The Amazon Mobile app for iPhone and iPad has been updated with a couple of useful new features today. Delivery alerts for packages and a daily notification when Amazon’s lightning deals go out are both welcome changes, especially in shipping season.
The notifications for packages will get sent out when your package ships from Amazon and again when it’s delivered. You have to enable the notifications from the setting section of the app, and they’ll get pushed out to your device when the events are triggered.
Note that the notifications are for items shipped from Amazon, so it’s likely that they won’t fire off if you’re getting an item from an independent Amazon seller, but this is still a very useful little upgrade.
In addition to delivery notifications, you can also set the app to alert you when the day’s Lightning Deals have been posted. These are a small section of heavily discounted items across a bunch of categories on Amazon that are typically in short supply, so you have to act quickly to snag them.
The iPad version of the app has also gotten the ability to zoom in on product images by pinching or double-tapping. I have no idea why it took so long to get this in there, it’s something I try to do every time I use the app and am always irritated it’s not there.
While I still recommend an app like the great Delivery Status for tracking packages across sites and services, getting a notification pop when your package has been sent off is a pleasant upgrade for the biggest shopping season of the year.
Image Credit: JENS-ULRICH KOCH/Getty Images
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