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Frustrated with the number of restrictions baked into Kindle e-readers? You're not alone.
Amazon's popular lineup of Kindle e-readers is one of the most popular gadgets for reading books, magazines, and comics from virtually anywhere. Lightweight and compact, they beat having to lug heavy books around with you when these handy devices are capable of holding thousands of titles. With mobile internet and Wi-Fi support, you can buy books during your travels or borrow books with its Netflix-like Kindle Unlimited subscription.
The US retailer has been expanding its Kindle e-reader range quite a bit in recent months, too.
The brand recently unveiled the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, the first Scribe model designed with a colourful screen display. They've also released two new Kindle Colorsoft e-readers earlier this year.
However, Amazon has placed several restrictions to lock down exactly how you use these e-readers.
Kindle books purchased from Amazon only live within the Kindle app, so you won't be able to read these digital books in any other apps on your device. If you want to read on your phone, tablet, laptop, or Kindle, you'll need to use Amazon's dedicated software.
You also can't download apps that are not in the Amazon App Store.
To combat this, developers have been constantly releasing "jailbreakers," which are also known as ways to bypass these built-in restrictions. In the past, Amazon has come out with quick fixes to block these.
For the first time since it launched the Kindle lineup back in 2007, Amazon has equipped its all-new e-reader with a colour e-ink screen | AMAZON PRESS OFFICE However, there's a new one available that Amazon has yet to block.
This particular jailbreak only works on ad-enabled Kindles.
Amazon offers two different versions when purchasing a Kindle. You can either purchase the e-reader with ads or you can pay £10 extra for it to ship without them. Dubbed AdBreak, a special code is injected into the ad files of your ad-enabled Kindle to jailbreak the device.
Once it's been loaded onto your device, it gives you the ability to install KindleForge, which downloads a custom app store to your device. This allows you to download several apps for free without having to go through the Amazon App Store.
A noteworthy app in this store is called KOReader. This app removes the restrictions on where you can read Kindle books, so you'll be able to open a wide range of different file formats that will let you transfer your books to different devices to read. It even syncs with a popular plug-in called Calibre, which is an e-book management software system that organises and converts your full library of e-books for you.
KOReader also lets you customise the appearance of your Kindle. For instance, you can customise screensavers, edit the status bar, and install various plugins and extensions that will let you create a fully tailored experience on the device.
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The new jailbreak will allow you to customise the display of your Kindle e-reader to tailor your reading experience
| AMAZON PRESS OFFICEWhile these all seem like great benefits, jailbreaking any device comes with its own risks.
Jacob Kalvo, a tech and security expert, told GB News, "You are intentionally breaching the device's chain of trust to allow you (or someone else) to run arbitrary code. That creates a family of highly specific technical and practical risks.
"For example, most of the jailbreaking techniques entail enabling services or interfaces that are disabled otherwise, e.g., root access, an SSH server, or a debugger interface.
"Once powered on, an attacker or a malicious app within the same network can gain persistent privileged access and a rootkit that persists through reboots, steal your Amazon login credentials, or pull payment information and personal data saved in the device or the linked cloud account."
Another threat to be aware of is accidentally downloading risky apps.
"Because you’re bypassing Amazon’s app vetting, it’s easy to install a seemingly useful third‑party utility that contains trojans, spyware, or adware. Those apps can upload reading history, notes, and personal metadata to remote servers, or intercept logins and two‑factor authentication codes. Even the most well‑intentioned apps can be reassembled by another person with malicious payloads," said Mr Kalvo.
Amazon's Fire TV Sticks have recently undergone issues where these low-cost devices have become a popular option with criminals, who "jailbreak" the Fire TV Stick to install apps that aren't sanctioned by Amazon in its own App Store to offer a painless way to watch copyrighted material at a fraction of the cost.
Modified Fire TV Sticks — often referred to as “fully loaded” Firesticks or "dodgy" Firesticks — can be used to access live Premier League streams, the latest Hollywood blockbusters, and exclusive series from HBO, Netflix, and Disney+, to name just a few.
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