The Kindles now have a Summary tool to quickly update you on the progress of the story.
Do you remember the "Previously on this show" section in streaming services? Now, a similar feature called Summaries is coming to Kindle books.
Amazon has decided to incorporate elements of its programs available on the Prime Video streaming platform into its Kindle devices. This new feature, called Recaps, allows readers to have a brief summary of the story's progress and character development in the books they are reading. It is similar to the "Previously on..." segment shown at the beginning of each episode of a series, but in text format for digital books.
Currently, this feature is available for e-books in English and for users in the United States, covering both purchased and borrowed copies. However, its rollout is gradual and may take several weeks to implement through a software update. At this moment, the functionality is limited to Kindle devices, although its expansion to the dedicated app on iOS is anticipated.
For books with summaries, there will be a specific “View Summaries” button on the series overview page in the library, or within the three-dot menu on each title's list.
Amazon claims that by introducing this new convenience in reading series, the Recaps feature allows readers to delve deeper into complex worlds and characters without losing the excitement of discovery, maintaining an uninterrupted reading experience across all genres. If the update has not yet been received, instructions for manually installing the latest version can be found on Amazon's support page. This version, v5.18.1, is currently available for 10th, 11th, and 12th generation Kindle Paperwhite devices, as well as for 10th and 11th generation basic Kindles and the 10th generation Kindle Oasis.
Interestingly, Amazon uses a combination of artificial intelligence and human effort to generate these summaries. The company assured that the summaries will accurately reflect the content of the books, which poses a challenge given the known hallucination issues of AI. Additionally, Kindle readers have also received a new page-turning feature, and regarding artificial intelligence, a tool called Nova Act has been introduced that autonomously performs tasks in browsers, such as ordering food or booking appointments. On the other hand, the new Alexa+ assistant has had a slow start, with multiple features missing during its initial testing.
