Amazon Kindle removes download feature of purchased books: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:58, 18 February 2025

In February 2025, the Amazon website website says that, starting February 26th, Amazon Kindle users can no longer download their purchased e-books from Amazon's website to their computers using the "download and transfer via USB" feature. A message describing this change appears on the page for the download feature.^[1]

Background

Amazon allows purchasing e-books on their platform. These e-books are designed to be used with Amazon Kindle devices and the Kindle app. The "download and transfer via USB" feature allows users to download purchased e-books on your computer. The intended use for this is to allow people to transfer e-books from their computer to their Kindle, without requiring the Kindle to have an internet connection. The "download and transfer via USB" feature has been available since the early days of Kindle, when many devices didn't have Wi-Fi capabilities, such as the kindle 1 ^[2] , kindle 2 ^[3] , and kindle DX ^[4]

Reasons for feature:

Allows users to transfer books to Kindles without an internet connection. Older devices may no longer be able to connect
Lets users create backup copies of their purchased e-book library
Provides a way to access books in the older AZW3 format, which is more amenable to format conversion than newer formats due to less restrictive DRM
Gives users more control over their purchased content

DRM implications

As well as the intended usage, customers use this feature to create backups of their Kindle libraries and to convert the e-books to other formats to use with non-Kindle devices. Amazon Kindle e-readers use a proprietary format to store e-books, and a lot of the e-books contain DRM, which needs to be removed to use the e-books with non-Kindle devices. Newer Kindle devices use the KFX format, which makes it almost impossible to remove DRM. Since the download and transfer feature uses the older AZW3 format, people with newer Kindles can use this feature to download their e-books in a format where the DRM can be removed.^[1]

Removal of download and transfer via USB

In February 2025, Amazon added a notice next to the download button whenever you access the "download and transfer via USB" feature. This notice says that the feature will be removed on February 26th. This means that after that day, customers won't be able to download their purchased e-books from the Amazon website.

Customers will still be able to download e-books to their Kindles, but will have to either use the Kindle store on the device or use the "Deliver or Remove from Device" option on the Amazon website.^[1] Both of these options require the e-reader to have an internet connection.

This isn't the first time Amazon has made changes affecting customers' access to their purchased e-books. For instance, Amazon previously removed books customers had purchased since the company that uploaded them didn't have the rights to the content.^[5]

Customer response

This change has caused significant backlash from customers.^[6]^[7] This is due to the following reasons:

The change makes it much harder for customers to read e-books they have purchased on non-Kindle devices
Customers are now required to connect their Kindle e-readers to the internet if they want to download books purchased on Amazon
The change makes it harder for customers to move away from Amazon to another e-book platform, since customers wouldn't be able to keep the e-books they purchased through Amazon

After the announcement, many consumers have downloaded their purchased e-books with the download and transfer feature while the feature is still available. Many people are also moving to other providers to buy e-books going forward.

Other users have resorted to jailbreaking their devices to ensure continued access to previous features. This can be done using tools such as WinterBreak, which allow users to run custom applications like KOReader, a unified eBook reader that supports PDF, DjVu, EPUB, FB2, and many other formats—on Cervantes, Kindle, Kobo, PocketBook, and Android devices.

Effect on Original Kindle Devices (Kindle 1 & Kindle 2)

The Amazon Kindle 1 (2007) and Kindle 2 (2009) relied on EVDO and 3G networks for wireless book downloads via Amazon’s Whispernet service.^[8]^[9] However, with the global shutdown of 3G networks by mobile carriers, these early Kindle models are no longer able to download books wirelessly in most regions.

If books cannot be purchased from the Kindle store and downloaded, there is no way to get them onto these devices.

Removal of USB Book Transfers (February 26, 2025)

Users will no longer be able to download Kindle books to a computer for manual transfer to their device via USB.
Books already downloaded before this date can still be transferred manually.
Any new purchases will require a WiFi-enabled Kindle or access to Amazon’s Kindle apps to read.
This effectively bricks older Kindles for the use case of reading newly purchased books.

Remaining Functionality

The Kindle 1 and Kindle 2 still support USB file transfers for non-Amazon content, including:
- DRM-free MOBI, PRC, and TXT files.
- Converted EPUB files using tools like Calibre.
- Public domain books from sites such as Project Gutenberg.
Users who backed up their Kindle books before the February 26, 2025 cutoff can still manually transfer them via USB.

Conclusion

With the loss of Whispernet access due to 3G shutdowns and the upcoming removal of USB transfers for Amazon-purchased books, the Kindle 1 and Kindle 2 will no longer be able to receive new Kindle Store purchases unless a workaround is found. Owners of these devices may need to rely on third-party eBook sources and manual file transfers to continue using them.

