In a recent communication, Amazon has alerted Kindle users about significant changes set to take effect from next month. The notification pertains to the phasing out of support for sending MOBI (.mobi, .azw, .prc) files through the 'Send to Kindle' feature, starting November 1, 2023. This change, as...
In a recent communication, Amazon has alerted Kindle users about significant changes set to take effect from next month. The notification pertains to the phasing out of support for sending MOBI (.mobi, .azw, .prc) files through the “Send to Kindle” feature, starting November 1, 2023. This change, as News18 pointed out, specifically impacts users attempting to send MOBI files via email and Kindle apps on iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac.
They're just removing an antiquated file type that you should have moved on from anyway. All my books are in epub format and even if they weren't calibre converts them so I don't think this is a significant change at all.
This news wouldn’t really affect you, though, would it?
Send to Kindle feature is only for Amazon Kindle, and Kindle apps, and those have been able to support more than .mobi since the Kindle 2 (non-touch with a keyboard) which was discontinued nearly 15 years ago.
I remember having to change things I got from... places... from epub to mobi using calibre for my old school kindle to recognise it years ago. I don't even have that device anymore.
Glad they're accepting what appears to be the standard format tbh.
If you’re technically competent enough to have a mobi locally and send it to a kindle, then you’re technically competent enough to convert it, so it’s not a huge deal. I agree it’s weird though.
Honest question: what non-piracy reasons are there for having a mobi file locally and not already having it attached to your Amazon account ready to download straight to your kindle? Did anyone but Amazon ever even sell mobi files?
I haven't had an e-reader in years but I remember using mobi files a lot, admittedly I'm not up to date, but I thought that this was more important than it appears it is.
it's trivial to mass convert mobi to a widely supported format. I think this is a welcomed change, because Amazon was the only one on the industry still promoting a legacy format like mobi, even if they tried to start moving on with their newer formats.
I erroneously thought mobi was more important than it apparently is. I haven't had an e-reader in a long time and I remember using mobi files back then.
I pointed out in another comment that Biden won Georgia by 12,000 votes, which represents .04% of the black population of Georgia. A drop of 3 or 4 percent can change an election.
KFX supports hyphenation and many more advanced features - the plugin exploits the official Amazon app for publishers to convert any open format into KFX, giving you all the features of Amazon store bought books for free.
Don't know if it really matters, though. 8GB of storage holds a lot of books, even if they're illustrated, and that's what base-model e-readers are coming with.
Epub doesn't natively have user tracking and DRM either. Mobi files are just ancient and there are better alternatives for them. Like bmp files vs jpg.
If anyone knows of a good ebook reader that's as easy on the eyes as a Kindle I'd love to know it. Everything I look at looks like a low spec tablet instead of a proper eink display.
Edit: thanks to a few comments in this thread I went with the Kobo Libra 2. I love this little device. Plenty of storage, a great display that's really easy on the eyes even with the backlight (which is fully dimmable and has color temperature adjustment). Thanks for everyone for the recommendations!
If you can find an old Kindle Paperwhite that can be jailbroken, you can run KOReader on it and leave the Amazon ecosystem behind while still using the hardware.
So I took your advice though I ended up settling on the Kobo Libra 2 and I absolutely love this thing. It has a couple hardware buttons, too. Thanks for the recommendation!
Eink display, supports many different file times, don't need special apps to load files on it, Pocket integration so can save websites for later reading, has a functioning web browser that can download so don't even need a computer, has eBook store built in.
Yeah I remember running into an issue when I tried updating my library last time. Not sure why this is making headlines now, because I haven’t been able to use mobi files in over a year.
There replacing file formats nobody uses with an open format (epub). I remember having to convert epubs before I could load them to my kindle so this is basically the opposite of closing off a walled garden.
Kobo devices work out of the box, and they are very hacker friendly, a good middle ground. They run mainline Linux with a custom UI, but you can change that to other systems, e.g. PostmarketOS (an alpine based linux distro) or install more fully featured reader programs like Koreader. With some hacking you can use the devices without a Kobo account. Some devices run from a simple sd card, so you can easily grow storage size, and easily backup the whole system. Most devices have hidden a serial port inside, with some soldering you can connect peripherials!
I have a clara hd, I use it as a tactical glide computer with xcsoar,, with an external serial gps and barometer
I bought my daughter a Kobo years ago and it has worked great. This was before Walmart bought them and they were much harder to find in the US but Kindle was requiring my daughter to have an Amazon account to check out library books. In order to have an Amazon account you must have a credit card attached. Tech support's solution for me was to just give her a pre paid card. They didn't understand why I wasn't interested in forcing my 7 year old into Amazon in order to check out library books.
Kobo has Overdrive installed in the device. You can also load PDF files directly onto it. I don't know if they've changed that over the years but her device is now 7 years old and working great.
I've just purchased an Onyx Boox device to replace my old original Kindle Paperwhite. Moves like this make me feel good about choosing to go that route since it is essentially an Android tablet that will support any format as long as there is a reader app for it.
That said, to anyone thinking of buying one from the website that this article links to, there are lots of negative reviews for them so it might be best to find a different distributor.