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 really like, it fits my wants, permitting me to conveniently learn the books I need, anytime and anyplace, and comfortably due to its E Ink show. One factor I particularly admire about Amazon’s Kindle gadgets is how incessantly they obtain updates.

Earlier this summer season, Amazon released an update for its Kindle gadgets that added new spacing choices, and not too long ago, 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 complete Kindle person interface to make it simpler to see.

Whereas these updates are useful, and I admire that Amazon is rolling them out, I’ve observed my Kindle all the time takes a very long time to truly obtain them. When a Kindle replace was launched in June, my machine took weeks to get it, despite the fact that it was all the time linked to the web and absolutely charged. Even once I went to the software program updates display and tried to start out the replace, I noticed a pop-up saying it was already up-to-date, despite the fact that I knew it wasn’t, since others had acquired 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 a substitute 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.

Easy methods to replace your Kindle e-reader

Entry the newest options first

For those who’re excited by studying how you can 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 essential to notice that Amazon formally helps this, so there are not any hacks or tips concerned. The updates are formally obtainable 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 together with your Kindle). Upon getting all these assembled, this is what to do:

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

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

3. As soon as you’ve got downloaded the replace file, join your Kindle to your pc 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 pc. On my Kindle, I merely tapped Disconnect on the display.

6. In your Kindle residence 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 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 alter the quantity of area between every character, phrase, and paragraph precisely to your liking, you may.

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 perpetually 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.