It turns out that the latest Amazon Kindle software update is the most mysterious update the company has ever released in recent times. The software update version 5.18.13 wasn’t supposed to offer any new features. At least, that was what the blank release notes led us to believe. However, what has come to the fore now is that the update introduces a new ad filter setting that lets you hide inappropriate ads. As the eBook Reader Blog mentioned, the new ad setting is available under Settings > Your Account > Lockscreen Ads.
The new setting includes the option to ‘hide ads that may not be appropriate for everyone’. However, the point is, it is Amazon that would be calling the shots, as it would be determining which ads are appropriate and which are not. This also raises a valid concern: why pester Kindle users with inappropriate ads at all? Maybe the setting is aimed at preventing kids from being exposed to those ads. Hopefully, this will prevent users from getting to see provocative or seductive ads.
Additionally, there is also a setting that will let you turn on or off what Amazon calls personalized ads. These are the ads that make it to your Kindle and are based on your purchase and browsing history. In any case, there is also the kids’ mode that you can invoke to get rid of ads. You will instead get to see screen savers on the off-screen. This is one way to keep the annoying ads at bay, though it requires you to add books to a kid’s profile. Also, kids’ mode only supports books sourced from Amazon and won’t include any side-loaded content.
Ad-supported Kindles are a marketing strategy that Amazon has been using to boost sales of Kindle devices, as they come cheaper than regular models. You will have to shell out an extra $20 to graduate to the ad-free version. Earlier, simply requesting the Amazon support staff to remove the ads would have been enough to have the ads removed for free. However, that has since been withdrawn, which means you are left with no other option but to pay the requisite fee to upgrade to an ad-free experience.
Among the other features that the latest update comes with is a new page layout view. Plus, there is also a new spacing setting introduced as well. Seems the 5.18.13 update was a major update after all, but for some strange reason, Amazon chose not to publicise it much. Won’t be surprised if some other day, another new feature comes to light. Be on the watch. Stay tuned.
