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Kindle For PC Update Adds Bookerly Font, But Not the New Formatting

4486206221_28abf74675_bAmazon just reminded us that a proprietary ebook format isn’t all it is cracked up to be.

There’s a new version of the Kindle for Windows app out today. Amazon has not released a changelog, but reports from Mobileread say (and I can confirm) that the update adds Amazon’s Bookerly font (That font debuted late last year on the Fire tablets, and since been added to the Kindle iOS apps and the Kindle ereaders.).

The update also adds support for the new KFX format which showed up on the Fire tablet and the Kindle iOS app this summer (and later, the Kindle ereaders). Or at least that is what three different sources have told me; I cannot confirm this myself.

Update: And there’s a reason why I can’t see the new formatting; it is not supported yet. Those early reports were wrong.

KFX is how Amazon is adding the wonderful new typography, dropcaps, and better kerning to the Kindle platform, but support is still hit or miss. Only a subset of Kindle ebooks have the new features, and those ebooks don’t work correctly on all the supported apps and devices.

For example, I deleted three KFX format ebooks from my K4PC app and redownloaded them. I have the Bookerly font, but I do not see the new typography.

But there are other reports that contradict my experiences, so I highly recommend that you download the app and try it yourself.

P.S. If you need an ebook with the new formatting, Amazon says that you can try one of these.

image by zigazou76

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Comments


dave August 29, 2015 um 5:26 pm

Nate, this was a bit different – when I put my email address into it a note goes right to my account, but when I open it it’s only another instance of the request for my email address to send the download link to. I’m running on a Linux system and I’ve been able to download their app in the past & run it with WINE, but now I guess they want to lock Linux users out. Why not simply say so directly?


Gbm August 29, 2015 um 10:27 pm

@dave
Here is a link to k4pc 1.12.2. Runs under wine, I am using Mint 17.2 wine 1.6.2.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201245960


Stupid proprietary tricks: Bookerly font update for Kindle for PC—without modernizing the formatting | TeleRead August 30, 2015 um 9:03 am

[…] at The Digital Reader, Nate smartly begins his post on the above: “Amazon just reminded us that a proprietary ebook format isn’t all it is cracked […]


anothername August 30, 2015 um 9:04 am

The "wonderful new typography" features have worked for a long time in Kobo and don’t need a new encrypted file format. They work in epub files.


dave August 30, 2015 um 12:33 pm

Thanks for the link, that worked fine, as does the app…Dave


eschwartz September 7, 2015 um 3:46 pm

You can get Kindle for PC at http://amazon.com/kindlepcdownload/ — I wouldn’t even bother jumping through their hoops.

Generally I advise letting winetricks handle downloading it for linux. To aid in this noble endeavor, I have submitted an update. 🙂


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