Amazon has released yet another software update for all 10th, 11th and 12th generation Kindles, including the new Kindle and new Kindle Paperwhite models for 2024.
The newer Kindles have a different software version (5.17.1.0.4) than previous gen models (5.17.1.0.3), and the Kindle Colorsoft is still missing from the updates page so it’s not included in this round of updates (in fact, Amazon still hasn’t updated the software on the Colorsoft since it was released).
Once again, Amazon doesn’t provide any details whatsoever about the new software update (and they got the month wrong again—the changelog is dated September) so it’s probably another one of those updates that isn’t worth the time of installing.
Lately Amazon has been releasing software updates for Kindles every few weeks, and nine times out of ten the updates don’t actually do anything, at least not from a user’s perspective.
Most of the Kindle updates released over the past two years have just been bug fix updates to fix problems introduced with previous updates. Now it’s a cycle that just keeps repeating itself.
Amazon has been steadily adding new features to the Kindle Scribe like they did with the 5.17.2 update from last week, but other Kindles almost never get any new features anymore. They did improve page turn speed with one of the updates from a couple months ago, but most Kindle updates are just a waste of time these days. Bugs that have been causing problems for years still remain unfixed. There are a number of inconsistencies with the user interface that never get addressed. Font sizes are lacking. It’s been over 2 years since the Kindle Scribe was released and you still can’t view notes from the Scribe on other Kindles. So what’s the point of these endless updates?
Rant aside, you can download the latest update from the Kindle Software Updates page at Amazon if you want to install it manually. Otherwise your Kindle will update automatically at some point whether you want it to or not. The joy of pointless software updates never ends. Actually it does end eventually after a Kindle becomes old enough. My Kindle Voyage hasn’t been updated in years and it has less problems than newer Kindles, and somehow it still works fine without getting updated every few weeks.
Yeah, the same bugs that i had on previous version still remain…
Old man yelling at Amazon clouds? 😉
Sounds like they’ve turned into Windows & their (mostly) useless updates as well. It’s disappointing that Amazon did not update the Kindle UI at all for this years releases. The least they could have done was improve reading settings when you’re in an e-book, they’ve had the same exact settings for so many years it’s hard to recall exactly when they changed it to what it is today…. 5 years? .. 10 years? We can only hope that they will actually do an update that’s worth it soon.
As a retired IT professional, I can say that mot software update are for bug fixes or security issue fixes. I know consumers expect fancy new things with updates but that just don’t happen most of the times.
I get that but Kindles aren’t exactly a big security risk, and they don’t even bother updating the older models anymore so security can’t be much of an issue. It’s like the updates are just to fix bugs that were introduced with previous updates, and yet long-standing bugs that have been an issue for years never get fixed, like sideloaded content getting erased.
I hope they have fixed the problems with voiceview. During the summer voiceview was doing o.k. But then in fall it got all messed up.
I do a lot of text to speech and audiobooks but I use the Fire tablet or a kindle app for that. I can’t stand to use the Kindle voice view it is just unusable for my needs. I seriously don’t believe I will ever get another Kindle unless they update the text to speech to the level of the Fire tablet and Kindle apps.
Bored. So tired of the mindset of the entrapped. Amazon spent all of 2024 bricking one Kindle after another for me, first both my Oasis 2 and Oasis 3, then my 2022 Paperwhite that I bought to replace both of those, and then my Dad’s Oasis 3. So I started research into alternatives mid-bricking spree, and ended up with a Kobo Libra Color for the buttons and actual availability, and got my Dad the Sage. I solved the screendoor effect by setting the KLC to dark mode, and getting a Noreve cover to replace the awful OEM cover. Then spent a week downloading and converting my entire library to epub with metadata and hi-res covers, and then sideloading everything onto the KLC and Sage.
And meanwhile, my Dad just sits there, with the Sage untouched as he uses his phone to scroll Facebook videos and stares forlornly at his Oasis that won’t turn back on again. I even did the work converting all of our books for him… I’m so tired of using products from people that hate me and don’t properly support their products. I can’t wait for the Boomers to finish going away so the rest of us can move on. I mean hell, after dealing with Windows 11 for about a day, I installed Debian 12 on my new laptop and upgraded his new laptop from win11 home to Windows 10 Pro (with all his apps ready to go, his bookmarks and passwords imported). And guess what, it also sits on his desk, unused. And he still uses the broken laptop that has no keyboard, and half the screen is black.
Tired. Bored. Amazon hates you, they hate me, and they keep pushing changes, policies, and updates that don’t work, don’t help us the consumer, and we aren’t even the customer, we’re the product being packaged up and sold to their real customers, the advertisers. I don’t care what OS or what brand of e-book you use, but when you’re tired of being stepped on, the rest of us are moving forward on a different path. Put in the work, and you can escape too.