Kindle Scribe, Amazon’s newest e-reader that launched last fall, represents a whole new take on the Kindle, adding writing to everything customers love about reading with Kindle. It’s the best Kindle Amazon has ever built, with writing that feels just like pen on paper, and it’s only getting better.
So far this year, the Kindle team has added nearly a dozen great new features to the device—including additional pen types, more ways to organize your notes and notebooks, reading improvements for both books and documents, and an integration with Microsoft Word. The latest software rolling out this week is another perfect example how the Kindle Scribe continues to get better and even more intuitive over time.
These updates—which include the ability to convert your handwritten notes to text when you export, a new lasso select tool for your notes and drawings, and brand new write-on content exclusive to Kindle Scribe—will automatically download and install on your Kindle Scribe over the next few weeks when connected to the internet via Wi-Fi. Don't want to wait? To manually download the latest software, follow these instructions.
In addition to more great new features, the team is launching a brand new resource for Kindle Scribe customers today, full of great content about how to get the most of Kindle Scribe. Visit the Kindle Scribe resource page for videos, articles, and updates about key features and all the ways you can read, write, organize, and more with Kindle Scribe.
Curious to learn more about how your Kindle Scribe is getting supercharged with new features? Here’s what’s new:
Here are a few new features that will bring your Kindle Scribe experience to the next level.
Kindle Scribe, Amazon’s newest e-reader that launched last fall, represents a whole new take on the Kindle, adding writing to everything customers love about reading with Kindle. It’s the best Kindle Amazon has ever built, with writing that feels just like pen on paper, and it’s only getting better.
So far this year, the Kindle team has added nearly a dozen great new features to the device—including additional pen types, more ways to organize your notes and notebooks, reading improvements for both books and documents, and an integration with Microsoft Word. The latest software rolling out this week is another perfect example how the Kindle Scribe continues to get better and even more intuitive over time.
These updates—which include the ability to convert your handwritten notes to text when you export, a new lasso select tool for your notes and drawings, and brand new write-on content exclusive to Kindle Scribe—will automatically download and install on your Kindle Scribe over the next few weeks when connected to the internet via Wi-Fi. Don't want to wait? To manually download the latest software, follow these instructions.
In addition to more great new features, the team is launching a brand new resource for Kindle Scribe customers today, full of great content about how to get the most of Kindle Scribe. Visit the Kindle Scribe resource page for videos, articles, and updates about key features and all the ways you can read, write, organize, and more with Kindle Scribe.
Curious to learn more about how your Kindle Scribe is getting supercharged with new features? Here’s what’s new:
1.
Convert to text in export
Easily convert your handwritten notebooks to text when you export, so you can edit and share the notebook with yourself or friends, family, or colleagues over email. In the Share menu, customers will have the option to “Convert to text and quick send” and “Convert to text and email” their standalone notebook as a .txt file. For the latter option, customers will be able to preview, review, and edit their notebook converted to text before sharing over email to up to five email addresses.
2.
Lasso select tool
The new lasso select tool works anywhere you can write: notebooks, sticky notes, as well as PDFs uploaded to your Kindle library via Send to Kindle. With the new lasso select tool simply circle your handwritten text or pen strokes, then you can resize or move your selection within a notebook, sticky note, or PDF. You can also cut, copy, and paste your selection across your notebooks, sticky notes, and PDFs.
3.
PDF reading improvements
For PDFs uploaded to your Kindle library through Send to Kindle, including the new Send to Kindle from Microsoft Word (using the “like a printed document” option), customers can now switch between portrait- and landscape-view mode, crop margins to increase font size, and select text to make structured highlights with your finger or pen, add text notes, or look up dictionary definitions, translations, and Wikipedia results.
4.
Write-on content
Exclusive to Kindle Scribe, a new selection of books and titles that support direct on-page writing, including guided journals and word games like crosswords and sudokus. These new content options are available for purchase on Amazon, and in the Kindle Store on your Kindle Scribe device—just look for "Write-on Books" in the store or “On-page writing” listed as a supported feature under Product Details section of the e-book you wish to purchase.
Below are all the other Kindle Scribe features added this year:
New brush types for a more versatile Pen experience
The Pen was already a great way to write or draw on this Kindle, but new brush types are making using the Pen even better. The Kindle Scribe is now getting new fountain pen, marker, and pencil brush options, ensuring that you can get the perfect brush type for the task at hand.
Not only are there three new brush types, but each of those gets five thickness options—helping make using the included Pen even more versatile. The fountain pen type means you can create stunning calligraphy. With the marker, better highlight text. And, with the pencil, you can create natural-looking sketches right from your Kindle Scribe. The marker, pencil, and fountain pen writing tools feature enhanced pressure and tilt capabilities as well, providing more precision in your writing or sketching.
The new brush types are available in the writing toolbar in Notebooks, in sticky notes in books, and anywhere else you can write on your Kindle Scribe. Plus, all of these options are available as Premium Pen shortcuts, so you can slot them straight into your workflow.
Subfolders to better organize your content
Kindle Scribe now allows you to create subfolders, or folders within folders, to better organize the content in your notebooks. That’s a pretty big improvement for those who create a lot and want to make sure all of their content is as organized as possible.
Creating a subfolder is easy too. Simply hit the “+” button in any folder to create a new folder. And, if you decide you want that folder somewhere else, you can move it by hitting the three-dot menu and selecting the move option. Easy!
Send to Kindle from Microsoft Word
You can now send documents (.docx and .doc) directly from your Microsoft Word app on your desktop or browser to read and review on Kindle (Microsoft 365 subscription required). With Send to Kindle from Microsoft Word, customers can send a document “like a Kindle book” and adjust font sizes and layouts and use handwritten sticky notes; or send “like a printed document” to enable direct on-page writing with Kindle Scribe. Available now for Word on Windows and Mac, and rolling out soon on Web. Also, check out other Send to Kindle options for more ways to import personal documents.
Notebook overview
The new notebook overview lets you preview nine notebook pages at a time to easily navigate and manage them. While in a notebook tap the top menu and select the notebook overview and users can add/insert pages, move a single page, and delete a single page, giving you more control within your notebooks. Navigating within your notebooks is easier now too, by jumping straight to a page without having to scroll. The “Go to page” option makes it a whole lot easier to navigate through those high-page-count notebooks.
PDF reading/annotation improvements
PDF content will now include the ability to increase or decrease contrast, which is one of the most requested features for Kindle Scribe. The contrast slider will be available in PDF documents imported via Send to Kindle and the new Kindle Scribe exclusive write-on books and journals, and will enhance readability for reviewing and annotating PDFs.
Two-column layout setting in landscape book reading
We’re adding more ways to read on Kindle Scribe. You will now have the option between one or two-column displays for books when your device is in Landscape orientation. Two column display will be available in the new Aa menu setting in the layout tab for books content.
Coming soon
Kindle Scribe provides regular, free software updates delivering new features that make the device better and better. There’s more to come later this year, so be sure to check back here for updates on additional exciting new features.
Christian de Looper is a freelance writer and editor whose byline can be seen at Forbes, Business Insider, Digital Trends, BGR, and more. Christian was born in Australia, and after spending five years in France as a teenager and three years in Minneapolis for college, he settled in sunny California where he now lives with his wife and cat.
