Amazon’s Kindle Colorsoft: A Game Changer in E-Readers, But One Flaw Persists!

As someone who devours books relentlessly, I often find myself eyeing the next title before the last one is finished. So, when the new Kindle Colorsoft was offered at a discount during Prime Day, I didn’t hesitate to grab one. However, I was soon taken aback to discover that Amazon’s first color e-reader, along with possibly some other models, was experiencing a persistent issue due to certain actions by Amazon itself.

According to several discussions on Reddit, users of the Kindle Colorsoft have been encountering problems with “sideloading” e-books. This technique involves transferring books to the device using a USB connection or Wi-Fi from non-Amazon sources. Users noted that the covers of these books weren’t displaying correctly. This issue wasn’t exclusive to the new model; it also affected some older versions, like a user’s 2018 Paperwhite.

Not giving up, I tried sideloading books using Calibre, a popular tool among e-reader enthusiasts, and was annoyed surprised to see that my Kindle’s library also failed to show the book covers. Instead of the vibrant, colorful covers that I looked forward to seeing on my fantasy novels, I saw only plain text titles and author names, making the books appear as unappealing PDF documents.

Sideloaded kindle paperwhite / colorsoft from r/ereader

Investigations in Calibre’s forums suggest that Amazon may have “intentionally disabled this feature in their ColorSoft and newer models” to deter users from using third-party books on their devices.

Although there hasn’t been a definitive confirmation from the online retail giant regarding this claim or whether a recent software update caused this, it wouldn’t be the first instance of Amazon restricting e-book downloads and their covers.

In February, Amazon took away the ability to download Kindle e-books to computers, limiting users to downloads via Wi-Fi or through Amazon’s platforms. We also remember the event where Amazon ironically removed George Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’ and ‘Animal Farm’ from its library.

An Amazon spokesperson stated that “Kindle supports a range of methods for customers to easily upload and read their personal documents through Send to Kindle” — a service designed to send PDFs, Word documents, and EPUBs to one’s Kindle library.

The spokesperson further noted that “while some third-party files might display differently based on their creation or format, customers can still enjoy reading their personal documents on any Kindle device or app.”

The Elusive Solution for Missing Covers

Regrettably, there doesn’t seem to be a straightforward solution for getting the covers to display correctly on the Kindle Colorsoft and other affected devices. Some users have had success by altering the format of their books, while others had to manually adjust ASIN codes.

Despite trying numerous suggested fixes, including the ‘Send to Kindle’ feature, the appearance of my e-book covers remained unchanged. However, I did notice that the cover of my current book appeared when my Kindle was in standby mode.

Although a permanent solution seems unlikely in the near future, I will keep you updated if any new fixes surface.

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