Amazon keeps issuing firmware updates and changing how Kindle displays critical information and the overall functionality. The latest 5.16.10.0.1 firmware update changes how the clock works and reading progress. Why does Amazon keep changing the Kindle experience just for the sake of changes? Kindle users read a lot, and people have questions when minor things become significant issues.
Reading Progress has received a total redesign, which is not for the better. Reading Progress is at the very bottom of the screen on the Kindle e-reader. It displays how many minutes there are in the chapter and the estimated reading time of the entire book. Amazon changed the fonts and the way the system works. Whenever you engage in a page-turn, the Reading Progress is the last to be updated and is very slow. If you increase the margins and select a bigger font, the reading progress information changes position changes, which is disjointing. The Reading Progress font is also way smaller, creating eye strain for many users.
Many people don’t pay attention to the clock, which displays the time. Before the update, the clock would display time (2:45), but now, they display it with an extra zero in front (02:45). This sort of thing is called military time and many people like the older way of displaying time.
There are also thousands of reports that since this update was issued, the battery drains faster. Many people charge their Kindle every few days instead of every few weeks.
Amazon’s overall quality and control have been steadily declining this year. It feels like they are not testing the updates properly, creating a bad user experience. This is likely attributed to the layoffs of the Kindle division last year and Lab 126, the secretive research and development arm. I have heard from many engineers and programmers working on the Kindle e-readers and Fire Tablets that morale is at an all-time low, and the Kindle is receiving less priority than ever.
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.