Amazon has quietly outed a way to get round Apple’s restrictions on iOS in-app purchases: the Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader. We thought Amazon had simply acquiesced to Apple when it killed the store link in its Kindle iPhone and iPad apps but it had a Plan B in the works. The Kindle Cloud Reader is a totally web-based version of the eBook reader app that works with Chrome and Safari and comes optimised for the iPad. The iPhone isn’t supported yet but that can only be a matter of time.

While the Kindle Cloud Reader allows you to read your books online, you can also download them for offline reading using HTML5 or a Chrome browser extension. We’ve tried it out this morning and it works like a charm. The ability to switch between the Kindle Store and your library on the iPad is also a treat. It’s worth noting that reading books in Kindle Cloud Reader counts towards your device limit but since that’s usually six different devices you’re unlikely to hit it.

The Kindle Cloud Reader is a really slick bit of thinking from Amazon and you can try it out for yourself at the link below. Hit the headline and jump into the comments to give us your review.

Out now | £free | Kindle Cloud Reader (via TechCrunch)