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Comment by Aeolun | Hacker News Reader

Wait, wut? How would they stop me from adding new book to my kindle? I can just plug into USB and load directly right?

Among other things, if you become logged out of the device or it's reset you will no longer be able to login with an amazon account ( which is required ) to use the device

You can use the Kindle without an Amazon account if you're fine with loading all your books over USB. It will give you a nag pop-up telling you to log in each time you go to the main menu, but the pop-up doesn't show up while you're in a book so it's not a big deal.

What is your point? That's still a major loss of functionality.

I’ve owned three Kindles and never used an Amazon account on any of them.

Correct. It’s the ability to download books directly onto the device from Amazon that is being removed.

Often big company drm software to read encrypted/drm files will have a time limit on it, where it will stop working if not updated - because they require knowing the current date. This is how they could block it.

Dvd players didn't need to know the date. The new world of constantly evolving drm schemes falls into this world, making it east to eol devices if not updated

Well, I don't have a Kindle, so I can't verify this, but I am basing this from reporting:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98k91yy4z4o

"The move will mean owners of older Kindles, including its earliest models such as the Kindle Touch and some Kindle Fire tablets, will be unable to download new e-books."

For a more tech-oriented site, according to Ars Technica Amazon removed the ability to upload over USB:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/starting-in-may-pre-...

"Previously, owners of old Kindles could have worked around this loss of functionality by downloading books locally and transferring them via USB. But Amazon removed the ability to download books to a PC or Mac in February of 2025."

I don't like to brag "I told you so" but I saw this coming 16 years ago:

https://blog.majid.info/why-i-will-never-buy-a-kindle/

Nothing you've quoted is wrong per se, but it's also not the full story.

Amazon removed the ability to download files from them to your computer. And they will soon be removing the ability to download files from them directly to older kindle devices. You can still download a MOBI or EPUB from anywhere else online (though I think some older kindles don't support EPUB) and transfer it via USB, and will still be able to after they EOL those older devices.

Interesting. Once again, I don't have a Kindle so I can't verify any of this. I do have a PocketBook Versa with stock firmware and a M5Stack Paper S3 running Crosspoint Reader, but hardly use either as I prefer reading on LCD or OLED tablets. The only formats I care about are DRM-free ePub and PDF.

Totally fair. I don't read much on Kindles either (mostly on my OLED phone). There's just a lot of dis/misinformation around these deprecations that I feel should be corrected. I worked on Kindles earlier in my career and still have a soft spot in my heart for them.

Even new Kindles don't support EPUB, per-se. The Send-to-Kindle service started supporting EPUB, and converts them to AZW3 or KFX for actual delivery to your Kindle.

But you cannot just USB an EPUB onto your Kindle without any conversion process. (Calibre does make it very simple, though.)

Does anyone know if the send to kindle getting sunsetted as well?

No you can't do that on a kindle. They have a "send to kindle" feature that allows you to add non-Amazon purchased ebooks to your library. But that requires support from the backend (and an internet connection).

I'm assuming send to kindle will no longer be supported on these older devices.

You can send books to your kindle over USB, and I do that all the time for larger books that are above the size limit on the email system.

The big problem is that Amazon no longer allows you to download books from their site to your desktop, so you have no way to actually get a purchased book and send it to the kindle even over USB. However, if you buy non-DRM books from other book sellers you won't have this problem.

They block you from doing this if you're not logged in (as I discovered after wiping and rooting one to give to a friend recently).

As evidence, note that instructions for rooting them requires the device to be registered - this is because it won't be accessible over USB until you do so: https://kindlemodding.org/jailbreaking/WinterBreak/

So if you can't log in...

Not a thing on my e-ink kindle, although it is a decade old by now.

> The big problem is that Amazon no longer allows you to download books from their site to your desktop

I've bought a number of books on Kindle that were explicitly marked as being sold without DRM. Does this mean I've lost access to any DRM-free downloads that I haven't already backed up?

If you bought them from Amazon, you won't be able to get them after the cutoff date directly to that Kindle via WiFi. You may not be able to get them in a format that old Kindles can read at all.

Download and back them up now. Or just pirate them if you need them later.

The entire Kindle store system will cease working on older Kindles after the cutoff. Still works as a reader, but expect to lose things like location sync across devices.

I don't buy from Amazon, I don't turn on WiFi on my Kindle because it eats battery life, I always travel with a laptop, and I only use it to read outdoors. So I really don't care. It's my beach book. At home, I'd rather read on my iPad.

Oh, and FWIW, you can install Tailscale to a jailbroken Kindle and Taildrop files to it over WiFi, if it can read the format (for the old ones being discussed, that's mobi or azw3).

I have a Kindle that took a fall about 8 years ago and the wifi has never worked since then. I've been able to load books onto it using USB with no issues.

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