My Uncle sent me a draft of his latest book in “mobi” format. He says it’s ready for me to read on my iPad in the Kindle app, but I’m a bit confused how to proceed. What’s the easiest solution?
There are actually two challenges you face in your quest to read your Uncle’s new manuscript: getting the file onto the iPad and associating the file with the Kindle app itself. There are a number of ways to do this, including in the iTunes app itself, but I want to show you how I solve this problem using the ever-handy Dropbox program.
Don’t have Dropbox hooked up? It’s a super easy way to back up important files to the cloud and also an easy way to transfer files from one device to another, exactly what we’re talking about. So whether you’re using a Mac or PC, copy the MOBI file to your Dropbox folder, then open up the Dropbox app on your iPad.
Tip: If you don’t have Dropbox, sign up with this link — Sign Up For Dropbox — and you’ll get some extra space for free!
Now that you’ve got the .mobi file on Dropbox and are in the Dropbox app on your iPad, you’ll see something like this:
Don’t get distracted by the big photo on the right 🙂 Instead, look at the top two items on the left side, Subway People.mobi and TTWS-KINDLE-FREE.mobi. Both of those are books by author Martin Turnbull, the former a short story he wrote and the latter a free Kindle edition of one of the books of his The Garden on Sunset series.
A tap on either of the .mobi books and you’ll find out that, no surprise, Dropbox can’t figure out what to do with it or even offer a preview:
The trick? Tap on the square with the up arrow, the “share” button on the top right:
Almost there. Tap on “Open In…” on the lower row of icons.
There ya go. Just about done. Tap on the Kindle app icon and a moment or two later…
The two leftmost ebooks are the .mobi documents, one of which has a cover graphic (TTWS turns out to be The Trouble with Scarlett) while the other lacks cover art. A tap on Subway People and…
And that’s it. From receiving a .mobi file to reading it in the Kindle app on your iPad. Not too difficult!
If you’d like to learn more about Martin Turnbull, please visit his site at www.martinturnbull.com.
Thanks for the really clear instructions! There is an edit as of March, 2018 because of changes to the Dropbox App on iPad. You will not see the down arrow. Instead, click on the three dots in the upper right of the screen (…) and choose Export instead of Share. Continue with the instructions as written.
Hi Dave,
I have been researching the solution (dropbox to Kindle) and there are a few articles also explaining how to do. However, your explanation by far is the best in simplicity, efficiency and convenience. I just did by one click.
Thank you so much.
Hello Dave
I got as far as open in but the kindle app is not showing
Any suggestions
Stephany