Kindle Tips: Kindle for iOS software update v4.9 and for Kindle Fire tablets. Also, small update v4.5.4 for Kindle Fire tablets. Family Library sharing. Free Kindle books listed for June. Monthly Kindle book specials.

Software update to v4.9 for Kindle for iOS and Kindle Fire devices

Amazon announced, on their Kindle Forums, a software update for both Kindle for iOS (v4.9) and on the Kindle Fire tablets.  Here's the main info from that:

' Several exciting improvements offer faster reading with less eye strain.

Discover these features on Kindle for iOS and Fire tablets today, with more devices coming later this year.

What's New in Version 4.9?
Available today on hundreds of thousands of books, including most bestsellers like J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit," Stephen King's "Revival," Veronica Roth's "Insurgent," and Abigail Strom's "Almost Like Love."
And coming soon to most Kindle books.

Faster Reading, Less Eye Strain
Hyphenation plus smoother word spacing result in faster reading with less eye strain.
Improved character placement increases word recognition speed at any font size.

Beautiful Page Layout
Drop caps, text, and images adapt automatically to look great no matter your screen or font size.
Print-like layout dynamically adjusts for any combination of screen size and font setting.

Large Fonts, No Compromises
Enjoy reading with larger font sizes without compromising your reading experience.
Page layout and margins automatically adapt to work well at even the largest font sizes.

Bookerly - The Font for Readers
Bookerly is a new Kindle exclusive font designed for reading on digital screens.
Warm and contemporary, Bookerly is inspired by the artistry of the best fonts in modern print books but is hand-crafted for optimal readability at any screen size. '

The Kindle for iOS software-update page at Amazon also mentions

' • Audible Improvements – This release includes a new look for the Audible player controls in the reader and a new player bar that appears in the library while you’re listening to an audio companion '

Latest Fire OS update, v4.5.4 for Kindle Fire tablets (in addition to the built-in Kindle Reader update v4.9)
My Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" tablet (Yr 2013) received an over-the-air (OTA) update yesterday, and the reasons shown are
  "...includes general improvements and performance enhancements."
So it's just a maintenance update.
All Kindle Fire tablets get an OS update at the same time.
  Software update pages: US and UK

  No new features have been announced since v4.5.1 in September 2014 (though some will have missed some noteworthy ones) when the latest features newly introduced were:

• Family Library: Family Library lets owners share apps, games, audiobooks and ebooks with another adult in their household, even if they have a different Amazon account.  Available in the US, UK, and Germany.

• Lock screen media controls: The update brings MP3 and Audible playback controls to the locks screen, and for tablets that have a rear-facing camera, this too can now be activated form the lock screen.

• Prime Music Stations: Prime members now have access to ad-free personalized stations with unlimited skips. "Over a million songs by artists including U2, Blake Shelton, Daft Punk, Bruno Mars, Madonna, and more.   Just open the Mujsic tab and select Prime Stations to start listening."  Available in the US.

• Emoji: The Amazon keyboard now features hundreds of color emojis.

• Camera for Kids: Amazon FreeTime now includes a camera feature designed for kids that allows them to play with the camera but not post photos to social media.  Available in US, UK and Germany

June's free Kindle books (contemporary or non-classics)
    May 2015  June 2015.
    Also, all currently free non-classics sorted by:
    Publication Date   Bestselling    High ratings

  There are only a few shown on the first few days of any month, and these include pre-orders due that month -- most of these are listed as "free preview" of whatever chapters chosen, some are short stories, and a few (overnight) not-entirely-family-safe titles may show up.  Since this is June 2, the listing will not include more already available, full books

Reminder: The special monthly book deals for June 2015
  JUNE 2015's monthly Kindle Books deal, for $3.99 or less   (See UK listing here.)

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Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Amazon's holiday content, free, or on special sale only during this week. A few deals are -were- only until midnight Christmas Day.

Special sales announced by Amazon for this holiday week

On Dec 24, I focused on the 40 Android apps worth $220 available for free "until" December 26.  I don't know whether Amazon means until December 26 starts (which is the normal meaning) or until the end of December 26.  In the past, they've stipulated 11:59pm on a given date or they've used the word "through" a particular day.  So, to be certain you get the apps you want from these, aim for the end of Christmas day.