References

[theverge-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 https://www.theverge.com/news/612898/amazon-removing-kindle-book-download-transfer-usb

[2] ttps://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Amazon_Kindle_1

[3] ttps://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Amazon_Kindle_2

[4] ttps://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle_DX

[5] ttps://goodereader.com/blog/kindle/amazon-is-not-to-be-trusted-anymore-with-their-kindle-e-reader

[6] ttps://www.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/1inr9uy/fyi_amazon_is_removing_download_transfer_option

[7] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMoCzeGnIss

[8] ttps://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Amazon_Kindle_1

[9] ttps://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Amazon_Kindle_2

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@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 ==Background==
 Amazon allows purchasing e-books on their platform. These e-books are designed to be used with Amazon Kindle devices and the Kindle app. The "download and transfer via USB" feature allows users to download purchased e-books on your computer. The intended use for this is to allow people to transfer e-books from their computer to their Kindle, without requiring the Kindle to have an internet connection. The "download and transfer via USB" feature has been available since the early days of Kindle, when many devices didn't have Wi-Fi capabilities, such as the kindle 1 <ref>https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Amazon_Kindle_1
 </ref> , kindle 2 <ref>https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Amazon_Kindle_2</ref> , and kindle DX <ref>https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle_DX</ref>
-=== Reasons for feature: ===
+===Reasons for feature:===
-* Allows users to transfer books to Kindles without an internet connection. Older devices may no longer be able to connect
+*Allows users to transfer books to Kindles without an internet connection. Older devices may no longer be able to connect
-* Lets users create backup copies of their purchased e-book library
+*Lets users create backup copies of their purchased e-book library
-* Provides a way to access books in the older AZW3 format, which is more amenable to format conversion than newer formats due to less restrictive DRM
+*Provides a way to access books in the older AZW3 format, which is more amenable to format conversion than newer formats due to less restrictive DRM
-* Gives users more control over their purchased content
+*Gives users more control over their purchased content
-=== DRM implications ===
+===DRM implications===
 As well as the intended usage, customers use this feature to create backups of their Kindle libraries and to convert the e-books to other formats to use with non-Kindle devices. Amazon Kindle e-readers use a proprietary format to store e-books, and a lot of the e-books contain [[Digital rights management|DRM]], which needs to be removed to use the e-books with non-Kindle devices. Newer Kindle devices use the KFX format, which makes it almost impossible to remove DRM. Since the download and transfer feature uses the older AZW3 format, people with newer Kindles can use this feature to download their e-books in a format where the DRM can be removed.<ref name="theverge" />
@@ Line 34: / Line 33: @@
 Other users have resorted to jailbreaking their devices to ensure continued access to previous features. This can be done using tools such as [https://kindlemodding.org/jailbreaking/WinterBreak/ WinterBreak], which allow users to run custom applications like  [https://github.com/koreader/koreader/wiki/Installation-on-Kindle-devices KOReader], a unified eBook reader that supports PDF, DjVu, EPUB, FB2, and many other formats—on Cervantes, Kindle, Kobo, PocketBook, and Android devices.
+== Effect on Original Kindle Devices (Kindle 1 & Kindle 2) ==
+The '''Amazon Kindle 1 (2007)''' and '''Kindle 2 (2009)''' relied on '''EVDO and 3G networks''' for wireless book downloads via Amazon’s '''Whispernet''' service.<ref>https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Amazon_Kindle_1</ref><ref>https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Amazon_Kindle_2</ref> However, with the global shutdown of '''3G networks''' by mobile carriers, these early Kindle models are no longer able to download books wirelessly in most regions.
+'''If books cannot be purchased from the Kindle store and downloaded, there is no way to get them onto these devices.'''
+==== Removal of USB Book Transfers (February 26, 2025) ====
+* Users will '''no longer be able to download Kindle books to a computer''' for manual transfer to their device via USB.
+* Books already '''downloaded before this date''' can still be transferred manually.
+* Any new purchases will require a '''WiFi-enabled Kindle''' or access to '''Amazon’s Kindle apps''' to read.
+* '''This effectively bricks older Kindles for the use case of reading newly purchased books.'''
+==== Remaining Functionality ====
+* The Kindle 1 and Kindle 2 still support '''USB file transfers''' for '''non-Amazon''' content, including:
+** DRM-free MOBI, PRC, and TXT files.
+** Converted EPUB files using tools like '''Calibre'''.
+** Public domain books from sites such as '''Project Gutenberg'''.
+* Users who backed up their Kindle books before the '''February 26, 2025''' cutoff can still manually transfer them via USB.
+==== Conclusion ====
+With the '''loss of Whispernet access''' due to '''3G shutdowns''' and the upcoming removal of '''USB transfers for Amazon-purchased books''', the '''Kindle 1 and Kindle 2 will no longer be able to receive new Kindle Store purchases''' unless a workaround is found. Owners of these devices may need to rely on '''third-party eBook sources''' and '''manual file transfers''' to continue using them.
 ==References==