Audible vs Kindle

2024. Amazon unveiled new USB Manager for Send to Kindle for Mac



Amazon has discreetly unveiled new capabilities for Send to Kindle for Mac. This official software package enables Macintosh users to effortlessly send PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT, RTF, HTM, HTML, PNG, GIF, JPG, JPEG, BMP and EPUB files to the various Kindle 2024 models and the Kindle Scribe. There is additional functionality today, with a completely new update. It has just added support for USB file transfers and the required drivers. The USB Manager feature functions with Intel and Mac M1-M3 computers running MacOS 12. Amazon probably prepared this support documentation before the new M4 Mac Mini, iMac and other systems were revealed last week. I am confident the new Send to Kindle for Mac will accommodate M4; if you manage to get it to work, please share your thoughts below. So Mac users will no longer need to install unreliable third-party programs or drivers simply to use the USB feature to send digital content to the Kindle from a Mac system. It seems Amazon is finally providing Mac users with some focus.


2024. Audible implemented AI-generated recommendations



Audible, the Amazon-owned audiobook service, continues to experiment with AI to improve audiobook discovery and offer customized recommendations. The latest feature - AI-powered tags, which analyze customer feedback to offer suggestions according to individual preferences and topic pages that helps users to find similar audio books. The experiment is only available to USA users with iOS and Android devices. Through a new “Tags” carousel in the app, Audible’s AI analyzes customer reviews and briefly explains why other listeners enjoyed a specific audiobook. This allows you to quickly get to the point without having to read numerous reviews.


2024. Amazon removed Kindle Flashcards



Amazon has begun sending out emails notifying customers about their plan to discontinue the Flashcards feature on Kindles. The Flashcards feature allows you to review words that you’ve looked up in the dictionary and mark them as mastered. However, the Vocabulary Builder feature will remain, so you can still review looked up words, just not using flashcards. Amazon already started removing the Flashcards feature from Kindle apps and they intend to do away with Flashcards entirely in November of 2024. Users can request the flashcards associated with their account from this page at Amazon and continue using them on their own devices, but all flashcards will be deleted from Amazon’s servers later this year, so you need to download them soon.


2024. Audible recruits actors to train voice-generating AI for audiobooks



Audible, Amazon’s audiobook division, revealed that it will develop AI trained on the voices of professional narrators to produce new audiobook recordings. A select group of audiobook narrators based in the U.S. will be invited to train the AI with their voices starting this week, according to Audible. The trained AI will be employed to generate recordings and narrators will have the opportunity to approve their synthetic voice for particular works, as well as modify the pronunciation and pacing. Audible states that narrators who engage in the program will be compensated for any audiobooks produced using their AI-generated voices on a title-by-title, royalty-sharing basis.


2024. Kindle allows to read books on Peloton bikes



Amazon has partnered with Peloton to allow users read books while exercising on home-bikes and treadmills. To access the Kindle library you need to log into Amazon account directly on the bike screen and navigate to the Entertainment tab at the bottom. The integration provides a rather weird reading experience. You can turn pages with a tap, adjust font size, quickly navigate between chapters create bookmarks to continue reading from where you left off and turn on full-screen display. This new Kindle feature is currently available exclusively in Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom.


2024. Audible is testing an AI-powered search feature



In the sprawling, labyrinthine universe of audiobooks, where titles pile up like improbably verbose galaxies, Audible has unleashed "Maven," a shiny new AI-powered search contraption that aims to make sense of it all. Starting today—though only for a chosen few U.S. customers (roughly half, but who's counting?)—Maven acts as a delightfully well-read companion, offering personalized audiobook suggestions to those brave enough to type in natural language queries like, "I need an uplifting fiction novel with a female protagonist, please." Available on iOS and Android, this clever algorithm sifts through Audible's nearly one-million-title-strong catalog, though it’s currently dabbling in only a modest corner of the library. Think of it as a Hitchhiker's Guide to Audiobooks, but for now, only a few earthlings have a copy.


2024. New AI tool helps authors release more audiobooks on Amazon



In a corner of the publishing universe, where the improbable meets the ineffable, Audible has managed to conjure up a rather astonishing feat: an astonishing 40,000 audiobook titles narrated by voices that, rather suspiciously, aren’t entirely human. Thanks to a beta-stage contrivance courtesy of Amazon, self-published authors linked to the Kindle Store can now wave a metaphorical wand (or possibly just click a button) and see their words transmogrified into audiobooks at speeds that would make even the most caffeinated human narrator weep. It’s all frightfully efficient, though it does leave listeners in the existential quandary of wondering whether their soothing bedtime voice belongs to an AI or a human. Meanwhile, the future of human narrators teeters on a precarious edge, as authors save time, money, and perhaps a tiny slice of their souls.


