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Latest Kindle firmware includes "Assistive Reading" [1]

['Jason Weisberger']

Date: 2025-08-04

The latest version of Amazon's Kindle firmware, 5.18.4, includes two new features, but will block you from jailbreaking the device.

Amazon has just updated its 11th and 12th generation Kindle e-readers with firmware version 5.18.4. The change logs simply state that this addresses bug fixes and general improvements. However, there are always a ton of new features that they do not disclose, such as a new text-to-speech system called Assistive Reader and a new global font… …For users with poor eyesight, a new method is available to enlarge all UI elements, including menus and text. This will increase the font size of everything outside of e-books. There is only one size right now, and it can be found under the Brightness Settings menu. GoodReader

Assistive reading is pretty cool. The Kindle will read the book to you via a connected Bluetooth device and highlight the text in sync. I have read a number of reports where people say running this on 1.25x speed or more helps them read much faster and retain more. Amazon also finally added another option for the UI sizing. While font is easily adjustable in the book, the actual UI has long been a kludge.

Folks who want to jailbreak their device will want to put it in Airplane mode and fill its storage with junk. The next jailbreak to release will only work up to 5.18.3, and will not be out until later this year. My main Kindle, a 12th-gen Paperwhite SE, is updated, while I keep my decade-plus-old Kindle Voyage jailbroken. I never use the features of the jailbreak, however, as I source most of my books via Libby (the library e-book app).

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2025/08/04/latest-kindle-firmware-includes-assistive-reading.html

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