Amazon Kindle e-readers are suffering from a major bug. Customers are receiving new Kindles with a blank screen out of the box and the e-reader cannot be used, existing e-readers are also suffering from the same issue. The problem stems from the new Kindle UI that the company implemented last year, that makes the Kindle e-reader look similar to the apps for Android and iOS. Kindle users have petitioned Amazon and the company says they are working on a fix.
There is no rhyme or reason why this glitch is happening. Some users are just using their Kindle normally and all of a sudden they have a blank screen. Some new users go through the setup process and are reading an ebook and all of a sudden the entire e-reader becomes unresponsive. Reboots and wiping the device seems to have no effect. Users on Reddit speculate that some of the backend services provided by Amazon that power the Kindle experience are having problems.
Amazon has issued a statement to Good e-Reader “We are aware some customers are having difficulties accessing content on their Kindle e-reader devices, and our teams are working quickly to resolve the issue. In the meantime, customers can contact Amazon Customer Support or take the following steps to fix the issue.”
- Go to Manage Your Content and Devices and log in to your account.
- Click Devices.
- Select the impacted device and click Deregister.
- Restart the device by holding down the power button for 40 seconds continuously.
- When powering back on your device, you will need to re-register it to your Amazon account, and then you will be able to access your content. Deregistering and re-registering your device will not cause you to lose any content.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.