There have been various rooting methods for the Kindle Paperwhite 4, but most need to be on very old firmware and modern Kindles have a higher version when you buy it for the first time or have owned it for a number of years. Amazon tends to push out a new update once every couple of months, which close loopholes and introduce new features. There is a new rooting method that has just been unveiled and it only requires version 5.13.3 or older. The current version is 5.13.4, which was released a couple of weeks ago.
What are the benefits of rooting a Kindle Paperwhite 4? You can establish your own screensavers, get rid of advertisements and bloat, and also install 3rd party e-reading apps to read EPUB, which is the most popular ebook format. It also has CBR/CBZ support, which is geared towards digital manga. One of the downsides is that you will no longer be able to download new updates from Amazon, which provide new features, but also addresses security vulnerabilities. Rooting it does not void your warranty, so if you utterly screw up and you bought it from Amazon recently, you do have the option to return it.
You can read the full instructions and download the necessary files on Mobileread, one the best e-reader forums. There are countless pages of questions and answers to satiate. Remember, root at your own risk, Good e-Reader is not responsible for prospective damage to your Kindle Paperwhite 4.
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.
