Firmware Update New Kindle software update: 5.18.4

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by tomsem

What version of Kindle for Android? Fire tablets have 14.126.100 and I don't see new options. I do not think I'll actually use them but one never knows.

I have version 8.126.0.100 on my Android tablet (personally, I don't find the spacing options useful).

[Tomifonication]

Any idea what firmware a new Coloursoft from BestBuy Canada would likely come with? Hoping to Winterbreak.

[BionicGecko]

Originally Posted by Tomifonication

Any idea what firmware a new Coloursoft from BestBuy Canada would likely come with? Hoping to Winterbreak.

Winterbreak was patched with 5.18.1 which came out in March. As the Colorsoft only recently became available in Canada, I expect the models sold there will be from a recent factory batch, so will likely come with a patched firmware (5.18.1 or later). However those that are in shops today are unlikely (in my humble opinion) to come with 5.18.4.

So, concretely: WinterBreak (FW < 5.18.1) is probably off the table, but the yet unreleased jailbreak (FW < 5.18.4) should work, unless you’re really unlucky. Now there’s no concrete release date for the new jailbreak so there’s no telling how long you’d have to wait for it to become available.

[tomsem]

My impression (based on experience registering Colorsoft recently) is that before they get boxed up, they load the update file for whatever version is available at that time, because as soon as I finished registering, it began updating (to 5.18.2 in my case); there was no indication it downloaded anything first. Also, inventory in Amazon warehouses must have been zeroed out because I had to wait a week or so, presumably for some shipping container to arrive.

I manually updated to 5.18.3 because I like the stupid double tap page turn feature, but am turning off WiFi so it's more likely I will be able to jailbreak if and when it becomes available.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by cellaris

I have version 8.126.0.100 on my Android tablet (personally, I don't find the spacing options useful).

Thanks, I probably will not find them useful either but so far I cannot even try them out.

[tomsem]

Some are reporting 'spacing options' on Reddit (they do not cite which version other than 'the latest'):

https://www.reddit.com/r/kindle/comm...ing_is_my_jam/

In the interest of scientific inquiry, I updated my Paperwhite to 5.18.4. It took 4 attempts to update my Kindle Paperwhite (11th generation) for some reason; it kept saying 'invalid update file', but I'm quite certain it was the correct one and that I had waited for the copy to complete before ejecting. And - drumroll - the spacing options are not there.

de-DRM of KFX works, at least for now.

[TheSmitty]

I have 5.8.4 on Colorsoft and options not there.

[JBaby]

Originally Posted by TheSmitty

I have 5.8.4 on Colorsoft and options not there.

Same firmware version on a CS SE. I’ve been reading both official Kindle editions and KFX I’ve converted. I don’t have the new spacing options for either.

[Manrico]

Paperwhite 11, updated manually to 5.18.3 in June. Several days after the update the spacing options appeared. Device was in airplane mode most of the time. Now updated once again manually to 5.18.4, they are still there. I am in Bulgaria, device was bought from a retailer in Austria.

[Steven630]

Originally Posted by BionicGecko

On my side I’ve seen a couple of reports on Discord that the jailbreak apparently does survive the update to 5.18.4 with the latest hotfix. I’ll wait for a few more positive reports before taking the plunge though

Does jailbreak survive the update to 5.18.4? I really want to try the update. I'm currently on 5.18.2 and wordwise won't change after manually selecting the right sense of word (the wordwise text size seems to be much smaller than before). And after looking up words in a dictionary, closing the look-up window temporarily leaves a rectangle of blank on the screen.

[BionicGecko]

Originally Posted by Steven630

Does jailbreak survive the update to 5.18.4? I really want to try the update. I'm currently on 5.18.2 and wordwise won't change after manually selecting the right sense of word (the wordwise text size seems to be much smaller than before). And after looking up words in a dictionary, closing the look-up window temporarily leaves a rectangle of blank on the screen.

According to several informal reports on Discord the jailbreak should survive the update to 5.18.4, providing the latest hotfix is installed prior to the update; however I haven’t updated my own Kindles to 5.18.4 so I can’t corroborate this myself.

I did however update them to 5.18.3, so I can confirm that the jailbreak does survive that update (again making sure that the latest hotfix is installed and ran prior to the update); if you’re unsure about updating to 5.18.4, perhaps updating to 5.18.3 might be enough to fix the issues you’re experiencing with WordWise and dictionary lookup.

[tomsem]

Meanwhile 5.18.4.1 is out. It would be interesting to know what the delta is from 5.18.4.

My Paperwhite (11th generation) did OTA update. Still no spacing adjustment feature.

Is it the case that no US customers have gotten this feature? Every report I've seen with identifiable location has been from non-USA customer. But it is too small a sample to draw conclusion that no USA customers have gotten it.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Meanwhile 5.18.4.1 is out. It would be interesting to know what the delta is from 5.18.4.

The only changes from 5.18.4 to 5.18.4.0.1 are in FastMetrics (which handles sending statistics to Amazon), and xtables (which regulates Internet traffic). There are no other changes.

If someone reports that installing this update affected the user interface it is likely that it was coincidental with Amazon's servers enabling them remotely. Just the act of rebooting a Kindle will cause it to check for changes to features that should be enabled.

Originally Posted by tomsem

My Paperwhite (11th generation) did OTA update. Still no spacing adjustment feature.

Is it the case that no US customers have gotten this feature? Every report I've seen with identifiable location has been from non-USA customer. But it is too small a sample to draw conclusion that no USA customers have gotten it.

I am a US customer I have have the spacing adjustment feature on three different Kindles, one running 5.18.3 and two running 5.18.4.0.1. On all three it is found under Aa, Font, Spacing.

[DenS]

Originally Posted by Steven630

Does jailbreak survive the update to 5.18.4? I really want to try the update.

I updated my PW12 to the latest version 5.18.4.0.1 and the jailbreak survived. Just don't forget to use the hotfix before and after updating and reinstall KUAL.

[sirena28]

Hello everyone, I hope you’re doing well. I’m new to this, in other words, new to the Kindle world and I have a small question. My Kindle is an 11th generation (2022 release) running firmware version 5.18.3, and I’d like to know if there is a jailbreak available for this version or not.