I simply made my Kindle so significantly better with one easy trick

I bought my first Kindle earlier this yr, and I’ve actually been having fun with it. Though it is not excellent or as open a platform as I would love, it fits my wants, permitting me to conveniently learn the books I would like, anytime and anyplace, and comfortably because of its E Ink show. One factor I particularly respect about Amazon’s Kindle gadgets is how continuously they obtain updates.

Earlier this summer season, Amazon released an update for its Kindle gadgets that added new spacing choices, and lately, it launched one other replace that launched a brand new Assistive Reader function, which reads your books aloud, and an accessibility function that enlarges the font throughout your entire Kindle person interface to make it simpler to see.

Whereas these updates are useful, and I respect that Amazon is rolling them out, I’ve observed my Kindle at all times takes a very long time to truly obtain them. When a Kindle replace was launched in June, my gadget took weeks to get it, regardless that it was at all times related to the web and totally charged. Even after I went to the software program updates display screen and tried to start out the replace, I noticed a pop-up saying it was already up-to-date, regardless that I knew it wasn’t, since others had obtained the replace and it was listed on Amazon’s web site.

To repair this, I made a decision to learn to manually replace my Kindle. This implies downloading the replace immediately from Amazon and beginning the method myself, as an alternative of ready for it to occur mechanically. To my shock, the method was quite simple, and it made my Kindle a lot simpler to make use of.

replace your Kindle e-reader

Entry the newest options first

When you’re all in favour of studying the right way to replace your Kindle your self, it is a comparatively simple course of that does not require you to be a tech guru, and by doing so, you will acquire entry to all the newest options in your Kindle.

It is necessary to notice that Amazon formally helps this, so there are not any hacks or methods concerned. The updates are formally out there for obtain on Amazon’s website, and Kindle gadgets are designed to permit customers to securely replace them themselves.

To get began, you will want your Kindle, a pc, and a USB-C cable (the cable that got here along with your Kindle). Upon getting all these assembled, here is what to do:

1. In your laptop (Mac or Home windows works), go to Amazon’s official web site for Kindle updates, positioned here.

2. Find your Kindle underneath the listed gadgets on Amazon’s website and obtain the newest replace. As an illustration, I’ve an Eleventh-generation Kindle, so I downloaded the newest model for that mannequin. Bear in mind the place you downloaded it to in your laptop.

3. As soon as you have downloaded the replace file, join your Kindle to your laptop with a USB-C cable. When related, your Kindle ought to seem as an exterior drive labeled “Kindle.”

4. Drag and drop the replace file you simply downloaded into the “Kindle” drive.

5. As soon as the file has transferred efficiently to your Kindle, disconnect it out of your laptop. On my Kindle, I merely tapped Disconnect on the display screen.

6. In your Kindle house display screen, faucet the Menu icon (the three dots) and select Settings.

7. Then, faucet the Menu icon once more and select Replace Your Kindle.

When you begin putting in the newest replace in your Kindle, you will see a progress bar seem on the show together with a message that signifies it is updating. When it is completed, your Kindle will restart, and you’ll benefit from the newest replace.

On the time of writing, the newest replace, model 5.18.4.0.1, introduces a brand new Assistive Reader function that primarily turns supported Kindle books into audiobooks, with a generic AI voice studying them aloud which you could comply with together with. If it has been some time since your Kindle was up to date, there are additionally new choices to customize how books appear, so if you wish to regulate the quantity of house between every character, phrase, and paragraph precisely to your liking, you may.

Now that I understand how to replace my Kindle manually, I am going to do that each time a brand new replace is launched as an alternative of ready endlessly for it to reach mechanically. I get pleasure from testing the newest options that improve my Kindle, and manually updating it permits me to do this sooner. Now, you may too.