The end of AZK?

[jhowell]

The release notes for the new 3.73 version of Amazon's Kindle Previewer has this statement:

Exports in the .azk file format will no longer be available as of October 16, 2023 in Kindle Previewer Version 3.74. We recommend the Phone and Tablet device type preview options for the best representation of Enhanced Typesetting on iOS devices.

It is unclear whether support for AZK is to also going be removed from the iOS app since the method for creating it is going away.

This is unlikely to impact very many people. I suspect that sideloading AZK format to the Kindle for iOS app is seldom done these days.

[Quoth]

Indeed AZK seems to have only been an iOS preview format, so limited in value
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/AZK

Overview

AZK is another binary format created by Amazon for reasons that are currently not clear. The Kindle Previewer will convert files to this format if iPhone or iPad is selected.

…

Files in this format can [only?] be downloaded to your iPad or iPhone using iTunes. Unlike other downloaded eBooks that show up in DOCS, this one will show up in Books. Cloud services seem not to recognize this format or offer Kindle as the target.

Probably only via iTunes, as I found that with direct USB on iPhone no Apple app can see any sideloaded file, but 3 party apps can.

We found the only way to really see KFX on Kindle or Apple Books was to actually publish the epub and buy / download a copy.
The KDP download now simply gives back the apparently identical epub you uploaded (in theory for Send to Kindle). Not sure what happens if you upload docx, but uploading epub to KDP is best and what Customer support told us. Our Apple Books titles go via Smashwords epub, we don't upload to Apple at all.

But surely if you buy a kindle ebook on Amazon on iOS you don't read it in Books but on Kindle for iOS?

Maybe I need to buy an iPad mini. The iPhone 4 can't do much now.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Indeed AZK seems to have only been an iOS preview format, so limited in value

Yes. Amazon at one time promoted previewing Kindle books using actual Kindle apps and devices.

KF8 (azw3) format is not supported on iOS or Mac devices. Amazon instead included JavaScript code from the Kindle Cloud Reader (read.amazon.com) in the Kindle for iOS app as an alternative that provided equivalent functionality.

AZK was simply the same data used at that time by read.amazon.com combined into a packaged form. The Kindle Previewer was updated to export this format to allow publishers to test their books using the Kindle for iOS app.

These days Amazon urges publishers to test using their Previewer software instead, since that shows rendering of books using latest KFX format, eliminating the need for for AZK.

[bison999]

Originally Posted by jhowell

KF8 (azw3) format is not supported on iOS or Mac devices. Amazon instead included JavaScript code from the Kindle Cloud Reader (read.amazon.com) in the Kindle for iOS app as an alternative that provided equivalent functionality.

Which would explain why the cloud reader javascript partially talks about devices and phones in its code. And ios.