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KB0389: Why are Amazon links not supported on Kindle for iOS?

It's common for authors to link to their other books on Amazon and other sites. However, when using Kindle for iOS (on an iPhone or iPad) and clicking on a link to a book on Amazon, you will see this message:

We're Sorry. This operation is not currently supported

The reason for this is that Apple does not allow Amazon, or any other vendor, to allow users to buy products from within apps without going through the App Store and paying 30% to Apple. So on iOS, the customer has to go to the Amazon web site using a browser to purchase books. On all other platforms, the link will work and invoke the web browser at the appropriate Amazon location.

Amazon's official response to an author asking about this is as follows:

"You may include URL links within the content of your book; however, if you provide a URL link to your book's detail page on Amazon, the link will not be accessible for readers using an Apple device due to Apple App Store Guidelines."

To mitigate this problem, you can ensure that links have text that make sense without a working link. For example, instead of:

Buy 'The Fatal Engine' here.

you can write instead:

You can buy 'The Fatal Engine' on Amazon.

When compiling a Kindle file, Jutoh will warn you about these links with a message:

TIP (Jutoh): the Amazon product link 'XYZ' will not work on Kindle for iOS

Please note that this does not indicate an actual error in your book that you have to correct, except by rewording if needed as above. It's simply a helpful hint to avoid you panicking when clicking on these links on iOS and nothing happens.


Contents | Start | End | Previous: KB0388: How do I print or export the documents under Scraps? | Next: KB0390: Why do image links not seem to work on Kindle?