DRM workaround: Kindle for Android

[Quoth]

The K3 to PW1 inclusive (some older ones with FW update years ago) don't do KFX. They do azw3.

The K1, K2 and all DX & DGX versions do not do azw3 or kfx, they do old mobi. The K1 maybe doesn't have PDF.

My DXG still connected to 2G-EDGE (3G gone locally) which is used by Smart Meters here. I last downloaded a few months ago to test.

My K3 still gets azw3 via WiFi.

The PW3 has mostly downloaded KFX.

Very occasionally an old title is in old mobi only. Someone wrote that there are even some Topaz ebooks still (a cunning Franken-format that nearly works).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

My K3 still gets azw3 via WiFi.

My Kindle Touch downloads mostly KF8 via WiFi. When it doesn't download KF8, it downloads Mobi.

[lkmiller]

Anyone try Sats or xyzzy_foo's methods with Kindle for Android?

[Frogm4n]

Originally Posted by Sats

Not a solution for a sane, reasonable, person, maybe. For amazon? Planned obsolescence, "it is with great regret that we announce a sunset of certain old Kindle models"...

That's not planned obsolescence, that's just regular obsolescence. The Kindles that don't support KFX are around 13 years old now.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

Anyone try Sats or xyzzy_foo's methods with Kindle for Android?

I tried Sats method but since the books were KFX, I promptly abandoned it.

[lkmiller]

Those methods are still in the more trouble than I want to mess with right now category especially since I have other options. But it is good to see someone pushing back against Amazon's continued locking down.

[joeywen0830]

Hello, I'm using the newest version of bluestacks, however both nougat 32 and 64 showed error when I'm trying to download books in kindle 8.51.1.0, saying that this app isn't compatible with this device. Any solutions?

[lkmiller]

Report of success with K4A 8.53.0.100 in post 787. Also see 785.

[Ma'am-I-Am]

Does anyone have a link to download 8.53.0.100?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Ma'am-I-Am

Does anyone have a link to download 8.53.0.100?

You can find the arm64-v8a and armeabi-v7a versions on APKMirror. The link to the downloads can be found at:
Amazon Kindle 8.53.0.100(1.3.257473.0). Note the this release lists Android 9.0 as a minimum requirement.


Note that I tried using K4A on an Android 9 setup and while I got it to work, the KFX downloads offered no advantage over those from K4PC or directly from a Kindle ereader. Given that working with later versions of K4PC or K4A involved having to recreate the keys pretty much every download, it's not worth the bother if you have a better technique available.

[lkmiller]

xyzzy_foo said they got their key from k4a 4.17 and then updated to 8.53. But yeah still very fiddly. Use another method or get the book elsewhere if you can.

[xyzzy_foo]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Note that I tried using K4A on an Android 9 setup and while I got it to work, the KFX downloads offered no advantage over those from K4PC or directly from a Kindle ereader. Given that working with later versions of K4PC or K4A involved having to recreate the keys pretty much every download, it's not worth the bother if you have a better technique available.

Originally Posted by lkmiller

xyzzy_foo said they got their key from k4a 4.17 and then updated to 8.53. But yeah still very fiddly. Use another method or get the book elsewhere if you can.

Unlike Sats' method, my approach doesn't require obtaining keys each time. However, this is for KFX, not KF8. KFX holds no value whatsoever for me.

[xyzzy_foo]

Originally Posted by Sats

Not a solution for a sane, reasonable, person, maybe. For amazon? Planned obsolescence, "it is with great regret that we announce a sunset of certain old Kindle models"...
That said, I did try flipping "isKFXSupported" switch in the latest K4A (Turns out they check for GPU capability and blacklist), and.. no luck.
" Received error: errorCode is : NoViableDeliveryOption ". So probably the only reliable way left is to pretend that you are an old Kindle device... Anybody knows what they use for identifications?

I'm interested in how Sats managed to do this. It seems didn't work in the latest 14.122.100 version, but it might work in 8.53.0.100.

[Sats]

Originally Posted by xyzzy_foo

I'm interested in how Sats managed to do this. It seems didn't work in the latest 14.122.100 version, but it might work in 8.53.0.100.

I have looked at the Kindle APK (8.123.0.100 in my case, I could not install 14.122.100 to my Android sim and am not convinced it is made for Android at all, at least not Android 13) and noticed that it has a function isYJBookSupported(i think) in one of its classes. It checks for "blacklist" and for graphical capability of the device. I flipped it with Frida and got the above error. That said, from what I can see, its function is that it reports a different app version when flipped off. Not older version, per se, but different, and the version number (for not YJBook app) is the same for 8.51, so I don't think it will work. I think they blocked that version on May 26. I might be wrong, of course.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by xyzzy_foo

Unlike Sats' method, my approach doesn't require obtaining keys each time. However, this is for KFX, not KF8. KFX holds no value whatsoever for me.

Pretty much my reason for abandoning K4A. If I am not able to obtain KF8, I'm not interested.