What is a MOBI File?
Founded in 2000, Mobipocket SA, a French company, created the .mobi e-book format and developed the Mobipocket Reader software. It supported mobile phones, PDAs, and desktop computers. Mobipocket's free suite included tools for devices like Kindle, iLiad, and Symbian. Amazon acquired it in 2005 and operated it until 2016.
This e-book format offers features like adjustable text size, fonts, bookmarks, and annotations. MOBI files can also include images and tables, making them suitable for displaying complex content. While they were commonly used for Kindle e-readers, the situation has changed over time.
Current Usage
The MOBI format can still be found on third-party download sites, but it has been replaced by Amazon's proprietary AZW3 format. This format, developed in-house by Amazon, is essentially an updated version of MOBI with stronger DRM, improved layouts, and typesetting.
Because MOBI's primary focus was compatibility with Amazon devices, files were often larger than their EPUB counterparts. However, as Kindle devices now support EPUB format, the situation has changed. EPUB's smaller file sizes and broader compatibility have made it a more common choice.
With Kindle now supporting EPUB, MOBI's importance has decreased. If you come across a MOBI file, it is usually a good idea to convert it to EPUB, AZW3 or PDF.
Find out how to: Convert EPUB, MOBI, AZW to PDF format using PDF2Go.
