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.
Yup. I see no problem with this change. EPub is an open format and one can easily convert existing ebooks.
Some of us still use devices that only support .mobi
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 have a Kindle. It does not support EPUB. This does affect me. I used to use a bookmarklet to send articles to my Kindle, and this would make that unfeasible.
Kindles don’t natively “support” Epub, but you can Send to Kindle or even email things to your Kindle and it will get formatted into a format that Amazon will accept. I’ve done this myself for years on Kindles and for devices with Kindle apps.
For your bookmarklet, you’d have to either update it to send as Epub or find another option that sends as Epub instead of Mobi.
In your situation, it sounds like just emailing articles to your Kindle would be the best option. This article can tell you how to figure out your Kindle email and how to send files to it.
So just set Calibre to convert the books to mobi before sending it to them
That doesn’t work for the workflow of sending articles to my Kindle with a bookmarklet.
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.
What if you bought an ebook in mobi format a long time ago?
It doesn’t make sense.
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?
Hello checking in here.
Last night I finally got calibre and dedrm working. I have around 400 ebooks that I’ve bought from Amazon over the years,but my trust in Amazon has been eroded to the point I want local, drm-stripped copies in case they take the books back; it has happened, but not to me yet.
The first book I converted: 1984.
But you do have them attached to your Amazon account. So there’s likely no real usecase for you to want to push a mobi file to a kindle.
Amazon has deleted books from peoples’ accounts in the past, so I would never trust that as the sole source for any book I owned. I don’t buy ebooks often but when I do they immediately get deDRMed and stored in my local archives.
I do, for now, yep. And yeah you’re probably right, I’ve never down the push to device thing.
I’m going to start buying my books elsewhere though, and suspect they will be epub format.
Did anyone but Amazon ever even sell mobi files?
Yes, but they were bought by Amazon.
“what non piracy reasons are there”
“If you have nothing to hide then what’s the problem with putting a camera in the bathroom. What non crime reasons could there be?”
Really though, if you’re technically proficient enough for torrenting and vpns, you’re proficient enough to convert to newer formats, too.
So even then, it’s really just not that big a deal. Other than being a once-used format for the platform. And honestly how many devices are still functioning that can only use mobi? Heck I have a 10 year old Kindle somewhere that probably has 4 or 5 different formats from about 10 different sources.
“what non piracy reasons are there”
“If you have nothing to hide then what’s the problem with putting a camera in the bathroom. What non crime reasons could there be?”
You’re being silly. This wouldn’t inconvenience any legitimate buyer. And pirated material is in epub format already or can easily be converted to it.
I have a very old Kindle that’s still kicking. No reason to replace it if it still works right? I’m concerned that borrowing books from the library uses this delivery system and therefore might not be able to deliver to my Kindle. Ironically, piracy might be the only option to still use my working and not otherwise obsolete device.
And pirated material is in epub format already or can easily be converted to it.
Self-contradict much?
I didn’t contradict anything I wrote. What do you care about books if you can’t even read?
Wow, and now personal insults. You really got me there, mate.
Wait, does Kindle handle epub now?
No, but you can send one through the email service and it will be automatically converted.
I only ever send in epub format. In the article it clarifies that Amazon recommends the sending of epub.
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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.
This is an enormously overblown headline for such a small change.
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.
It’s only for very old Kindles, really - Amazon have a new version they use (azw3) and everyone else uses epub.
My last e-reader was a very old Kindle.
“Amazon notifies users that Kindle will no longer support Mobi ebook format”
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Calibre + KFX plugin. That’s it.
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.
Calibre has been a life saver for me. Love that program!
Is this the plugin?
Yes!
Why are kfx files often larger and sometimes double the size?
Lacks compression?
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.
It matters to me, since I find the differences in sizes to be stark when I compare them. I already find page turns on my Paperwhite a tad slow (even with page refresh off). So converting all of my books to kfx (which was my initial plan) seems like a bad idea.
KFX is actually faster at page turning, as it doesn’t need to calculate how to spread words to fill the most lines per page.
That makes sense to me. Access speed and disc space are often inversely related. It’s like pre-optimizing the file for faster consumptionater by adding more information at “compile time” vs “run time”.
A source to read more about this and how exactly kfx works and it’s enhanced typesetting would be cool.
Do you know of alternative methods of producing kfx files other than the official Amazon app and Calibre’s plugins for it?
And how would I go about editing a kfx file?
Sadly, KFX plugin does not work in Linux (it lacks Kindle Preview app)
How about using Bottles ?
Been meaning to, but havent try yet.
Still bit a noob, I am wondering if I should also install calibre through bottles (I imagine bottles sets up some sort of sandbox that only those installed through it can use its files).
I’ll have to try that KfX plugin. I also read somewhere someone was listing a stack he was using with Calibre but I can’t find it anymore…
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Thank you! Looks great.
lacking support for the latest Kindle features
What kind of support are they “lacking”? They do contain the text and basic formatting. What else would they need in a book?
I’d guess that those “lacking” features have something to do with user tracking or DRM.
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.
Epub is actually pretty good. And it’s been supported for a long time now. Hard agree.
Epub is also a super easy format to script with, allowing easy parsing of webpages to ebooks.
The devices themselves still can’t process epub though so they still need conversion to … mobi.
They can use epubs for several months now. It’s been incredibly nice but to have to convert books anymore.
Older devices too? I still have a Kindle Voyage.
