Amazon releases second Kindle Scribe update: Send from Word, two-column reading, and more
Amazon continues to improve the Kindle Scribe with compelling features
Just two months ago we saw the first feature update for the Amazon Kindle Scribe and Amazon is staying true to its promises with another update now available. The last update provided some features I was hoping to see and this new update takes it further with features I didn’t even think of that are going to make the Kindle Scribe even better.
I continue to use the Kindle Scribe daily for capturing my engineering notes, meeting notes, phone call notes, writing/video notes, and personal notes. I no longer use pen and paper to capture my thoughts.
How to update manually
You may have already received the update, but if you are not patient and want it now then you may want to install the update manually.
Visit this Amazon page for the step-by-step instructions to update your Kindle manually. It’s fairly easy and just requires a cable connection to your PC and a simple drag and drop.
You can find all of the current updates for the Kindle on this Amazon website so bookmark this for future updates.
Let’s take a closer look at the new features available on Amazon Kindle Scribe.
Send to Kindle from Microsoft Word
Amazon supports sending documents to the Kindle Scribe via an email address, but it continues to find ways to make sharing documents to the Kindle as seamless as possible. As long as you are a Microsoft 365 subscriber, you can now choose File > Export (or Share) > Send to Kindle.
Once the document arrives on your Kindle Scribe, you will then be able to read and annotate these documents. This capability to send from Word also works on other Kindle devices, but only the Scribe supports handwriting on the page and handwritten sticky notes.
I’m curious to see what happens when you mark up a Word document and then send it back. Will the document remain a Word document or will sending it back, such as with a Notebook, return it as a PDF document. I’ll test this out once I get my Kindle Scribe updated.
Notebook Birds Eye View
Working within the Notebooks area of the Kindle Scribe, a new Birds Eye View (BEV) lets you see 9 notebook pages at once. I have one notebook that currently has 36 pages so being able to quickly view 9 pages and then see content on these in a thumbnail form will help with navigation.
In addition to the 9 notebook page view, this update includes support to add/insert pages, move a single page, and delete a single page. These are great additions that make notebooks much more useful for daily document management.
PDF contrast control
While the Kindle Scribe seamlessly helps you view PDF documents, these documents can arrive on the Kindle Scribe from many original sources. One of the most requested features from users is the ability to increase or decrease contrast.
A new contrast slider will now appear so you can optimize your reading experience.
Two-column reading
It’s great when companies add features and functions I didn’t even think about. With this new feature release, Amazon provides the ability to provide a two-column format for reading ebooks when your Kindle Scribe is rotated into landscape orientation.
I typically read my books in portrait orientation because so much content is available on the large display and I can comfortably hold the Kindle in my left hand with my thumb on the left margin.
It will be interesting to try reading in landscape with two columns as this more closely mimics a regular book experience. Nice work Amazon, keep it up.
What else would you like to see?
It’s fantastic that Amazon continues to provide improvements and new features for the Kindle Scribe. I can’t wait to see what comes later, maybe in June?
I would like to see the following in future updates:
Export notes in other formats
Handwriting to text
Basic shape support so my flawed square turns into an actual square
Colored pens/highlighters that appear in color when you export and share your notes
What would you like to see come in future updates from Amazon?