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

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

Earlier this summer season, Amazon released an update for its Kindle units that added new spacing choices, and just 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 all the 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 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, though it was at all times related to the web and totally charged. Even after 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 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 an alternative of ready for it to occur routinely. To my shock, the method was quite simple, and it made my Kindle a lot simpler to make use of.

How you can replace your Kindle e-reader

Entry the most recent options first

For those who’re inquisitive about studying learn how 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 may achieve entry to all the most recent options in your Kindle.

It is vital 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 units are designed to permit customers to soundly replace them themselves.

To get began, you may want your Kindle, a pc, and a USB-C cable (the cable that got here together with your Kindle). After you have 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, situated here.

2. Find your Kindle beneath the listed units 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. Keep 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.

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 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 function that primarily turns supported Kindle books into audiobooks, with a generic AI voice studying them aloud which 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’ll be able to.

Now that I understand how to replace my Kindle manually, I will do that each time a brand new replace is launched as an alternative of ready eternally for it to reach routinely. I take pleasure in testing the most recent options that improve my Kindle, and manually updating it permits me to do this sooner. Now, you’ll be able to too.