Amazon is finally set to add support for the popular ePub ebook file format to its Kindle range.
In an easy-to-miss post over on its Kindle Content Help page, Amazon has revealed that ePub support is coming in late 2022.
You won’t be able to open these ePub files directly on your Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, however. Rather, the Send to Kindle function will convert such files into a format that the Amazon e-reader can use.
It brings a partial solution to a long-running and particularly odd problem. Namely, that the world’s most popular e-reader is incompatible with the world’s most popular ebook format.
In a sense, then, Amazon is finally catching up to e-readers supplied by all of its rivals, such as Kobo and Barnes & Noble, some 15 years after the ePub format rolled out.
It’s not the full unalloyed support that users of those rivals can enjoy, but at least it will prevent Kindle users from having to manually convert ePub files, or from dabbling with third party applications that perform the job for you.
In other news, the aforementioned post has revealed that Amazon will drop support for the .MOBI and .AZW file formats in late 2022. According to Amazon, “MOBI is an older file format and won’t support the newest Kindle features for documents.”
You’ll still be able to open existing files in these formats on your Kindle, but Amazon will no longer allow you to send new files to your Kindle via the Send to Kindle email system.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
