DRM workaround: Kindle for Android

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Shykat

My poor feeble brain is extremely confused. I have Kindle 1.17 on my PC as well as Calibre and have been able to de-drm books from my Kindle but now have read that, as of 1/3/23, I won't be able to de-drm them but found this thread.

I prefer to read my ebooks in a different program on my phone instead of using the Kindle app which is why I have been very happy with the old set up until it now looks like Amazon has changed things yet again.

What I'm wondering is it would be possible to download and install the old version of Kindle for Android onto my Android Tablet and use it to download the ebooks I want. Email the book file, which I'm assuming is a .prc file (if not, please correct me) from my table to my desktop. Then run that file through Calibre and get my preferred .epub file that I can then read on my phone.

Is it easy to find the needed Kindle for Android key while on my tablet or do I need to do all the steps I read where you have to make a backup file to find the key??

If that is all possible, #1, where do I find the key in the Android version and #2, what directory does the Android version download files into.

And Thank you!

There is a small chance you might be able to use your tablet with an older version of Kindle for Android, depending on how old your tablet is. If it is too new, Amazon might ask you to update the K4A app to a version that will give you only books with unbreakable DRM. There doesn't seem to be a clear cutoff date.

The file that contains the key is easy to find, but access to that location is prohibited unless your tablet is rooted. Easy to find is relative, because doing all the steps needed to do the backup method is usually easier to understand and to do when you have experience with neither.

If your computer can install Bluestacks, I suggest you go that route, it will work and is relatively simple to follow with the instructions provided in first post.

[shamanNS]

Soooo simple that this thread has 8 pages where 80% of comments are troubleshooting problems with failed adb backup command.

IMHO rooted Bluestacks emulator + manually copying map_data_storage.db approach leaves less space for errors.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by shamanNS

IMHO rooted Bluestacks emulator + manually copying map_data_storage.db approach leaves less space for errors.

You would think so. To get it working for manual approach and copying each book out individually, BSTweaker with builtin file manager may be easier. For automation afterwards, not so much. Having a working ADB makes it possible to have a one click solution to pull books out. Bluestacks, at least on my computer, has the bad habit of losing the adb connection (says it is on, but refuses to connect when you closed and reopened BS). Disconnecting and reconnecting works fine, so I made a batch file that will connect, pull, disconnect.

[Jacques Q.]

Hello.
I am quite willing to try a hand at this, although it does look way more complicated than the old Kindle for PC method.
Jut to get my bearings right :
1/ Can this be done on a computer with some kind of Android simulator (I never used such a thing but I guess it must exist), or only on a smartphone or tablet ?,
2/ will this allow to use the extant DeDRM method on e-books thus transformed ?,
and 3/ if answer to question 2 is "yes" (which is probably the case because it is the whole point of going to such lengths...) , will it also work for books published after the Jan. 2023 deadline?
Thanks a lot in advance for enlightening me...

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Jacques Q.

Hello.
I am quite willing to try a hand at this, although it does look way more complicated than the old Kindle for PC method.
Jut to get my bearings right :
1/ Can this be done on a computer with some kind of Android simulator (I never used such a thing but I guess it must exist), or only on a smartphone or tablet ?,
2/ will this allow to use the extant DeDRM method on e-books thus transformed ?,
and 3/ if answer to question 2 is "yes" (which is probably the case because it is the whole point of going to such lengths...) , will it also work for books published after the Jan. 2023 deadline?
Thanks a lot in advance for enlightening me...

1/ yes

2/ it will only work on books that are not KFX only (similiar limitation as Kindle for PC has/had)

3/ will work with books published this year

It will work better on a PC with Bluestacks as emulator than on smartphone or tablet. Some smartphones and tablets that used to work no longer do so due to further changes Amazon made. Unfortunately, yes, new method is more complicated than old K4PC method. The option to download and transfer via USB still works and is by far the easiest for any purchased books when you have a eink Kindle registered to your account.

[Jacques Q.]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

1/ yes

2/ it will only work on books that are not KFX only (similiar limitation as Kindle for PC has/had)

Thanks for the complete reply.
Not sure what "KFX only" means. I've been using the "Strip KFX" thingy (this is maybe not exact name but I'm sure you know what I mean) for years, and it never failed so far (for pre-Jan. 3, 2023 e-books, of course), so I guess "KFX only" books must be a different - and infrequent - variety ?

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Jacques Q.

Thanks for the complete reply.
Not sure what "KFX only" means. I've been using the "Strip KFX" thingy (this is maybe not exact name but I'm sure you know what I mean) for years, and it never failed so far (for pre-Jan. 3, 2023 e-books, of course), so I guess "KFX only" books must be a different - and infrequent - variety ?

Yes, very few books are KFX only. They are the new format that allow advanced typesetting. Some books that require KFX are some (expensive) textbooks, some non-latin alphabet books (e.g. arabic) and per request of publishers (e.g. english books sold in India).What you probably did was disable KFX downloads in K4PC, so that you get the old format AZW3/KF8 that allows DRM removal. Obviously that only works if the book allows old formats in AZW3 or mobi.

So saying it works for all books is factually wrong as sone cannot be DRM removed.

[JimDeen]

I am running BlueStacks v5.11.50.2102 when I try to install kindle-4-16-0-75-multi-android.apk I receive this message:

Unfortunately, this app could not be installed.
Please verify the installation file before trying again

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by JimDeen

I am running BlueStacks v5.11.50.2102 when I try to install kindle-4-16-0-75-multi-android.apk I receive this message:

Unfortunately, this app could not be installed.
Please verify the installation file before trying again

Try again, but download the apk from oldversion linked in first post.

[African]

What does the Kindle for Android key look like ? Is it a 28 character alphanumeric ?

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by African

What does the Kindle for Android key look like ? Is it a 28 character alphanumeric ?

I don't think you can actually properly view it. DeDRM just has the option to import it from the backup file, not manually enter it.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by African

What does the Kindle for Android key look like ? Is it a 28 character alphanumeric ?

You could look through the code of DeDRM or NoDRM to see what the key is that gets extracted out of the file. Not that it would be any useful, it would just be of academic interest. Even in that case the key is pretty much useless, the algorithm itself is what is the interesting part, IMO.

[ownedbycats]

I used 'Save highlighted key to a .k4a file' and then opened it in a text editor.

There's three lines of alphanumeric characters. The first is 72 characters, the second is 40 characters, and the third is 32 characters.

EDIT: I find 72 characters as a bit odd. I'd expect 64. Googling and BCrypt has a maximum of 72 bytes but that's used for password hashing and I'm not sure if relevant here.

[habby]

Does this still work? I've tried it on [this](https://www.amazon.ca/Deviance-Confo...ts_feature_div) book and downloading the book didn't work on any versions of kindle. it would force an update, and even when I got the update, the error message reads "This book cannot be downloaded on this device". I've tried bluestacks 5/4 nougat 32 bit as well as bluestacks 5 64 bit.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by habby

Does this still work? I've tried it on [this](https://www.amazon.ca/Deviance-Confo...ts_feature_div) book and downloading the book didn't work on any versions of kindle. it would force an update, and even when I got the update, the error message reads "This book cannot be downloaded on this device". I've tried bluestacks 5/4 nougat 32 bit as well as bluestacks 5 64 bit.

That's a KFX-only book and cannot be deDRMed.