Reading non-DRM ebooks using the Amazon Kindle app for Android
The new Amazon Kindle app for Android stores its books in the “kindle” directory on the phone’s SD card. I naively assumed that I could copy any non-Amazon but Kindle-compatible books into that directory and have the app recognize them. I tried this with a mobipocket Jane Austen collection (a .prc file) that works just fine on the Kindle, but the Android app crashed immediately after display the book’s title and author.
The trick to getting such a book to be recognized on Android is to use Amazon’s free personal documents service to convert the file to a DRM-ified .azw file.
First, I emailed the .prc file as an attachment to my free personal documents email address: EXAMPLE@free.kindle.com (obviously, you must replace EXAMPLE with your configured Kindle email address). Within a few minutes Amazon converted the file to a .azw (DRM-ified version of the original file), and replied with an email that included a download link for the converted file.
I saved the file to a temporary directory on my computer and renamed it by changing the .azw extension back to .prc. This renaming is very important; otherwise, the Android app won’t recognize the file.
Finally, I copied the file to the kindle directory on the phone’s SD card. The Kindle app can see the file and display its contents.
July 13th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
I am making the assumption you own a physical Kindle, correct? I too am trying to find a way to add non DRM ebooks to my Android Kindle app, but am having little success. I checked the edit info section for both the Kindle for android and pc, but neither have an address. Any suggestions? Thanks!
July 14th, 2010 at 4:44 am
Yes, I have a K2, and in the “Manage My Kindle” page on Amazon, it’s listed along with its corresponding “@Kindle.com” email address. I don’t see any email address associated with my Android device. I’m not sure how to work around this problem if you don’t have a “real” Kindle. Sorry!
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:13 am
Will a mobi format file work as well as a prc file?
Is reply email from Amazon is sent to the registered email account ?
I do have a Kindle.
Thanks.
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:25 am
The mobi file format is the same as the one I am calling the “PRC” format. I believe that any format supported by Amazon’s conversion service will work. The reply from Amazon will be sent to your registered email address.