[Mike999]

My wife's Paperwhite has just updated to software version 5.14.2 and it is absolutely terrible. It says that what's new is "performance improvements, bug fixes and other general enhancements" but this is not true. It is actually a major update to the whole interface and one that is so bad that the device is now almost unusable. I can hardly describe how atrocious the new system is but I will be advising anyone who asks to never buy a Kindle - and anyone who has one to permanently turn off their wi-fi before the update ruins it. Assuming you can find the book you want reading is still okay, but unless you know exactly what books you have finding something to read is going to be a nightmare.

I'm now wondering if I can get a refund from Amazon on the basis that their action has made our Kindle's unusable?

The only solution I can think of is to strip the DRM from all the books and use another e-ink device. Can anyone recommend one with decent software? We do have a few old Kindles which will never suffer from this problem but their memory is much too small to hold our book collections.

 

[Linjeakel]

I've got the new update on my 10th gen Paperwhite but I can't immediately see any difference from 5.14.1.1 - that was the one with the major changes to the interface that happened last October. It sounds as though you got both updates together.

There have been quite a few threads on here mentioning the October update to 5.14.1.1 and it's true that some aspects of it have been unpopular. If you prefer the previous layout (as I do) just use the 'library' option instead of 'home'. It will mean in some instances having a couple more presses to get where you want, which can be irritating when it was better before, but on the whoIe I think it's somewhat of an exaggeration to say it's "unusable".

They've been changing and updating the firmware periodically from the very beginning and each time there are always some people who prefer the old version and some who like the new one and I suspect this is one is no different. It's highly unlikely that Amazon will refund you the cost of your Kindle because you don't like this version.

 

[Mike999]

I've got the new update on my 10th gen Paperwhite but I can't immediately see any difference from 15.1.1 - that was the one with the major changes to the interface that happened last October. It sounds as though you got both updates together.

I was puzzled by your 15.1.1 reference as the on help line pages refer to 5.14.2 as the latest version (and, as I'm in the UK I did check and the amazon.com version also uses 5.14.2).

Anyway, we got the October 2021 (5.14.1) update some time ago and I didn't like some of it (in fact I complained here at the time). What turned up on my wife's machine today is referred to as January 2022 (5.14.2) and is quite different: everything other than the screen when actually reading a book is totally changed, useless pictures everywhere - in "list" as well as "grid" format - so lots of wasted screen space and only four titles per page when viewing a list of books, no apparent go to function in either the collection view (just a unresponsive and hard to control "scroll through the collections" function) or within a collection, no distinction between downloaded and non downloaded collections and lots of other things I dislike (intensely). My wife hates it enough that she has asked me to get it to revert to the earlier version (which I've no idea how to do though there must be some software guru out there ...). Anyone know what will happen if I do a reset? If it took it back to it's original settings I could update with the previous software version but I fear that it would reset with the current production of the brain dead Kindle developers.

 

[Linjeakel]

Yes, sorry about the confusion with the version numbers - I did correct it almost immediately but you must have picked up my original answer before I saved the amendment.

I'm still confused by what you say has changed in this latest version. I have 5.14.1.1 on one Paperwhite and 5.14.2 on another. I have them both open side by side and have been going through them, looking at the menus and the list of collections and books etc and, as I said before, I can't immediately see any differences between them. For example you say there is "no distinction between downloaded and non downloaded collections". On the Kindle where I have 5.14.2, if I filter collections, it still shows a * next to the ones which I have on the device but nothing next to the ones not on the device, same as before. You say that there are "useless pictures everywhere - in "list" as well as "grid" format". In Library view (as opposed to Home) the "list" setting gives me just that - a list with no thumbnail cover pictures in sight, just as before. I'll be interested to see what happens when my other Paperwhite gets the update and if it's the same as the first one.

I suppose there's a possibility that the update didn't install properly (though I'm not sure that's really likely) so you could always try downloading the update and reapplying it.

As to going back to what you had before, if you do a reset to factory defaults it won't revert the firmware - it will just remove all your content and personal settings but you'll still be on 5.14.2. As far as I know, no-one on KBoards has ever been able to work out a way to revert to a previous version. You could try the people over at the MobileReads Forum - they are much more into the technical nuts and bolts side of things.

