It had a decent run but Amazon is putting the final nail in Comixology's coffin by shutting down the dedicated app in a couple of weeks. Digital comic book readers will have to use the Kindle app in future.
Comixology was first launched in 2007 and proved to be the main driver of digital comic books, making them accessible to a wider audience. However, after Amazon acquired the company in 2014, it has slowly been merged into the retail giant's own operations, with the popular dedicated storefront being closed in 2021.
Now Amazon is to ditch the dedicated app too, which will no longer allow users to read their purchased books from 4 December 2023. All libraries will continue to be available in the Kindle app instead.
Amazon has revealed that reading progress will be synched, although users will be required to redownload titles. They will appear alongside the normal Kindle eBooks, however, unless you use the filter button in the top left-hand corner.
With the Kindle app, you can borrow and read from Comixology Unlimited, Kindle Unlimited, or Prime Reading and continue to enjoy Comixology Originals’ slate of prior and upcoming releases.Visit our FAQs page for more features and info: https://t.co/y7xI2dOBP0November 14, 2023
Other features of the Comixology app, such as panel view, already work in the Kindle app, so the reading experience won't change much. But we're not as keen on its UI design when it comes to showing collections – it's a little too stark, for us.
As with dedicated app, comic fans using an iOS or iPadOS device won't be able to purchase books directly, they will have to buy issues or collections through a web browser and download them onto their iPhone or iPad later. That's the same as Kindle books.
The Comixology Unlimited subscription service will continue to run as normal in the US, while UK readers can still nab included comic books through Kindle Unlimited. However, we can't help but feel that this is the real end for a service we've enjoyed for more than a decade.
So, farewell Comixology, it was fun while it lasted.