Not natively? You mean through the epub to kindle service?
Several months seems like a really short time frame to go from “the format you must use” to “too old for our product.”
Once you go Kobo you never go back.
Gotta say, cannot complain about my kindle either. Thanks to calibre, I’m not bound to Amazon and can read whatever I want.
I’ll check them out. Thanks
They really are great.
I got myself a Remarkable. Expensive but omg so fucking useful compared to most e-readers.
How much are you missing out on if you choose not to have a subscription with it for the cloud features?
Nothing at all really. The cloud is just a convenient way to transfer documents and notes (but you can still do so over USB).
The only thing that really needs the cloud service is transfer from and to mobile devices, which is an understandable niche. The Remarkable does not act like a regular USB drive. Instead, when plugged in, it acts as a virtual network device, and you browse to it on a browser, uploading and downloading documents via a browser interface. This behaviour doesn’t seem to work properly on Android and Apple sure as hell don’t allow it on iOS.
If you really must have direct access to the files and OS, it allows for SSH access as root, and provides a surprisingly full featured Linux environment. If you’re the experimenting type, you can even put homebrew applications on the device, and it has a modest homebrew app community. Just…be really fucking careful not to bork the OS to the point SSH doesn’t work, else you’re fucked unless you wanna tinker at the hardware level. Also, direct access to the document files isn’t as useful as you’d think because their internal filesystem is confusing as shit. You’re always better off using the device or cloud web interfaces.
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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!
I use an old Kobo model and its great.
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.
I’ve used a kobo deluxe for several years and they’re great
I can commend Kobo as well, I have an older model and I see no need to ever change.
Kobo Libra H2O, has hardware buttons and a cool design.
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!
I’ve had two readers made by Boox. They’ve been great. I broke the screen on the first one, but software-wise, I have no complaints.
They’ve been notifying users for a while now, when sending mobi files.
Samsung Mini Tablet + ReadEra = No more Amazon nonsense.
Kobo eReader.
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.
Yup. Have one. Is excellent
I would buy a Kobo, a friend of mine has one, but I like reading my comics in colour.
KOReader here, life is good.
I thought they disabled sending mobi files last August? As in, August 2022? Did they postpone it?
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.
Maybe different devices have different EOL dates?
I have never connected my kindle to the network. Always use calibre.
I keep hearing people praising Calibre
Huh what ? They prevent people read .mobi because the format is old ? What about plain text ? .txt ?
Ah they’re closing the walled garden off. More in shitification. You don’t own the hardware, you just rent it from Amazon
as per linked article, they’re phasing out an older, unsupported format. you can still send .epub files.
…but pdf and epub still work. Easily the least objectionable thing Amazon has done all year. But don’t let that get in the way of your mad.
Some people just wish the world was burning
Isn’t it though? …like literally or did those go out?
We didn’t start the fire!
It was always burning
If you want to bastardize my obvious intent, yes, you can legitimately state that the world is on fire. But it always has been, and always will be, by that metric.
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.
But kindle still doesn’t support epub files outright? You can’t just sideload epub files, you have to use the email service.
Yeah you have to send through email. I guess some people might want to do via usb, I find sending to email easier tbh.
That was true if Kindles from the start, to be fair.
It’s unfortunate that there just aren’t a lot of options in the e-reader field.
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’m not going to lie. A lot of that went right over my head. But I see a fair amount of praise for Kobo. I looked at them in the past but I can’t remember why I didn’t pull the trigger and get one.
Ok, elevator pitch for muggles:
They are good devices, and there is a huge hacker community behind them. Having a hacker community means, that they are not locked down, and when the manufacturer will disappear you can still use them with some tricks. You really own them, you can do whatever you want with them.
Any kobos with an sd slot currently? I can’t find any with anything about that
Libra 2 and Clara 2E both have internal micro sd, from the currently available models. You have to remove the back cover of the reader to replace them. Wiki lists all features of all readers, check the “Storage” column: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobo_eReader
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Open book, remarkable, anything calibre supports should be okay
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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.
This was before Walmart bought them
Walmart didn’t buy Kobo, although they did/do own a small share of Rakuten, Kobo’s parent company.
In 2018, in an attempt to keep up with Amazon, Walmart partnered with Kobo to sell ebooks and Kobo devices in Walmart stores and online, and I believe that devices purchased from Walmart had the Walmart logo when they booted up, and I think the Kobo site in the US also had Walmart branding, but Kobo was then and is now a Canadian company fully owned by a Japanese company.
Good to know. I was worried that Walmart would screw up the PDF capabilities, among other things.
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.
I’m satisfied enough with my Paperwhite but would like to diversify off Amazon hardware to something that I can just run their app and also others for more variety.
What Boox device did you get and how do you find the battery life? I’d like to see how things work with color so the mini-C looks interesting as an e-book replacement, and there apparently an “ultra C” which is more of a tablet device but might be a bit bulky (plus more expensive)
I haven’t even received it yet, so I can’t comment on the actual device. In the end I decided on the Page as I didn’t want something too much bigger than my current Kindle and I wanted the page turn buttons since I always found the touchscreen page turning on my Kindle to be inconsistent.
I turned an old android tablet that was too slow to run anything into an ebook reader. I just installed Moon Reader and it works for me.
Personally I’m trying to find something that isn’t an illuminated screen.
Agreed, the paper-like screen is non-negotiable for me.