 

[mikejstb]

I just got this new firmware on my Oasis and I too find it horrible!

I used to view my library with collections first then books/items not in a collection. Can't seem to do that anymore. My old brain is not coping with this at all.

 

[Mike999]

I may have jumped in a bit too hard (but only a small bit) and too quickly in response to my wife's impassioned complaints about what had happened to her Kindle - having played around with her Paperwhite this morning I've got it to a state where it is almost usable and not the total hot mess she initially showed me. Her view is that each update in the three years since I bought it for her has degraded the user interface, with the latest change being a particularly bad one, and I have to agree with her. We both think that our old Paperwhites which are stuck on version 5.6.1.1 are much better than anything more recent with clean displays showing eight collections or books per page, and no silly images or wasted space (but far too little memory).

Since you mention the library, I can confirm that everything I've written is about the library view. I avoid the home page as currently being of zero value to me and regret that the ability to permanently hide it was withdrawn several updates ago.

I don't think I've seen version 5.14.1.1 - certainly our not yet updated Paperwhite is on 5.14.1, which is shown as an October 2021 update from 5.13.7. When I do a side by side comparison with the updated Paperwhite on 5.14.2 there are huge differences. I was wrong about "no distinction between downloaded and non downloaded collections" as I've found that using both the "downloaded" and "collections" filters I do only see what are now called "favourite" collections (but which match those we had previously downloaded) and in the list view this shows 4 collections per screen (each with its pseudo book cover thumbnail whose only purpose seems to be to repeat the collection name and the "favourites" star which already appear to their right. This differs from 5.14.1 as the latter has no images and the collections are on pages rather than one scrollable list.

When I open a collection - still in the list view - I get a scrollable list showing four books per screen each with a thumbnail book cover image. The fact that it is a scrollable list rather than a page one can turn plus that it has the images - which I can't get rid of - are the big differences from the previous version. It appears that you are seeing something totally different which I don't understand, though I in no way doubt your report.

Looking past the user interface it does look as if there might actually be some useful new functionality for collections involving bulk downloads and the bulk removal of downloads, but I've not tried these out. Bulk downloads - if it works properly - would be very useful when setting up a replacement device as the current methods are a nightmare for someone with several thousand books that they want on the device rather than floating in the cloud.

 

[Linjeakel]

When I open a collection - still in the list view - I get a scrollable list showing four books per screen each with a thumbnail book cover image. The fact that it is a scrollable list rather than a page one can turn plus that it has the images - which I can't get rid of - are the big differences from the previous version. It appears that you are seeing something totally different which I don't understand, though I in no way doubt your report.

That's very strange! On the device I have with 5.14.2, in Library list view I get 5 collections listed per page and when I open a collection I get 5 books listed and no thumbnails.

There must be something you need to adjust in the settings. Quite often with updates you find that some new options are set to 'on' by default and you will need to change them if you don't want them. With major updates I usually go into settings and methodically go through each option on every menu to see what's there and set them how I want them, paying particular attention to the device options and reading options menus (and sub-menus). Other than that I don't know what to suggest.

Is there someone else here who has one of these versions and knows what settings to change?

 

[Mike999]

That's very strange! On the device I have with 5.14.2, in Library list view I get 5 collections listed per page and when I open a collection I get 5 books listed and no thumbnails.

View attachment 22951 View attachment 22953 View attachment 22958

There must be something you need to adjust in the settings. Quite often with updates you find that some new options are set to 'on' by default and you will need to change them if you don't want them. With major updates I usually go into settings and methodically go through each option on every menu to see what's there and set them how I want them, paying particular attention to the device options and reading options menus (and sub-menus). Other than that I don't know what to suggest.

Is there someone else here who has one of these versions and knows what settings to change?

My wife is complaining about my borrowing her Paperwhite for investigations but I'll look into this after she has gone to bed. I have been doing as you suggested but may have not covered everything. Your pictures look pretty much the same as our un-updated Kindle, not just because of the lack of images but because they are clearly "pages" with those page numbers at the bottom right, where we have a scroll bar down the right hand side and no "pages".

