US bookseller Barnes & Noble updated its app for iPad and iPhone, following speculation that the company is set to focus its content distribution efforts on apps for third-party platforms.

According to recent reports, the company’s Nook Media arm is in the midst of a change of strategy in the mobile space, which could see its own tablet devices (which sit alongside the Nook ereader line) axed.

While the company has been echoing Amazon in attempting to build a content-and-devices ecosystem, it is now apparently set to focus on delivering content to existing smartphones and tablets, powered by platforms such as iOS and Android.

Earlier this month, it announced that Nook tablet users would be able to access content from Google Play, in a move that was seen as the company looking to offer a wider portfolio of apps and media – without the need to create one of its own.

With regard to its new iOS app, Nook Media said that customers can download more than 8,000 comics and graphic novels from its store which support a new Zoom View feature, which enables customers to focus on individual panels.

The update also adds animated page turns for Nook Books, improved organisation for Nook Newstand titles, and improvements to its PagePerfect/PDF viewer.