2023. Kindle Scribe annotations are now viewable on Kindle app



In a move that might be described as “an improvement so handy you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always like this,” annotations scribbled with the Kindle Scribe have finally taken up residence in the Kindle app on iOS devices. While the earlier upgrade allowing Notebooks from the Scribe to grace the iOS app already caused much polite nodding, the newly added ability to peek at in-book annotations feels like discovering an unexpected cup of tea in a bleak corner of the galaxy. Now, Kindle users can whimsically peruse their handwritten notes and highlights on a phone or tablet, delightfully unencumbered by the actual Kindle Scribe itself. For those waiting with baited breath on Android, fear not: your syncing salvation is set to arrive in that most definitively vague time known as “early 2024.”


2023. Audible launches app for smart watches



In a galaxy not so far away, Audible has flung open the doors of possibility for Android smartwatch users everywhere, releasing a Wear OS app that’s as close to magic as technology can get without actually summoning a wizard. This marvel allows intrepid audiobook explorers to download their treasured tales straight to their wrists, enjoy the fine art of audio at whatever tempo suits them, and even pluck stories directly from their personal library on a Galaxy Watch—no pesky smartphone required! With Audible on Wear OS, you’re free to wander, unshackled from your phone, basking in the glorious convenience of having a universe of books tucked snugly onto your wrist. Whether you’re boldly venturing out or simply refusing to pick up your phone, Audible has created a splendidly immersive way to slip into story worlds, anytime, anywhere.


2023. Kindle personal documents will be delivered in KFX Format



Amazon is now in the process of converting user-uploaded Kindle personal documents into the newer KFX format when they are downloaded on Kindle apps and Kindle e-readers. Until recently, only the Kindle Scribe supported personal documents in the KFX format. However, Amazon has now begun extending this support to other devices and applications, including the Kindle for Android and Kindle for iOS apps. Furthermore, Kindle e-readers that are compatible with the KFX format, such as the Kindle Paperwhite 3 and newer models, are now receiving personal documents in the KFX format as well. Previously, Amazon used to send older formats like AZW3 and MOBI to Kindle devices and apps when users sent personal documents through email or used the Send to Kindle webpage or app. The introduction of the ability to download personal documents in KFX format brings added support for improved typesetting and includes several extra features such as multi-page view and alignment settings. Essentially, personal documents and e-books obtained from sources other than Amazon and added to your Kindle library are now being treated more similarly to official Kindle e-books.


2023. Amazon released new Kindle app for Mac



In a move that could only be described as the digital equivalent of sprucing up the galactic Hitchhiker's Guide itself, Amazon has introduced a sparkling new Kindle reading app for Mac users. The previous version, now dubbed “Kindle Classic,” has been retired with a knowing sigh, replaced by a sleek and positively gleaming Kindle app that could charm even the surliest Vogon. With a design seemingly cloned directly from its iOS counterpart, the new app flaunts an interstellar lineup of features: endless scrolling (for those who find page numbers unnervingly finite), a reading ruler to keep your gaze as focused as a hyperspatial drive, and a galaxy of font options that would make any typographer misty-eyed. Users can now immerse themselves in full-screen reading, page-turn animations, and a cornucopia of new themes, with an X-Ray feature that reveals the secrets lurking between the lines. As users boldly enter the app, they’ll find themselves greeted by a library more visually vibrant than Milliways, displaying cover art from every e-book they own (or have sampled with reckless abandon). It’s a paradise for the organized mind, too, with options to view books in grid or list form, sort by collections, or filter by read/unread, documents, and Newsstand materials. But be warned, dear space travelers: audiobooks are still a strange, mythological creature in this Kindle cosmos, with no player in sight for Mac users... yet.


2023. Audible is testing ad-supported access



Audible is testing ad-supported access to select titles for non-members. The move indicates that the company may be exploring the possibility of an ad-based membership option. Audible declined to comment on any specific plans. The test includes audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals. Audible says the test applies to a limited subsection of titles on its platform. Content providers were informed of the change and given the chance to opt out of ads. Users who are part of the test will hear a total of eight ads within a 24-hour period. Audible says it has taken additional measures to make sure that ads won’t be heard too frequently within a short time span. The company currently offers an Audible Plus membership plan that costs $7.95 per month and includes a selection of Audible Originals, audiobooks, sleep tracks, meditation programs and podcasts.


