Amazon has a new help page up on their website regarding software security updates for Kindle ereaders where they guarantee that Kindles will receive security updates for at least four years after the device is sold on their website as a current model.
There’s also a new entry on the Manage Your Devices page at Amazon that indicates how long security updates are available for each of your Kindles.
For example, current models are included through 2025 (the big question is are they going to change it to 2026 in a few months when 2022 hits or are they going to release a new lineup of Kindles soon?).
On older models like the Kindle Paperwhite 3 and Kindle Voyage, the page indicates security updates will be included through 2022. A lot of the older models are already past the cutoff date, but those models haven’t been receiving updates for a long time anyway.
Amazon implies they will still try to provide security updates beyond that time, but there’s no guarantee past four years after they’ve stopped selling a particular model.
See the help page below for more details:
How does this compare with Kobo?
When it comes to ereaders, Amazon is the only one I’ve seen with a notice like this. Their lawyers probably thought it was a good idea after the slew of publications exaggerating potential Kindle security threats.
I was referring to the frequency and age of system update.
Kobo is still updating devices from 10 years ago so they keep updates going for a long time too.