A new software jailbreak has been released for all Kindles dating back to the Kindle Paperwhite 2, so that includes all Kindles released since 2013, and it works up to software version 5.14.2.
The latest Kindle update 5.14.3 was just released a couple of days ago to close the loophole that enables this, so as long as your Kindle hasn’t updated yet this new jailbreak method should work (put your Kindle in airplane mode if you don’t want it to update).
Thanks to Katadelos for releasing the jailbreak over at MobileRead. Check that post for the download link and the full set of directions on how to install the jailbreak. It looks pretty easy for the most part but you will have to factory reset your Kindle to get started.
If you’re the kind of person that wants to take back control of your Kindle so Amazon can’t keep changing things that you don’t want changed, or if you want to make some changes of your own like installing KOReader, then this software jailbreak might be worth your consideration.
Apparently the jailbreak allows you to revert back to the old user interface as well if that’s something you want to do. I plan on testing this myself so I’ll post a follow-up with directions later this week if everything works as expected.
In all these years I’ve never jailbroken a Kindle ereader before so this will be my first attempt, and I plan on using the Kindle Paperwhite 5. Are you going to jailbreak your Kindle? If so, why?
I have been contemplating jail breaking to avoid the annoyance of the latest Amazon changes..
But, like you, I have never jailbroken a Kindle. The risk is high because I only own one Kindle, an older Kindle Voyage, although I do have a couple Kindle Fires.
I will be watching for your update and whether I should also follow suit.
Best wishes,
Anne
I wouldn’t worry about the Kindle Voyage changing much at this point. They stopped updating it a year ago.
What is the benefit in jailbreaking a Kindle?
You can install other software like KOReader to read ePubs, tweak different settings not normally accessible, block updates, etc, and there’s lots of stuff for techies that I don’t understand the half of.
Just spotted this on MobileRead.com, it looks like Amazon may FINALLY support .epub as a format you can email to Kindle!!!
That might make jailbreak a little less necessary for some. But of course, it doesn’t solve the issue of forced undesirable updates for most. It’s still great news as far as I’m concerned, since I own Kobo and Kindle!
I wonder whether we’ll see straight epub on the devices (unlikely, IMHO) or an Amazon on-the-fly conversion to either KF8 or KFX.
Forgot the darn link…my bad!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?tag=mr060-20&nodeId=G5WYD9SAF7PGXRNA
Cool, thanks for the tip! I just posted an article about it: Kindles Now Support ePubs Sent by Email.
I too have a 7th Gen Voyage, which I strongly prefer to the 10th Gen Basic.
The only annoyance with the Voyage is the browser
Would jailbreaking allow me to update the browser?
I doubt it but I’m not a jailbreaking expert and don’t know half the things that can or can’t be done.
Why can’t I put newish downloaded books on Kindle 10 ? Always states unable to open etc. No problems with paper white or fire.
Seems to be an issue with the newer software. Maybe customer support has a solution by now.
Well, my only annoyance with Kindle is that it DOES NOT allow copying the text and share it (email) from the books I sideloaded. It only allows it from the amazon purchased books. If jailbreak or koreader allows it, I will do it in jiffies.