According to some user reports that received a new update for Kindle for PC (version 2.9.1), Amazon is going to be discontinuing the current Kindle for PC app on June 30th, but they’re releasing a “new and improved” Kindle app for Windows 11 later this month that’ll be available from the Microsoft Store so you’ll still be able to access your Kindle library from Windows computers.
For the majority of users this will be a minor inconvenience of having to install a different app and setting it up, but if you use Kindle for PC for DRM removal purposes to create backups of your purchased Kindle books, then you’re probably going to be disappointed by this news.
At this point it’s unclear if the “legacy” Kindle for PC app will continue to work in some capacity after June 30th, or if downloads will be disabled. Amazon just says it will “no longer be available after June 30, 2026”. I would expect it to stop downloading ebooks after that date. Amazon did a similar thing back in 2023 when they dropped the old Kindle for Mac app in favor of a new version that’s only available through Apple’s App Store.
If you still have any Kindle ebooks that aren’t backed up, now is the time to do so before they shutdown the Kindle for PC app. The new version will most likely come with some security enhancements to close off current DRM removal methods.
This is yet another sign that Amazon is doing everything they can to lockdown the Kindle platform as much as possible; soon it will be nearly impossible to get Kindle ebooks away from Amazon’s apps and devices, especially now that they’re dropping support for older Kindles in May. But those that fight against DRM are a smart and resilient lot. It’ll be interesting to see where things go from here.
Oh man, big brother is coming
I just purchased 8 books from Kobo, stripped them of DRM, and sideloaded them to my Kindle. Ball’s in your court, Amazon. How do you want to play?
Why, we’ll take away the ability to sideload, sir, except for approved sources such as libraries. Maybe.
I do that as well. And did you one better by buying a Kobo e-reader. My Kindles are all jailbroken, have KOReader installed and never connect to Amazon. But I now primarily use my Kobo.
Why not use Send to Kindle instead of sideloading? Then Amazon is storing, backing up, and syncing your Kobo ebook purchases for free. That’s actually Amazon’s best Kindle-related service, and it doesn’t cost us a dime to use (they don’t get enough credit for how great a feature that really is, and you never have to buy ebooks from Amazon to use it, and you don’t even need to own a Kindle to use it).
Some of us don’t want Amazon to know what’s on our Kindle. So they can’t remove it at whim. I don’t even have Wifi set up on my Kindle.
Plus, I’m already sitting in front of my computer after stripping the drm from the book. Why not just plug in the Kindle and transfer? Half the time the file from Send to My Kindle doesn’t even have the cover I carefully picked out and attached – if I send via USB, it’s perfect.
If that’s how you feel then why would you choose to use a Kindle at all when there are other options not tied to Amazon?
What are the best options in your opinion?
Kobo is the most popular alternative to Kindles, but they’re kind of lacking on options unless you like color E Ink. Onyx’s Boox devices are a good alternative too because they can run the Kindle app so you can read your Kindle library without having to deal with DRM removal, and they have all the extra Android features. It just depends on what you’re looking for.
Personally, I don’t trust it. For the same reason I don’t trust cloud services to remotely back up my computer. I’m afraid I’ll trip up some copyright detection and have my files deleted. No, I have never heard of this happening via Send-to-Kindle and I’ve been a Kindle owner since 2012. But the fear is still there.
Why not? A couple of things:
If I store my Kobo epubs using Send to Kindle can I get them back as epubs? Or am I just locking them into a Kindle only format? One of the primary reasons I DeDrm is to be able to read the ebooks I purchase on the device of my choosing. So, I guess my original Kobo purchased epubs would be converted to AZW3/KFX via Send to Kindle then need to be converted back to epub via Calibre to read on my Kobo. No thanks. Not sure I want to trust Amazon with my non-Amazon purchases anyway.
The only reason I would stop buying a Kindle would be if they removed the ‘Send to Kindle’ option. It was a brilliant move by Amazon to include the ePub format in this delivery method. It opens the door, on the one hand, to the entire ‘universe’ of e-books and, on the other, to Amazon’s own ‘ecosystem’.
Probably not many users make use of it, not so much out of fear of an invasion of their privacy but simply because they don’t need it. Buying a book, downloading it and reading it is what most users of any brand do (not just Amazon, as is often mistakenly thought), and Amazon users don’t need to send any books from outside (or transfer them via USB) because they already buy them on Amazon and download them directly to their e-reader. But for the few of us who don’t do that, ‘Send to Kindle’ is a very useful and convenient tool.
Amazon has the funds and resources to make the world a better place. Hear me out: motivating people to read more – like, seriously read more – would already make the world a better place. Reading makes people smarter, smarter people earn more money, more money means more spending, and more spending means more money for Amazon. I know this sounds a bit utopian, but putting barriers between people and books and therefore reading, is not a good decision in the short term, nor the long term.
But this topic is more complex… it’s not just about ebook prices. Harvesting people’s personal reading data and selling it to third parties makes Amazon a lot more money. But seriously, the number of people who read books is declining, so I wouldn’t risk squeezing a little bit more money per person while making them really angry, which will eventually turn them against Amazon completely.
