Exactly one month ago to the day, Amazon released a software update for Kindles that introduced a lot of bugs and random problems, but now there’s a new software update available that hopefully fixes most of those issues.
The new software update version is 5.16.21, and it’s available for all 10th and 11th generation Kindles, which includes all models going back to 2018. However, the Kindle Scribe is still on the older software; it’s the only one that hasn’t gotten this new update yet.
The release notes for the new update don’t give any specific details. It just says “performance improvements, bug fixes, and other general enhancements” like every Kindle update that get released, but hopefully they’re serious about the bug fixes this time after all the problems people have been having since the last update.
Like usual, you can download and manually install the update from the Kindle Software Updates page at Amazon. Or you can wait for the update to download and install automatically on its own while your Kindle is charging and connected to Wi-Fi. Sometimes auto-updates can take several weeks to complete, as Amazon usually rolls out updates slowly, so if you’re having problems with your Kindle you might want to update manually to see if that fixes the issue.
On a side note, the new update version number doesn’t really make any sense. They went from 5.16.10.0.1 with the last update to 5.16.21 with this update. What’s more confusing is older 7th through 9th gen Kindles run software 5.16.2.1.1. The Kindle software devs must like messing with people, and they also hate updating release notes.
If you try the new 5.16.21 software on your Kindle, let us know in the comments if it fixes any problems you encountered after the last update. Also let us know if you notice any other changes not included in the release notes, which is often the case.
I have installed the update. The font sizes are back to previous larger size. Military time setting is now correct and no longer has AM/PM on it.
I hope this means that Amazon fixed the fact that they’re deleting all side loaded books
I don’t know if that particular problem will ever be addressed as it’s been around for a long while.
A theory I heard about that bug is that it happens due to Amazon not recognizing your sideloaded books as purchased thru them so they get deleted. I’ve always wondered if they remove books that you have purchased from Amazon then removed DRM from them and then sideloaded back into your Kindle.
It happens to people using Calibre. They plug their Kindle and transfer sideloaded ebooks via Calibre. If you use Send to Kindle to upload your ebooks, you will never have any problems.
I didn’t know that send to kindle books would be unaffected. Thank you for that tidbit of information.
It’s gotten so bad that it’s Amazon now deletes my sideloaded books from my Kindle iOS app. I’ll re-add them only for them to be deleted within two weeks time and again.
I don’t think it’s a bug, I think it’s intentional. A bug would be limited to a specific device, an Oasis firmware, a Scribe, a Paperwhite, etc. But when it’s doing this across-the-board, including iOS apps, then the writing is on the wall. Amazon hates competition and is basically disrespecting its customers. Needless to say, I sold all of my kindles except one and that’s because I need to purchase books not available on Kobo.
It also happens with send to kindle
Any book not purchased thru them is a lost sale so this “bug” is petty revenge. At least thats how it feels.
I have not had any books deleted when I use sendtokindle website. Most of my books are sideloaded. So, I would say it is something else that is happening. I honestly do not think Amazon is doing this on purpose, otherwise why would they even offer sendtokinle services? They would simply lock that out like they locked out sending audiobooks.
Not true at all.
I get that you’re frustrated, but you’ve got to stop spreading misinformation like that on this website. The problem is limited to sideloaded ebooks over USB only, not send to Kindle ebooks, and it only happens when using airplane mode for an extended time. There are reports of this going back to 2021.
I spoke too soon. The font size had returned to the previous larger size. After reading for a few minutes they shrunk back down.
I saw the same thing.
Something I had not noticed before is that the book title comes up in a bar below the menu bar when in a book. I did have some problems with both my basic 10th gen and my PW5 in recognizing my dear comic sans font. It had the bookerly font even though in the menu it was comic sans. Then my basic’s screen started to mess up. A restart did not alleviate the problems. But switching to a different book and selecting other fonts and then the comic sans brought it back with no problems. This font problem got fixed in both of my kindles. One book was from Amazon and the other was sideloaded from sendtokindle website. I suppose switching out books forced it to reset the buffer invovled with font selection. And my basic got messed up as it was asking for one font while another font was being displayed. Who knows, but it works o.k. now. One other point of interest, just before installing the new update, on both of my devices I was not able to exit the book. The menu bar did not come up. The drop down menu did come up. So I plugged them into my computer and was able to transfer the update with no problems. I have not had any problems with my Scribe as of yet. (Other than it switching the custom font when exiting and returning to a book).
As a follow-up with my basic 10th gen while using voiceview: 1. It is slower than before to responding to commands. 2. It is slower to start back up to reading after a page turn. 3. I noticed that when I use any font larger than 2 the pages mess up. It will either skip a word or repeat several words on the next page. 4. Before theupdate, once you activated voiceview and closed the settings screen voiceview would start reading the book. Now, it only reads the time at the top of the screen and I have to manually start the reading with the gesture. 5. When you paused the reading by switching off the Bluetooth device and turned it back on, voiceview would start back up. Now you have to use a gesture to start voiceview back up. Voiceview was doing pretty good before the update. 6. It did repeat one page.
As a follow up, I tried voiceview on my Paperwhite 11th gen and I noticed the similar issues as my 10th gen basic. I found that is works best when the font size is set at the smallest size on both devices and in profile mode. It did repeat reading a page a couple of times. It also doesn’t start reading the page automatically, it just reads the time. The gesture to start reading the text can be a little difficult as it does not allow much error of margin. Finally, it still pauses a second or two after switching pages. But the quality of the reading is still pretty good. certainly better than all other devices out there.
The Kindle is in its death throes as a platform. Amazon have all but abandoned it. I guess we had a good run.
The thing I noticed is the performances is much better.
Time left in chapter has returned to the book I was currently reading that lacked it, which is a good sign.
So I updated today. While my Oasis 3 seems to be good so far, it completely broke my Paperwhite 4… It’s MUCH worse than before the update. Now when I click/swipe next page, it does nothing, so I try again… And after maybe ten seconds it will turn both pages, but it’s incredibly slow to the point that I just don’t want to use it. Amazon seriously needs to do something because their software, it’s getting worse and worse.
REALLY starting to appreciate that I switched from my PW to a Kobo Libra 2 a few months ago. It’s been so nice not having to worry about any of this…
As a software engineer, I have a feeling that Amazon has replaced their Kindle dev team with inexperienced contractors from an agency.
CEO of Amazon Web Services predicted that they won’t need software developers anymore, because AI will solve anything. I can imagine that they fired the seniors and hired a few juniors who are developing the firmware using ChatGPT.
Kindle has been running MUCH more-poorly for the past months. It was turn pages fine, but it’s iffy whether the top menu will appear, whether it will return to the home page, etc. when you tap it, If you wait for several minutes it might finally do these things, but sometimes now. I have to restart several times in a row, somethings, to get it to behave normally. I’m really disgusted…