 

[jkingrph]

Honestly over the years I have had mostly positive thoughts about updates, with a few minor exceptions, and I got used to them without problems, but, this 5.14.2 IMHO really sucks. I totally dislike, no hate the vertical scrolling the library mode to view books vs the old horizontal scroll. What was their purpose in doing away with a method that thousands of us were used to, in order to go to a method that has no real advantage. DUMB on Amazon/Kindle part

 

[Linjeakel]

Your pictures look pretty much the same as our un-updated Kindle, not just because of the lack of images but because they are clearly "pages" with those page numbers at the bottom right, where we have a scroll bar down the right hand side and no "pages".

Which model of Paperwhite do you have? The photos are of my Paperwhite 10th Gen which has updated. My PW 11th Gen hasn't updated yet so I'm wondering if it will be like yours. That would be something I've never known to happen before - usually the same version firmware would give the same results on all models of Kindles it was on.

Anyone else getting different results on different Kindles?

 

[Mike999]

Which model of Paperwhite do you have? The photos are of my Paperwhite 10th Gen which has updated. My PW 11th Gen hasn't updated yet so I'm wondering if it will be like yours. That would be something I've never known to happen before - usually the same version firmware would give the same results on all models of Kindles it was on.

Both my and my wife's "modern" Paperwhites are 10th Generation (my wife's being the one that updated).

I just spent some time going through the settings, filters, sorts and views trying various things out and whilst I can get considerable variations in the on screen results none gives anything like your pictures or gets rid of the images included in the lists of collections and books. For what it's worth my firmware version is Kindle 5.14.2 (3807140059). To give you and idea what the software looks like on my wife's device I took a few pictures, the first of a list of the downloaded (favourite) collections, the second of the books in a collection and the third of the "What's New" message for the software version.

You will note the scroll bars down the right of the page. This is consistent with what jkingrph is reporting which suggests that what you are seeing may be an anomaly.

 

[Andra]

I have emailed Amazon multiple times about my displeasure in their latest "improvements." They are really not trying to please those of us who have been using Kindles for years and have large libraries.

The last time I actually spoke to a person, the agent just could not get over the fact that I have 6,000+ items in my library. Well duh! I have had a Kindle for 13 years and I read a lot. Most of their "improvements" lately have made dealing with my content a nightmare.

I will pull out my two latest devices and see how they look compared to your views. However I decided a long time ago that collections are not for me. I just leave most of my stuff in the cloud and send items as I want to read them. I try to keep fewer than 10 pages on my device. That has gone up since I can only see 5 items at a time instead of the 7 that we had before.

 

[Linjeakel]

You will note the scroll bars down the right of the page. This is consistent with what jkingrph is reporting which suggests that what you are seeing may be an anomaly.

Well, I admit to being completely baffled by this. Although my device info page clearly showed my 10th gen PW to have version 5.14.2, as I didn't have the same results as you I decided to manually download the update file and re-apply it.

So I copied the update file to my Kindle and ran the option to 'update your Kindle' which completed without error. Again it shows me having 5.14.2 but it's still the same as it was before. No scrolling lists, no thumbnails in list view etc. I have no explanation.

My 11th Gen PW has yet to update but I'm going to allow that to happen automatically.

 

[jkingrph]

If they had made that scroll bar a little "fatter" it might be a bit more responsive. I find that often if I try to scroll my finger outruns it. It would in my opinion helped had they gave the view page a number so when using the up/down arrows you would know which page you are viewing.

Bottom line is that when they have something that works, why play with changing it.

 

[MI 2 AZ]

If they had made that scroll bar a little "fatter" it might be a bit more responsive. I find that often if I try to scroll my finger outruns it. It would in my opinion helped had they gave the view page a number so when using the up/down arrows you would know which page you are viewing.

Bottom line is that when they have something that works, why play with changing it.

Probably the difference in mindsets between an engineer and a technician.

An engineer comes up with 'brilliant' ideas, sometimes with no experience on the product they are working with and a technician with experience on the product, has to fix what the engineer comes up with, usually while cursing all engineers.

 

[jkingrph]

Probably the difference in mindsets between an engineer and a technician.