2023. Kindle for PC update is required to download newer eBooks



Amazon is now requiring Kindle for PC and Mac users to install an update in order to download and read any new Kindle ebooks released as of January 3rd, 2023. The reason the Kindle for PC and Mac apps need to be updated is because newer ebooks can now only be downloaded in Amazon’s KFX format, rather than the older Kindle formats. This isn’t encouraging news for ebook buyers and some see it as just another way for Amazon to exert control over content purchased from them. Changing formats and tightening DRM measures is likely to become standard practice in the ebook industry moving forward. Twenty years from now, how will ebooks be handled in these regards? With digital media, things are always evolving. Just because you can download your purchased ebooks today doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do so in ten or twenty years.


2022. Send to Kindle app for PC and Mac now supports EPUB



Amazon has finally refreshed its Send to Kindle apps for Windows and Mac computers to include support for sending EPUB files to Kindle e-readers and Kindle reading apps. They don’t actually transmit the EPUB file directly to Kindles; instead, it is converted to Kindle format during the process and only DRM-free EPUBs are supported, of course. Amazon introduced support for emailing EPUBs in April and their iOS and Android Kindle apps have supported sending EPUBs since August. Now, the PC and Mac apps also support sending EPUBs.


2022. Amazon's Send to Kindle for EPUB is now live



Amazon announced a few months ago that Send to Kindle will now support EPUB files. The service is now operational and you can use the Send to Kindle apps for PC or Mac, the Chrome Extension, Kindle for Android and email. This marks the first time Amazon has supported the EPUB format for delivery to your Kindle account. However, when using the Send to Kindle service, the EPUB files are converted to the AZW3 format before being sent to your device. This ensures that your book will have proper typography and allow access to features like X-Ray, dictionaries and Wordwise.


2022. Kindle Store is no longer available on older Kindles



The Kindle store is no longer accessible on older Kindles, including the Kindle DX, Kindle 2, Kindle 3 (also known as Kindle Keyboard), Kindle 4 and Kindle 5. Essentially, if your Kindle lacks a touchscreen, it will no longer be able to access the Kindle store. This change occurred last year for some models like the first-generation Kindle when 3G towers were decommissioned. Now, the store will also be disabled on older non-touchscreen WiFi models, such as the once-popular Kindle 3. While you can no longer shop directly from these Kindles, you can still send and read eBooks on them as before. It’s disappointing to see older devices lose functionality, but given that the 5th generation Kindle is now ten years old, it's not unexpected that Amazon has decided not to maintain a non-touchscreen store for these decade-old devices.


2022. You can no longer buy Kindle Books on Android



Amazon has disabled the option to purchase ebooks in the Kindle app for Android. When attempting to buy digital books, a new screen appears, informing customers that in order to comply with Google's policy changes, ebook purchases are no longer supported. This is due to Google's new requirement that all apps use their own billing system and take a 30% commission on each transaction. Given that Amazon is the largest ebook retailer globally, the commission paid to Google would be substantial. Amazon is the latest company to halt digital transactions on Android; in recent weeks, Audible and Barnes & Noble have stopped selling audiobooks and ebooks in their apps.


2022. Amazon adds EPUB and drops MOBI support on Send to Kindle apps



Last week, Amazon permitted Kindle users to send ePub files to Kindles via email. While it’s positive to see Amazon finally adding support for DRM-free ePub files to the Kindle Personal Documents Service, they also announced they will be discontinuing support for the older MOBI format. Books in MOBI format lack some of the newer features, such as custom fonts and font boldness control. However, one advantage of sideloaded MOBI books is that book covers were displayed, whereas other sideloaded formats only show a generic cover. To clarify, they aren’t eliminating support for the MOBI format on Kindles. You will still be able to read MOBI files that you’ve added to your Kindle, but you will no longer be able to wirelessly send MOBI files to Kindles using Amazon Kindle Personal Documents Service.


2022. You can no longer buy audiobooks on Audible for Android



Audible is altering their app experience on the Android platform. They are transitioning to Google Play Billing, which will impact individual title purchases; you will no longer be able to buy them directly. Additionally, new Audible memberships will be billed through Google Play rather than directly through Audible. You will still be able to use Audible credits to purchase books within the app and can also acquire additional credits there. This change is due to a new Google Policy for developers, which now imposes a 30% fee on each digital good for larger companies that earn over $1 million annually.


2022. Audible ties up with Wattpad



Audible has teamed up with the online social reading platform Wattpad, according to Indianexpress. The partnership will make the most popular stories from Wattpad accessible to Audible members in audiobook format. The Amazon-owned platform intends to add more Wattpad titles throughout 2022. Additionally, the advantage for Audible members is that these stories will be available at no cost. Audible stated that they are investing heavily in the Indian market and believe that offering more regional language audiobooks and podcasts will help them reach a larger segment of the audience.