It’s time for yet another Kindle software update. Amazon has been releasing software updates at a prolific pace lately (by my count this is the 7th Kindle software update that Amazon has released so far this year), and while some updates seem to do nothing, this latest update officially adds all the new features that started appearing for some users over the past few updates.
Some people started getting the new accessibility features a couple months ago, but now everyone should be able to get the new line spacing settings, the new larger interface font, the new page view, and the new Assistive Reader with this 5.18.5 update.
Amazon actually updated the release notes for a change (posted below) and all the new features are there, along with the ability to lock the screen rotation on the Kindle Scribe.
I installed the new 5.18.5 software update on my 12th gen Kindle Paperwhite, and I actually don’t see anything different since it got all the new features with the last update. They still haven’t added the page count indicator to the new page view so that’ll continue to annoy some folks. Hopefully they fixed Kids Mode, but I’m afraid to check after it removed all the downloaded content on my Kindle Paperwhite the last time I tried to use it.
As was the case with the past several updates, this new software update is only available for 11th and 12th gen Kindles, plus the Kindle Scribe and Kindle Colorsoft. Amazon is leaving 10th gen Kindles out yet again even though they’re still supposed to be receiving software updates through 2026 at a minimum.
Head over to the official Kindle Software Updates page on Amazon’s website if you want to download the update now and manually install it via USB. Otherwise you can wait for the update to download and install automatically on your Kindle, but that can sometimes take a few months.
Here’s the full list of release notes (the screen rotation lock only applies to the Kindle Scribe):
Version 5.18.5 – August 2025
Here’s what’s new:
Lock screen rotation: Keep your screen in portrait or landscape mode when moving your Kindle.
Larger Interface Text: You can now change the size of the font for your Kindle’s user interface to make it easier to read. Go to the “Screen and brightness” menu in settings to try it out.
New text spacing options: You can now adjust the spacing between paragraphs, words, and characters (in addition to lines) from the Font tab in the Reading Settings (“Aa”) menu.
Assistive Reader: With the Assistive Reader, you can listen to your books with Text-to-Speech and read along with synchronized real-time underlining. The Assistive Reader supports books in English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian languages.
Performance improvements, bug fixes, and other general enhancements.
Why don’t they show the book title next to the time at the top of the page?
That’s what I’ve always wondered. In the Kindle app, the title does appear in the header. Now that they are standardising the interface, we may see an update that includes this feature.
The 10th gen are suppose to recieve security updates through 2026, but I guess maybe these have just been feature updates.