats and tightening DRM measures is likely to become standard practice in the ebook industry moving forward. Twenty years from now, how will ebooks be handled in these regards? With digital media, things are always evolving. Just because you can download your purchased ebooks today doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do so in ten or twenty years.


2019. Kobo WIFI E-Reader is losing access to the Kobo Bookstore



Kobo always supported their old e-readers with modern firmware updates. But since February 28, the Kobo Wifi will no longer be supported by Rakuten Kobo. This means it will no longer receive software updates, and will not be able to connect to the Kobo eBookstore. This is because hardly anyone has this e-reader anymore and Kobo is not going to bother releasing critical security updates. The Kobo WIFI was the second e-reader Kobo produced and it was released in 2010, this device has received a multitude of updates over the years but it has official reached the end of its life. Although the Kobo WIFI will no longer be able to purchase books directly from the Kobo bookstore, users can continue to access their library and sideload in their own books.


2016. Kobo Cloud Reader is discontinued



Kobo Instant Reader, Kobo's browser-based reading platform, has been officially retired and the link to access it now redirects to the company's general app page. The Nook Cloud Reader has also been phased out with the launch of the new Barnes and Noble website that was introduced last summer. Both web-based reading applications were created in 2012 to circumvent the new Apple policy requiring all in-app purchases to go through their own payment system, rather than allowing app developers to handle it themselves. They never gained much traction because the companies managing them did not actively promote them. They remained in obscurity for several years before being quietly discontinued. The Kindle Cloud Reader remains the sole online reading app still maintained and available for public use.


2013. Kobo updates its digital publishing service Aquafadas



Kobo has announced enhancements to its digital publishing platform for iPad and Android tablets, Aquafadas. It now includes support for iOS 7, the capability to incorporate premium enrichments such as real-world physics into digital content and overall upgrades for Android interactive book creation. Publishers can now add physical properties to any design element, create animations using the tablet’s accelerometer (so the content responds to gravity and moves with the tablet), enabling them to build interactive books without writing any code. A new feature allows control of HTML animations within the page and overcomes some iOS limitations, enabling multiple animations to play simultaneously.