I simply made my Kindle so a lot better with one easy trick

I obtained my first Kindle earlier this 12 months, and I’ve actually been having fun with it. Though it isn’t excellent or as open a platform as I would love, it fits my wants, permitting me to conveniently learn the books I need, anytime and wherever, and comfortably due to its E Ink show. One factor I particularly recognize about Amazon’s Kindle gadgets is how steadily they obtain updates.

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

Whereas these updates are useful, and I recognize that Amazon is rolling them out, I’ve seen my Kindle all the time takes a very long time to truly obtain them. When a Kindle replace was launched in June, my gadget took weeks to get it, though it was all the time linked to the web and totally charged. Even once I went to the software program updates display and tried to begin the replace, I noticed a pop-up saying it was already up-to-date, though 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 discover ways to manually replace my Kindle. This implies downloading the replace instantly from Amazon and beginning the method myself, as a substitute of ready for it to occur robotically. To my shock, the method was quite simple, and it made my Kindle a lot simpler to make use of.

Methods to replace your Kindle e-reader

Entry the most recent options first

In case you’re concerned with studying how you can replace your Kindle your self, it is a comparatively straightforward course of that does not require you to be a tech guru, and by doing so, you may acquire entry to all the most recent options in your Kindle.

It is essential to notice that Amazon formally helps this, so there aren’t 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 may want your Kindle, a pc, and a USB-C cable (the cable that got here along with your Kindle). After getting all these assembled, this 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 below the listed gadgets on Amazon’s website and obtain the most recent replace. As an illustration, I’ve an Eleventh-generation Kindle, so I downloaded the most recent 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 linked, 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.

6. In your Kindle dwelling display, 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 most recent replace in your Kindle, you may 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 most recent replace, model 5.18.4.0.1, introduces a brand new Assistive Reader characteristic that primarily turns supported Kindle books into audiobooks, with a generic AI voice studying them aloud that you could observe 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 modify the quantity of house between every character, phrase, and paragraph precisely to your liking, you possibly can.

Now that I understand how to replace my Kindle manually, I will do that each time a brand new replace is launched as a substitute of ready ceaselessly for it to reach robotically. I get pleasure from testing the most recent options that improve my Kindle, and manually updating it permits me to try this quicker. Now, you possibly can too.