MobileRead Forums - Kindle firmware 5.13.1

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- - Kindle firmware 5.13.1 (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=331318)

Kindle firmware 5.13.1

Wasn't there some kind of restriction in the Kid's Edition 5.13.x version that folks didn't like? Can't remember what it was, but I'm curious if it moved to 5.13.1. (I'll have to look it up.)

Release notes From Oasis 2 - some models will not have Dark Mode:

Quote:

Version 5.13.1 - June 2020

Here's what's new:

New features for kids in Amazon FreeTime: Kids are getting more out of Amazon FreeTime with new features that include: a new layout, improved search, book details, and Audible support. For customers in supported marketplaces who are Amazon FreeTime Unlimited subscribers, your kids will see rows of recommended eBook and Audible content that are age-appropriate and included in your subscription. Just access Amazon FreeTime from the menu to get started.

Search: Over the next few weeks, you will see a new search experience that makes it easier to navigate through your search results in the book without losing the page you were reading. To get started, simply search for a term in your book and tap on a search result.

Dark Mode: We have made it easier for you to turn on Dark Mode. You can easily turn it on/off in Quick Actions.

Updated Page Flip Navigation: Over the next few weeks, you will see an updated Page Flip experience that makes it easier to navigate to the right page in your book. The new experience shows recently read pages as dots on the progress bar, including your most recent page read from another device. To get started, tap the top of the screen while reading to display the Reading Navigation toolbar, then tap the left Page Flip icon (single page view) at the bottom of the screen.

Performance improvements, bug fixes, and other general enhancements.

When I saw the thread topic, I didn't expect there to be a PW3 version.

Would be nice if Amazon made a statement about the pw3 status either way

Quote:

Originally Posted by melksnor (Post 4008781)

Would be nice if Amazon made a statement about the pw3 status either way

It would be nice, but they haven't done that for any other model so I would not expect it now.

I think they are done with the PW3. The Source Code Notice page provides the open source parts of the Kindle firmware. That page shows that Amazon did not create a 5.13.1 version of the PW3 (7th Generation) firmware. (A 5.12.5 version was apparently created, but never released.)

I’m excited and hopeful to see mention of a progress bar. Could it be coming back, finally?

"The new experience shows recently read pages as dots on the progress bar,"

I took a look at the new firmware to see if I could find any undocumented features. Here are some possibilities. No guarantees!

Continuing work on the Kindle Curator, including the book cover as screensaver feature.
Text-to-Speech reading separate from the VoiceView screen reader.
Japanese Hiragana keyboard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pjama (Post 4008790)

I’m excited and hopeful to see mention of a progress bar. Could it be coming back, finally?

"The new experience shows recently read pages as dots on the progress bar,"

Read the rest of that description. There has long been a very basic progress bar as part of the Page Flip feature, which takes a couple of taps to get to.

They are apparently going to add dots (they call waypoints) to that indicating recent page jumps so that you can go back to previous locations. The Kindle apps for iOS and Android have had that for a while.

Kindle Kids Edition has been removed from the update page.

Not gonna update for a while

Quote:

Originally Posted by hius07 (Post 4008611)

No release notes so far.

First they disable active content from there site & now they out of blue brings a update I'm gonna wait for sometime before updating FW
SINCE 5.12.5 has already been a headache for those with custom hacks...

there is. A minor possibility this update will be game-changer for Amazon against JB

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kinki (Post 4008862)

Amazon is trying their best to prevent JBs. The thing is, people JB their Kindle and if something goes wrong, Amazon gets the call for support even though it's nothing to do with Amazon.

It's like when the K1 was released. Access to the database was open and too many people deleted it or messed with it and Amazon got the support calls. So away that went.

Blame the users for the fact that JBing is getting really difficult or impossible and that Calibre cannot do anything with Collections on a non-JB Kindle.

If you use WiFi to sync, eventually you will get the new firmware. The only way to stop that is keep WiFi off.

I find it amusing that the key feature here is literally stealing from Kobo (the breadcrumbs on the progress bar).

Yes, I'm recognizing the bread crumb bar from reading about Kobos, so that's pretty obvious grab for an upgrade.

The feature sounds useful, but I'm not sure how much I'd use it yet.