Ever since Amazon started rolling out the 5.13.7 software update for Kindles that changes the user interface along with the home screen and library view, some Kindle users have been expressing their frustration about the changes.
One of the things that people seem to really dislike about the new software is how the update forces you to see recommended titles on the Kindle’s home screen. Previously you could set your Kindle to default to the library view so you never had to look at the home screen with Amazon’s recommended ebooks, but now they removed that option.
On one hand I don’t see what the big deal is considering you can avoid using the Kindle’s home screen most of the time. Once you set it on the Library tab that’s where it will go back to whenever exiting books and doing most things, but occasionally it will jump to the home page, like when downloading a new book or when restarting the device.
On the other hand I can see why people would get irritated with Amazon regarding the changes, especially if they paid an extra $20 to get an ad-free Kindle. Most people consider the home screen recommendations a form of advertising, and they paid extra for a Kindle without ads, and now that Amazon has decided to populate the home page with unavoidable ads I can see how that would be frustrating for some users.
For ad-supported Kindles I think the change is actually an upgrade because now with the new software it doesn’t show a banner ad at the bottom of the home page and library view. Ad-supported Kindles now only show ads on the sleep screen when the Kindle is turned off; the banner ads when the device is on have been completely removed.
Also, I don’t think the current layout of the home screen is going to last much longer. Amazon has said more changes are coming to the home screen, including the ability to swipe left through your 20 most recent titles, and the picture shows something different at the bottom of the home screen.
There’s also the fact that the Kindle’s home page has been showing recommendations at the bottom for years. The only difference now is you can no longer set your Kindle to avoid using the home screen view in settings.
What do you think about having to use the new Kindle home screen with Amazon’s recommendations always visible? Do you think they should bring back the setting to avoid using the home screen?
I haven’t been bothered by it as I use the library tab, I email all books to my device and it doesn’t change screens so I rarely see it. My device is not add supported so I get why people would be annoyed by recommend books.
Personally I kinda don’t see adverts I trained myself to ignore them, like on TV I hit mute the moment adverts come on, I use and blockers (pi hole) which is very effective with online ads + blacklisting Facebook owned sites.
If the option to remove recommend books was available I would use it but library tab works just as well.
My Voyage didn’t not get this update. The other Paperwights in the house will eventually get it.
What I’m going to write is somehow related to the quality of ads.
All 3 Kindles were bought from US but because I’m using a non-US card I was not allowed to pay the 20$ to get it ad free.
A while back I sent feedback to Amazon about lovey-dovey ads I was seeing. I’m buying at least a book per month, most if not always SF. So I told them why I’m seeing lovey-dovey ads when I buy SF.
They replied almost instantly they will remove the ads from my Voyage. In the process they removed the ads from all 3 Kindles from my account.
I don’t mind ads, but at least make it relevant! Audible is great, Amazon is great at presenting relevant ads. Kindle is purely terrible!
Are the recommendations that bad? For me it isn’t. I don’t care and I don’t even look at them. I certainly prefer the Library page over the home page because I can see the book that I already have in my device. I do wish it would remain in the library page consistently, but I figure maybe because of the low RAM it loses that info and it goes to the default home page. I don’t see it as a conspiracy.
Lets face it: Kindles are made by a company who makes money by selling books. So it is only logical that their device will make it easier for them to sell you books. When you buy a Kindle you are also buying into Amazon’s bookstore. I don’t get how people complain so much about this concept and yet they continue to use kindles. If it upsets you that the device you purchased helps make more money to the company that made it, then don’t buy it. There are plenty of other ereaders out there that aren’t connected to a bookstore. It’s like getting upset that your xbox also advertises games that can be played on the xbox. You buy an xbox you buy into microsoft. Just look past them and enjoy your device. The fact that about 90% of my books in my kindle are not from Amazon tells me that the device is NOT locked into Amazon as some like to dramatize it. The few books I got from Amazon are either free books or under a dollar. Only a couple were purchased at full price.
