Scribd adds Kindle Fire app after hitting 3 million mobile downloads

Ebook subscription service Scribd has added a Kindle Fire app and has reached three million downloads of its mobile app.

The firm says the Kindle Fire app was produced after more than 100,000 users came to Scribd since October  2013 seeking an app compatible with their Fire.

Unsurprisingly, Amazon won’t let the app in the Amazon App Store and it has to be accessed through a direct link.

Scribd now supports all Kindle Fire models, including the Fire HD and Fire HDX. Scribd is not compatible with e-ink Kindle readers as these devices don’t allow third-party applications.

The Fire app is part of a series of new reader-focused feature updates for Android and iOS apps which include:

  • More readable fonts and more font sizes

  • Better support for managing your location while traveling internationally

  • Ability to rate content inside the mobile app

  • Night reading mode with a softer black background

  • Better tracking of location with real page numbers from the print book

Scribd co-founder and CEO Trip Adler says: “Since launching our subscription book service, our readers around the world have been asking for an app that worked with Kindle Fire. It’s one of the most popular reading devices available today and we want to enable our readers to enjoy Scribd across any of their devices.”

Adler was recently named in the Media section lead spot of Forbes magazine’s list of 30 Under 30 Who Are Changing The World In 2014.

The company says Scribd was used on over 11 million unique mobile devices in December 2013 and its mobile app usage was up fivefold compared with December 2012 and is growing by 50% month over month.

The Scribd app is consistently ranked in the top ten in the books category in the US iTunes app store and is the No 1 book app in five countries around the world.

Scribd was set up in 2007 by Trip Adler and Jared Friedman, backed by Y Combinator, Charles River Ventures, and Redpoint Ventures.