An engineer comes up with 'brilliant' ideas, sometimes with no experience on the product they are working with and a technician with experience on the product, has to fix what the engineer comes up with, usually while cursing all engineers.

Probably so, a pox on those engineers!

 

[MI 2 AZ]

My wife's Paperwhite has just updated to software version 5.14.2 and it is absolutely terrible. It says that what's new is "performance improvements, bug fixes and other general enhancements" but this is not true. It is actually a major update to the whole interface and one that is so bad that the device is now almost unusable. I can hardly describe how atrocious the new system is but I will be advising anyone who asks to never buy a Kindle - and anyone who has one to permanently turn off their wi-fi before the update ruins it. Assuming you can find the book you want reading is still okay, but unless you know exactly what books you have finding something to read is going to be a nightmare.

I'm now wondering if I can get a refund from Amazon on the basis that their action has made our Kindle's unusable?

The only solution I can think of is to strip the DRM from all the books and use another e-ink device. Can anyone recommend one with decent software? We do have a few old Kindles which will never suffer from this problem but their memory is much too small to hold our book collections.

If you have a PC computer, what you could do is connect the Paperwhite to the computer via USB cable, then, after the computer recognizes the device, you should see a Windows Explorer window open up with the device. If you click on Open Folder To View Files, you will get another window showing the folders/files. You can either Copy the Documents folder to a location on your PC or open the Documents folder up to view all of your books arranged by Author and copy the ones you want to another location on your PC. When you are done, be sure to safely disconnect the device by using the Safely Remove Device icon located on the bottom of the screen near the right side.

If for some reason, you don't get a Windows Explorer window, you can always open one up to view the Kindle files. They will be located under Computer like a hard drive or dvd/cd drive.

By doing this, you will be able to copy any of the Authors folders you want back to another of your older Kindles to read from there. Just connect the Kindle to the PC and open up the Documents folder for that Kindle and move/copy the folders you want over to it. Your main collection of books will be stored on the PC and you will just move the Author folder that you are interested in reading to the older Kindle. When you're done, just move the read Author folder back to the PC for storage.

Don't forget, if you have bought any books from Amazon, they should be stored on the Amazon cloud so you could download any of those books back to a Kindle at any time, no need to store those on the PC unless you want to.

 

[enodio]

View only favorite Collections in Library View and the books inside a Collection in List View

I have been reading in Kindle since it first came out, Accustomed to see my books in List view.
Now I got a new Kindle 11 with the 5.14.2 firmware and, what a surprise: List view disappeared!

After fondling with my Kindle for several hours, I finally found how to do it, here is how:

1. If you have many Collections, as I do, Mark the Collections you want to permanently view in your Library View as Favorites: click on the three dots on the right and click Mark the Collection as Favorite.

2 Goto Settings\Device Options\Advanced Options\Home & Library\Collections
Mark: Show favorites in Library

If you want to see all your Collections, mark Show all in Library

3. Return to Library View
Click on the three lines on your top right, just below the three dots
Mark: Sort by at your convenience
Mark: List in View Options

Now you will see all the Favorite Collections and ALL your books.
To view only your Collections, click on the three lines with a small circle on the upper left of the screen.
In Filters\Type mark Collections.

And there you are:
You will only view the Favorite Collections on the Library Screen, and, if you click a Collection, you will see the books in that Collection in List View.
It still shows a thumbnail of each book, but at least you get five lines on the screen.

 

[Ann in Arlington]

I've been semi-following this thread with mild interest but mostly confusion. Like Linda, neither of my updated devices show anything different to what they did before. so strange .....

 

[Julip55]

I am also not a fan of the newest version. I usually view by collections, displaying only uncollected, downloaded items in list format.

I keep downloaded books in collections, but don't want them cluttering up my main library view, or losing them in the "most recent" sort. Now, by viewing the "uncollected" collection filtered on downloaded, only the grid view is an option. Let's not talk my views on how unusable the grid view is when you're looking for a book. The covers are cool, but cluttered. There's all this space on my new Paperwhite, but I really can't utilize it unless I want to slog through a few hundred books I'm keeping in collections. Sigh... Kindle do better.