Kindle app for Mojave

TidBITS Talk
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My iMac has the Kindle Classic app, released outside of the App Store. But Amazon ended support for it in 2023, and it can’t read any content.

If I sign into the App Store and go to the Puchased list and click on the cloud icon, isn’t it supposed to download the most recent compatible version of the app for my operating system?

Yet it says “This app requires macOS 13.0 or later”, the same as if I search for it in the App Store.

I know for a fact that I’ve downloaded the Kindle app from the App Store before, so I’m not sure where the problem lies.

Thanks!

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It’s up to the developer which old versions of an app they make available and for which previous releases of macOS.

Also, I believe Amazon changed the format of Kindle books which might explain both the incompatibility and the app version situation.

Amazon might have changed the minimum app version to the earliest that supports the new format, which brings with it a certain macOS requirement.

Perhaps Amazon Kindle support can shed some light?

Example of where I control availability in App Store Connect for one of my own apps.

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If you have the Kindle ebooks downloaded, have you tried using the free “Calibre” app to open/read/convert them…?

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Kindle also has a web app, assuming you have a web browser on Mojave that works with it.

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Thanks to all who have replied, especially @gingerbeardman for his insight as a developer. I plan to upgrade to a more modern Mac soon, so my primary reason for posting was to make sure that I wasn’t doing anything incorrectly re: downloading older compatible versions.

Thanks, Matt, for peeling back the curtain on that feature. Ever since it has existed, I thought it was a somewhat automatic process. That Apple automatically retained the latest compatible versions for all apps over time. I didn’t realize that the developer had any part in the process or that it was entirely optional. :exploding_head:

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