In a recent communication, Amazon has alerted Kindle users about significant changes set to take effect from next month. The notification pertains to the phasing out of support for sending MOBI (.mobi, .azw, .prc) files through the “Send to Kindle” feature, starting November 1, 2023. This change, as News18 pointed out, specifically impacts users attempting to send MOBI files via email and Kindle apps on iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac.
They’re just removing an antiquated file type that you should have moved on from anyway. All my books are in epub format and even if they weren’t calibre converts them so I don’t think this is a significant change at all.
Yup. I see no problem with this change. EPub is an open format and one can easily convert existing ebooks.
Some of us still use devices that only support .mobi
This news wouldn’t really affect you, though, would it?
Send to Kindle feature is only for Amazon Kindle, and Kindle apps, and those have been able to support more than .mobi since the Kindle 2 (non-touch with a keyboard) which was discontinued nearly 15 years ago.
I have a Kindle. It does not support EPUB. This does affect me. I used to use a bookmarklet to send articles to my Kindle, and this would make that unfeasible.
Kindles don’t natively “support” Epub, but you can Send to Kindle or even email things to your Kindle and it will get formatted into a format that Amazon will accept. I’ve done this myself for years on Kindles and for devices with Kindle apps.
For your bookmarklet, you’d have to either update it to send as Epub or find another option that sends as Epub instead of Mobi.
In your situation, it sounds like just emailing articles to your Kindle would be the best option. This article can tell you how to figure out your Kindle email and how to send files to it.
So just set Calibre to convert the books to mobi before sending it to them
That doesn’t work for the workflow of sending articles to my Kindle with a bookmarklet.
I remember having to change things I got from… places… from epub to mobi using calibre for my old school kindle to recognise it years ago. I don’t even have that device anymore.
Glad they’re accepting what appears to be the standard format tbh.
Wait, does Kindle handle epub now?
No, but you can send one through the email service and it will be automatically converted.
I only ever send in epub format. In the article it clarifies that Amazon recommends the sending of epub.
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What if you bought an ebook in mobi format a long time ago?
It doesn’t make sense.
If you’re technically competent enough to have a mobi locally and send it to a kindle, then you’re technically competent enough to convert it, so it’s not a huge deal. I agree it’s weird though.
Honest question: what non-piracy reasons are there for having a mobi file locally and not already having it attached to your Amazon account ready to download straight to your kindle? Did anyone but Amazon ever even sell mobi files?
Hello checking in here.
Last night I finally got calibre and dedrm working. I have around 400 ebooks that I’ve bought from Amazon over the years,but my trust in Amazon has been eroded to the point I want local, drm-stripped copies in case they take the books back; it has happened, but not to me yet.
The first book I converted: 1984.
But you do have them attached to your Amazon account. So there’s likely no real usecase for you to want to push a mobi file to a kindle.
Amazon has deleted books from peoples’ accounts in the past, so I would never trust that as the sole source for any book I owned. I don’t buy ebooks often but when I do they immediately get deDRMed and stored in my local archives.
I do, for now, yep. And yeah you’re probably right, I’ve never down the push to device thing.
I’m going to start buying my books elsewhere though, and suspect they will be epub format.
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“what non piracy reasons are there”
“If you have nothing to hide then what’s the problem with putting a camera in the bathroom. What non crime reasons could there be?”
Really though, if you’re technically proficient enough for torrenting and vpns, you’re proficient enough to convert to newer formats, too.
So even then, it’s really just not that big a deal. Other than being a once-used format for the platform. And honestly how many devices are still functioning that can only use mobi? Heck I have a 10 year old Kindle somewhere that probably has 4 or 5 different formats from about 10 different sources.
You’re being silly. This wouldn’t inconvenience any legitimate buyer. And pirated material is in epub format already or can easily be converted to it.
I have a very old Kindle that’s still kicking. No reason to replace it if it still works right? I’m concerned that borrowing books from the library uses this delivery system and therefore might not be able to deliver to my Kindle. Ironically, piracy might be the only option to still use my working and not otherwise obsolete device.
Self-contradict much?
I didn’t contradict anything I wrote. What do you care about books if you can’t even read?
Wow, and now personal insults. You really got me there, mate.
I haven’t had an e-reader in years but I remember using mobi files a lot, admittedly I’m not up to date, but I thought that this was more important than it appears it is.
it’s trivial to mass convert mobi to a widely supported format. I think this is a welcomed change, because Amazon was the only one on the industry still promoting a legacy format like mobi, even if they tried to start moving on with their newer formats.