There is a very solid and justified reason why DRM gets removed, it’s not evil piracy, but simply making life a bit easier and removing the completely tedious and unnecessary nonsense from reading. People who can’t afford books won’t buy them anyway. But making life difficult for everyone else who actually buy books and just want to read, just to make a few extra cents… will backfire. Make ebook reading more accessible, simple as that.
I bought a Kobo Libra Colour 2 days ago. Learned how to jailbreak my Paper White that they are making obsolete, and installed Kindle for PC this morning, will finish DRM stripping my books tonight, and I’ll be done with Amazon. They are killing their Kindle platform with this move. Ive been a kindle user since the 2nd Kindle, the clunky white one with bttns. Then had a K3 with the keyboard, and then my Paperwhite. Loved my Paperwhite. Now, I’m done with them.
What’s driving all of this is all the red ink being generated by Kindle, Fire & Alexa; said to total $5 billion per year.
Those losses are why Alexa & Fire Tablets are basically dead products walking and why Kindle software engineering has been downsized to the point where each firmware update is a disaster …
AND why Amazon is attempting to lock customers of its only profitable branded electronics venture — its bookstore — into the Kindle ecosystem: It’s not about piracy concerns, it’s about holding customers’ content hostage so they cannot leave for the sunnier climes of Kobo or Android (and Google Books.)
Like so much else which is happening in ’26, this Amazon strategy is stupid to the point of absurdity since you CAN leave any time you want & reclaim the content you paid for by finding it on the net: Doing so & sideloading it on a device not named Kindle is trivial and morally unquestionable since you already paid the author & publisher when you bought it from Amazon.
So whether there is or is not an Amazon app is not important.
More importantly, when this Amazon strategy fails and that $5 billion loss remains — as it surely will — you have to ask yourself what Amazon’s next move will be. Kindle will be going the way of the Fire Phone is what I’m guessing.
So beat the rush: make your current Kindle your LAST Kindle and — as a bonus — you’ll tell MAGA Jeff that you like your democracy more than you like him. And his yachts.
Oh how wonderful! A political statement from JC on a blog that should be apolitical.
It truly is the best how no discussion is safe. I could just post “The sky is blue today” and someone will come in with a rant about how it is all because of or in spite of a recent US president.
I miss the days when it was considered rude to discuss politics.
Politics effects everything so to try to say its rude to talk about politics, especially when its relevant to the topic, is inherently dishonest.
Also I never remember a time when it was rude to talk about politics per se. What was, and still is common, is for people to avoid talking about it to avoid confrontation or to avoid having their views challenged.
That can be understandable in a work place but in this context its not at all rude.
“… especially when its (sic) relevant to the topic…” It wasn’t at all relevant to the topic, but was a gratuitous swipe at the politics of someone JC doesn’t like. And that is why I objected to it.
This will officially mean I no longer buy Kindle books at all. I use Kobo readers exclusively, and have only bought older books from Kindle when they were not available on my Kobo. I used to buy only on Amazon – to the tune of over $1000 a year – but in the past year I think I have only spent $100 mostly on very old books since I cannot get newer ones with the older Kindle for PC.
Bye kindle – I guess I will have to go buy physical books on Thrift books. I don’t and won’t play your games. I only ever owned a kindle Oasis about 10 years ago for three months only – hated it. love my kobo readers!!!
Same. I’ve never owned a Kindle, and I was okay with jumping through a couple of hoops to decrypt Amazon’s EPUBs and turn them into normal e-books for my e-reader of choice. Mildly annoyed, but generally okay.
But they’ve made it increasingly clear that they don’t want me as a customer, to the extent that they will lie to me and encrypt books they advertise as being sold unencrypted. That’s fine. I can respect their wishes and shop exclusively at other e-book stores.
…
But selling encrypted files that are explicitly advertised as being unencrypted is kinda illegal.
Does anyone know the exact date when the new Kindle for PC app will be available? And how can one check one’s existing Kindles and Fire tablets to see if any of them will be bricked as of June 30th?
The app will be available when it gets approved; they probably don’t know the exact date. This has nothing to do with bricking anything. Here are the pages about Amazon ending support for Kindles and Fire tablets on May 20th, if that’s what you mean. They aren’t “bricking” them; they just won’t be able to download new content.
It is a shame for anyone still using that software instead of Calibre. I mean, seriously? Why would anyone use that instead of Calibre?
The key takeaway is that Amazon is increasingly limiting our ability to backup our purchases.
One reason I attempt to backup my collection is because the Kindle app software is so outdated that it is difficult to catalog properly.
It is a good time for someone to develop a better option. Most of the current alternatives are just a variation of the Kindle model.
This plainly sucks. I own a small business. I have $1000 worth of books on Kindle that I use to teach online classes. I will not upgrade to Windows 11 and bow to the Microsoft gods. I need the larger PC screen because I have bad eyes, I have five Windows 10 machines. I’m not putting out $10,000 to upgrade them. Just got screwed by technology again.
I don’t know. A quick Google search makes it sounds like it might be possible to install Windows 11 apps on Windows 10. Or you could use the Kindle Cloud Reader instead.
Amazon is singlehandedly keeping piracy alive. Amazon will not keep me from owning the books I buy. I just won’t be buying from Amazon any longer