I think that there are people who just like to complain because they can. The internet provides them a platform to freely complain about anything. One thing is to talk about system issues or things that could or should be improved. But to complain about the suggested books? If Amazon would do a better job of at least making the suggestions more relevant to what the user is reading, then people would complain about being tracked (which it is doing already to cater to your likes, just lousy at making relevant suggestions). It’s like using a butter knife to cut a steak and complain that it doesn’t cut the meat cleanly.
Once again, I really hope my PW2 doesn’t die soon. My default is the library list sorted by collection. I’d be PO’ed if I constantly had to choose it.
My ad free kindle paperwhite 4 updated last night while I was downloading new books. I really don’t like the new update. The book icons are much smaller. Those smaller icons were one reason why I turned off ads on my devices. The Home Screen is useless, and that giant search bar and menu bar on the library screen take up too much screen real estate. I wish I could downgrade to the old update. I hope the update does not come to my voyage. Maybe I need to start using my pc with usb to download books to avoid these updates.
Honestly don’t care. My Kindle isn’t my primary reading device. But mostly I leave it on the library screen when reading and make only occasional forays to the Home screen for fast access to a newly downloaded book. I’m used to ignoring recommendations as they are so rarely relevant. Either it’s something I’ve already read or something I have absolutely zero interest in. I simply don’t SEE them anymore!
It’s just not worth getting excited over. And otherwise, I’ve not minded the changes and liked most.
I was much MORE aggravated on a (long ago) day I went to Amazon on my computer and saw that all the recommendations on the screen were for Overdrive library books I had on hold or on my wish list or had recently searched for with Overdrive!
That felt like a total invasion of privacy, seeing as I have NEVER, EVER read any library book on a Kindle or had one sent to a Kindle. Library books have always gone to my Nook, Sony or Kobo readers. I always check out/borrow ePUB.
So I felt that Amazon, when they allowed Kindle to access library books, possibly made some arrangement with Overdrive to cough up data. PERHAPS that was all a coincidence, but it was rather alarming!
I have two main objections to the upgrade and they have nothing to do with the ads.
1. I can no longer use the home button to get to the front page of my library. I keep forgetting that and ending up on the useless-to-me home screen. Amazon’s recommendation algorithm fails for me.
2. The excess space taken by the search and drop-down menu reduce the number of titles that can show in list format from 7 to 5. Thumbing through a collection takes much longer now as does organizing.. I keep very few titles on each device so being able to see more collections matters to me.
I have multiple devices that I use for different purposes. A kk for text-to-speech, and older pw for side loading, and a 10th gen for most else. Only the 10th gen updated, but the others don’t sync well enough to switch solely to them. The kk will not download collections from the others and the older pw seems to have a top out point for the number of collections
I think the new home screen is annoying, it doesn’t add any value to me. If I want to buy books, I will specifically search for them. I am not buying any random stuff some algorithm thinks is interesting to me. Sure – I can switch to the library, but that stupid toggle stays at the bottom of the screen and I now see only 5 books per page in a huge font size (even though its the small one).
Yea, well, I am not excited.
That said, the new pull down menu is nice.
As someone who has paid money to remove ads, I don’t want to see Amazon’s recommendations.
There is more than the recommendations that I don’t like in the new update. I prefer the old back arrow, home button and list view. Swiping on eInk usually doesn’t work well and swipes are being added. In over ten years of Kindle ownership, I have never searched outside a book and search is a prominent part of the screen. More moves are required to do what used to take only one tap.
The update isn’t an improvement imo.
Although there is no longer an option to show the library only, you can at least block inappropriate ads.
1. Go to settings
2. Go to “your account”
3. Hit “ad settings”
Then you should be able to find the button to block the gross ads.
I don’t have an issue withe ads but what I have just found is that I cannot sort to see collections now! All mg books are in collections and I quite often use them to help me choose my next read! Thanks Amazon for screwing this up!
I don’t mind at all because I’m an oddball who actually likes the recommendations, especially if they’re from Kindle Unlimited or similar to series and authors. I don’t miss the bottom annoying banner, though, I never paid attention to that and found it an eyesore.