Why it matters: For years, Kindle users have been unable to buy books published in ePub format and read them on their e-reader – at least not without manually converting them to an Amazon-approved format. That is expected to change later this year, but those hoping for natural ePub support will be disappointed.
Since the launch of the first generation Kindle in 2007, the brand has become almost synonymous with the term e-Reader. With the original Kindle and its later incarnations, Amazon also imposed its own e-book formats on consumers – a limitation that continues to this day.
Last weekend’s report from Good E-Reader offered a glimmer of hope that Amazon could soon start supporting ePub files. After 15 years of persistence in a format that is maintained and used by almost everyone else in the e-book and e-reader business, a small update in Kindle’s official documentation seems to indicate that consumers will be able to use books purchased from competing services.
However, it turns out that Amazon does not add natural support for ePub files, but rather makes it easier for non-technical users to convert ePub files to a Kindle-specific book file format. In other words, you’ll soon be able to use the Send to Kindle feature to do something that usually requires a tool like Caliber, which is not the most convenient software out there.
The new functionality is expected to appear later this year, but this is not the only change ahead. Amazon will also discontinue support for the FIPS and .azw (essentially rebranded versions of Amazon’s FIPS) files. This means that you will still be able to access books using one of these formats that are already on your Kindle, but you will not be able to load new ones using the Send to Kindle feature.
Title: Felipe Pelakim | Unsplash
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