Barnes and Noble recently updated their NOOK app for the iPhone and iPad. When viewing an audiobook or e-book there is a new button called ‘buy on BN.com’ and clicking on it, redirects customers to the product listing on their website to complete the purchase and then the app will be updated with the new content and also synced to any existing NOOK e-reader or NOOK tablet.
The redirection allows customers to easily buy e-books within the app and only opening the default browser, such as Safari to complete the purchase. Before this app update there was no button, so users on iOS just thought they can’t buy any e-books in the app, leaving them confused on how to complete the purchase. Now it is far easier and more intuitive.
Barnes and Noble is not the only company to implement this system. The Amazon Kindle and Kobo app both launched their ‘buy book’ system that brought them to their respected websites to complete the purchase and then redirected back to the app. Buying e-books on iOS is easier than ever before.
Apple is allowing e-reader and other companies to do this, due to a recent court battle, in which they lost. In the United States and Europe, they must enable apps to use third-party payments and can be redirected to the company’s website to complete the final transaction. This has been a boon for both the e-book and audiobook spaces. Spotify recently updated its app to allow for audiobook purchases and credits.’
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.