Starting connected February 26th, 2025, Amazon is removing a characteristic from its website allowing you to download purchased books to a machine and past transcript them manually to a Kindle complete USB. It’s a characteristic that a batch of Kindle users are astir apt not alert of, fixed books tin beryllium much easy sent to devices complete Wi-Fi, but it’s particularly useful for backing up purchases aliases converting them to different formats compatible pinch non-Kindle e-readers.
There are a fewer reasons why immoderate Kindle users mightiness miss this feature. It’s useful if you don’t person entree to a Wi-Fi network, and though it’s a tedious process since purchased books tin only beryllium downloaded 1 astatine a time, there’s immoderate bid of mind successful knowing you person offline copies of each your books.
It doesn’t hap frequently, but arsenic Good e-Reader points out, Amazon has occasionally removed books from its online shop and remotely deleted them from Kindles aliases edited titles and re-uploaded caller copies to its e-readers. In 2009, the institution removed copies of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, explaining the books had been mistakenly published. More recently, many of Roald Dahl’s books, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, were replaced pinch updated copies featuring modified connection connected various ebook platforms. It’s a reminder that you don’t really ain overmuch of the integer contented you consume, and without the expertise to backmost up copies of ebooks, you could suffer them wholly if they’re banned and removed.
The characteristic is besides the easiest measurement to person books purchased from Amazon to different formats for illustration EPUB that tin beryllium utilized connected replacement devices specified arsenic a Kobo. Books downloaded done Amazon’s website are delivered successful the older AZW3 format which allows DRM to beryllium easy removed utilizing various package tools.
Older Kindle models besides shop books successful the AZW3 format, and they tin beryllium extracted by connecting the instrumentality to a machine pinch a USB cable. But modern Kindles usage the newer KFX format (first rolled retired successful 2015) which introduced improved font rendering, amended layout capabilities, and DRM that’s astir intolerable to circumvent.
The download characteristic is simply a carryover from the days erstwhile Kindles didn’t travel pinch Wi-Fi, allowing users who besides weren’t capable to return advantage of Amazon’s cellular Whispernet work to get purchased books onto their e-readers. It’s still accessible done Amazon’s website by accessing your “Content Library” while logged into your account. For purchased books you prime the “More actions” menu, take “Download & transportation via USB,” prime a Kindle instrumentality you person registered, and a transcript of the book will beryllium downloaded to your computer.
But the pop-up that appears erstwhile selecting the download action now includes an further warning. “Starting February 26, 2025, the ‘Download & Transfer via USB’ action will nary longer beryllium available. You tin still nonstop Kindle books to your Wi-Fi enabled devices by selecting the ‘Deliver aliases Remove from Device’ option.“
Once this characteristic goes away, you’ll still beryllium capable to manually transcript ebook files and different documents to Kindles complete USB utilizing Amazon’s apps aliases third-party solutions for illustration Calibre. You conscionable won’t beryllium capable to download copies of your purchased books to a computer.
The Verge reached retired to Amazon pinch a petition for remark connected why this characteristic is being removed but didn’t instantly perceive back.
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