For those just opening new Kindle tablets and e-readers or those who have not looked at the free and low-cost specials available at any given time, there are ongoing specials for a day or for a month (or unstipulated "limited time") at Amazon.  These are listed and linked to at the recent Free and low-cost Kindle books article.  There are a lot of varied free offerings included in that article.


Today-only through tonight, special Goldbox deal
The ongoing daily Goldbox page is featuring for today and tonight (Dec 25, 2014) this Gold Box Deal of the Day: Up to 50% Off Digital Music, Books, Movies, Games, and Apps


Amazon added a "Kindle Book Sale: Up to 65% off" page of books at $1.99 each, which appear to be from the Kindle-Unlimited feature.
  This one started December 25, 2014 and is "through January 25, 2015."
  Note that some at Amazon are clearer by using "through" a given date rather than 'until' (which can be misleading.)

What Amazon calls its Kindle Book Deals for the current day, including the Daily deals, Monthly Deals and Countdown Deals (had never heard of the latter).  These include books with up to 85% discount.

  Amazon's press release adds that: "Starting December 25th and running through the New Year popular Kindle books from best-selling authors will be up to 85% off, including titles from James Patterson, David Baldacci, Rick Riordan, Sandra Brown, Kristin Hannah, Jeff Kinney and Barbara Freethy."
  These will change, though, daily, as to what is featured, from what I can see.


Amazon Device Deals - Amazon's statement on holiday specials for its Kindle tablets and eReaders

' Amazon Device Deals
For a limited time, customers can get $20 off Amazon Fire TV (now $79), $25 off Fire HD 7 (now $114), $20 off [basic] Kindle (now $59) and $20 off Kindle Paperwhite (now $99). '

Amazon's new pages for gifting of Digital Content
There are now pages dedicated to
. gifting Prime Content and
. gifting Kindle books.
  The benefits that come with the gifting for the recipient are described in their statement from the holiday press release:

Customers can easily gift friends and family all the digital content they love.

Give the gift of Amazon Prime and customers automatically get access not only to
  fast, free Two-Day shipping on millions of items,
      but they can immediately start streaming
  tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes with Prime Instant Video,
  one million songs and
  hundreds of playlists with Prime Music,
  free unlimited Photo Storage with Cloud Drive,
  early access to select Lightning Deals and
  access to more than 700,000 books to borrow with the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.
Learn more and schedule your gift delivery at amazon.com/giftprime.

[The giftprime page clarifies that
    'If the recipient is already a Prime member, the gift can be exchanged for an Amazon.com Gift Card.
     The one-year gift membership does not automatically renew.' ]

Kindle books can be given as a gift to anyone with an email address, and
recipients can read a Kindle book gift on any compatible Fire or Kindle device, or free Kindle reading app.
Learn more at amazon.com/kindlegifting [which is actually Kindle book gifting].

Amazon Coins provide an easy way to give the gift of apps and games--simply choose the amount of Coins to gift, who[m] to gift them to and when to have them delivered.  Learn more at amazon.com/giftcoins.

And, in connection with Amazon Prime membership, Amazon's holiday week deals include the following in Amazon Prime Music, Amazon writes:

Prime members can also listen to a variety of popular holiday albums and songs on Prime Music without added cost, including the Christmas album from a cappella group Pentatonix--PTXmas (Deluxe Edition), Mariah Carey's fan-favorite and classic Merry Christmas album and the Christmas album from crooner Michael Bublé, among many more.

  Prime members can also explore a selection of hand-crafted holiday playlists on Prime Music including 50 Great Christmas Songs and Yule Love This as well as Prime Music Stations such as Holiday Classics, Holiday Favorites, Country Christmas and Relaxing Christmas for easy, ad-free holiday listening.

In addition, on [what's left of] December 25th, Amazon's Digital Music Store will offer top albums, including Ariana Grande--My Everything, Frozen (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Imagine Dragons--Night Visions, OneRepublic--Native [+digital booklet], Sam Smith--In The Lonely Hour, and more for $3.99 as part of the Digital Gold Box Daily Deal at amazon.com/gp/goldbox.

Since I didn't get the Christmas Day Prime Music apps listed before the day but there are still 3 hours left on the East Coast and 6 hours on the West Coast, I'll stop here and get this up for those who are still exploring with their new tablets or eReaders.