6 Answers2025-07-04
I use my Kobo as the final destination for my permanent collection of books, such as classics, favorites and reference books. Casual reads that I got through Kindle Unlimited get read on the Kindle app on my phone or on my old Kindle. As a lot of time and hassle would be spent transferring these to my Kobo, they remain in my permanent collection.
7 Answers2025-07-29
metadata too! All the metadata we’ve added to a file (like reading progress, highlights and notes) is stored in Amazon’s cloud and synced with our Kindle accounts. If we were to ‘transfer’ the file to a Kobo, that would not be transferred. We’d have to start from the beginning and add all that back to the book. For some people that would be a show-stopper – the reading experience is now enhanced by our marginalia and our place in the book.
This data would also be lost in a transfer, because it is Amazon’s to lose. So transfer of file isn’t enough to consider a book to have been moved. The experience of reading a book is locked within the Amazon ecosystem. And what is being sold is not just words on a page, but an ongoing and seamless experience of reading. For people who annotate heavily, this means that a lot of their ‘reading’ is lost, when they switch. I hadn’t thought of this before. It’s a consideration.
10 Answers2025-07-09
Many converted documents look terrible, even after a perfect conversion. Scan PDFs often require a lot of tweaking. I go into the 'Look & Feel' tab, turn on 'Smarten punctuation' and 'Remove spacing between paragraphs'. Then I change the 'Base Font Size' to something like 14pt to compensate for the Kindle's terrible zooming. Also, in the 'Processing' tab for PDF documents with footnotes, check if they were detected correctly and linking worked properly. It can take a lot of work to make a PDF look native on the Kindle, but it's worth it.
8 Answers2025-08-03
converting ebooks was a game-changer for me. The simplest method I found is using Calibre, a free ebook management tool. Just install it, add your Kindle books, and convert them to EPUB format, which Kobo supports. Make sure to remove DRM from your Kindle books first using tools like DeDRM plugin for Calibre. Once converted, transfer the EPUB files to your Kobo via USB. It’s straightforward and works like a charm. I also recommend checking file compatibility because some complex formats might need tweaking. Calibre’s conversion settings let you adjust layout and metadata, which is handy for keeping your library organized.
8 Answers2025-11-08
A. Kobo friends and family gift cards, as well as the occasional books on sale in Kobo's store, have apparently seduced some of our Kindle enthusiasts into investigating the superior displays as well as store and content integration of the eReaders. Transfering eBooks to Kindle there are a few steps involved, which, I'll admit, at first glance may look a bit daunting to some. But don't let that scare you off, once you've gone through the simple process of transferring your first book, you'll know how to be a digital librarian eBook worrier in no time. The eBooks are first downloaded from your Kobo Library to your PC. Next, the eBook is opened in Adobe Digital Editions to authenticate it for removal of eBook DRM (Digital Rights Management). That eBook is then added to Calibre and removed of eBook DRM using your DeDRM tools and then the eBook is converted to the appropriate format for your Kindle. Yes, the process of transferring eBooks does involve updating your software from time to time as eBook DRM methods change from time to time.
9 Answers2025-07-05
I’ve explored this exact question. Everand (formerly Scribd) doesn’t natively support direct transfers to Kindle due to DRM protections, but there’s a workaround. You can download Everand books as EPUBs via their offline feature, then use free tools like Calibre to convert them to Kindle-friendly formats like MOBI or AZW3.
Keep in mind this might violate Everand’s terms, so proceed cautiously. For legal alternatives, consider Kindle Unlimited or purchasing books directly from Amazon. Everand’s strength lies in its vast subscription library, while Kindle excels in seamless device integration. If you’re tech-savvy, the conversion route exists, but it’s not officially endorsed.
9 Answers2025-07-06
Your archived items are also archived on your old device (even if you deleted them from your downloaded books list to make room). Now that you have a device with more storage, you might want to re-download some of these archived books. Make sure you’re viewing your library as ‘All’ or ‘Cloud’ and not just ‘Downloaded’. I discovered that I have a complete history of all my purchases over the last years, and can even re-download books I’ve purchased on sale years ago (I found three such books from 2017 that I had purchased but never read). Transferring to a new device became a fun library excavation.
12 Answers2025-08-13
As someone who always looks at things from an accessibility perspective, my concern is that someone who is vision impaired and reads Amazon-exclusive titles on their Kindle with the specific fonts they prefer could be prohibited from having access to that content because it is tied to a family member’s email account. While the Household feature is a good first step, the process of adding others to a Household is unclear and can be confusing for non-tech-savvy individuals. Amazon should develop an easier, more disability-friendly way to grant access to content to caregivers and dependents in those situations. As it stands now, the all-or-nothing Household model does not appear to have been designed with these types of scenarios in mind. It is designed for and works best for the typical, tech-savvy, two-adult Household. Real life is messier than that.
3 Answers2025-07-08
After years of trying to make all of my reading more unified, I have come to the realization that I have become a “horses for courses” kind of reader. My Kindle Paperwhite is the perfect device for long-form, text-heavy books that I get from Libby or Amazon. My old iPad Mini is my dedicated “library device” for Hoopla comics, magazines, and audiobooks. Because my iPad is a smaller device, it is perfect for casual browsing of my library’s collection. The physical difference between my Kindle and my iPad serves as a very real mental cue for how I want to use each device. In some ways, the limitation of each platform has helped me to be more creative in how I read.
10 Answers2025-08-03
Why do we accept this? Other media do not have anywhere near this problem. Play a CD anywhere, play a DVD anywhere, stream music or movies anywhere. Books are not even close to being as portable as these other media. We accept the walled-gardens that are Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, etc. because they appear to offer us convenience, but in reality they are inconveniencing us in ways that other media do not. The community created solution to this is Calibre, a bit of a hack, but it works. It is a way to preserve your own digital library against the wishes of the platform. Should Amazon decide to remove books from our libraries or Kobo raise their prices again, at least the books will be DRM-free on your own hard drive.