Kindle Functionality Update 3.0

With the release of the new "3.0" updates to the current Kindle Fire line, as well as those to the 1st Generation Fire (6.3.2) and the Paperwhite (5.3.4) earlier this month, it was time for a new round of functionality testing.




This brings all of the primary Kindle devices into the 3.x operating system, and enhances, repairs, or alters many of their features. And it turns out to have some fairly significant changes, although as always, they are far from ideally implemented, for a variety of reasons.




So for the past two days my Kindle lineup has been undergoing a battery of tests using a series of fifteen different files created solely for the purpose of creating a carefully controlled set of variables in different combinations:



The three book-type values
The presence or absence of Region Magnification
The presence or absence of a Navigation document
The inclusion of an HTML cover file
The use of the "layout-blank" Spine property


This last one is a whole new issue that has grown more convoluted with each update since its introduction, and I have added a new section in the Kindle Fixed-Layout Functionality table just to deal with it. In fact, the entire chart has been thoroughly updated to accurately represent the current state of these issues. I have added a whole new series of footnotes to the table, and a new and fairly lengthy update at the bottom of the commentary section, so be sure to read that for a complete breakdown of what's been done in these updates. Here I'll just give a quick rundown of the major changes made. First, to the Functionality chart itself, I have:



Updated virtually every section of the table and at least a few features of each device.
Added half a dozen footnotes to the table, bringing the total to 14.
Added commentary updates to sections 1. Virtual Panels, 6. HTML Cover Doubling, 7. TOC Menu Link, 10. Hyperlinks, and the new section 11. Layout-Blank.
Deleted the Cover Image Access data, as this issue has been resolved in all instances.
Deleted the Font Embedding section, as this is not an issue.
Replaced it with the "Layout-Blank" section, which deals with the issue of the "layout-blank" Spine property value rendering pages completely absent in some instances, or always visible in others, neither or which are correct.
Removed the bold styling from all the table entries, as it is getting too difficult in many cases to tell which ones should be emphasized.
Deleted some of the commentary content that is no longer relevant, such as that relating to the resolved cover issue and the Kindle3, which is no longer included on the chart (although it is still being tested, and that data is included in the ebook Appendix table).
Added a nice little picture at the bottom of the post showing my eBook Test Facility.


And among the major changes to the Kindle format itself, some of the main ones are:

Table of Contents menu link has been restored on the Paperwhite.
The inability to access pages with no Spine property value via backwards swiping has been resolved.
New menu options for Animation and Fit To Screen are available on the Paperwhite when Virtual Panels are active and the "comic" book-type is chosen.
Cover doubling issue now effects the entire Kindle line when there is no NAV doc present, with the sole exception of the Kindle 3 Keyboard model.
Virtual Panels now function on the HD8.9, but with the same conditions as the Gen2 Fire, and now the HD7 as well.
Images now only magnify up to their actual size, and do not shrink below the display size, when using Pinch & Zoom with Virtual Panels (this may have been the case before, but I've only just now noticed it, since Virtual Panels works in so few cases).
MagRegions on pages that contain text layers are now completely broken in the Paperwhite with the "comic" book-type value. And the image centering issue has still not been fixed.
Bookmarks have been disabled in comics on the Android app.
2-page spreads no longer appear on the HD8.9 with the "children" book-type chosen (which is utterly inexcusable in my opinion).
And, as it turns out, both internal and external hyperlinks are actually still non-functional on the 2nd Gen and HD Fire devices where the "comic" book-type is entered and there is no RegionMag code present in the publication. So the issue is not completely fixed.


For more details on these, and several other issues related to these latest updates, see the table and its associated commentary. And please let me know if you find any discrepancies, as this one was a real bugger to work out without going completely mad.