Kindle Scribe Update Adds New Brushes and Better Organization Options

Amazon recently released an update for their Kindle Scribe note-taking tablet, adding new brushes and improved organization features. Furthermore, they promise regular free software upgrades for the device.

The Kindle Scribe is a promising tablet for notetaking and sketching, but it still lacks some key features. Notably, handwriting-to-text support remains lacking.

1. New Brushes

Amazon's flagship 10+ inch e-reader and digital notebook with pen support, the Kindle Scribe. It boasts a stunning 300 ppi glare-free screen that's larger than most e-readers - making it easier to hold in one hand and providing better text visibility.

The Scribe's main selling point is its ability to take notes and create sticky notes in digital books, which can be invaluable for writers or students who need to document their reading. Unfortunately, the Kindle Scribe's software experience isn't particularly robust; other paper tablets such as ReMarkable 2 offer more robust tools, a wider variety of brush types, and text copy/paste capabilities.

Unfortunately, the Kindle Scribe is an impressive device and would be worthwhile if it could resolve its most important issues:

1. Lack of Handwriting Recognition

Kindle Scribe, released last November, still needs improvement when it comes to handwriting recognition. While it offers various brush types and an on-screen menu for editing, the experience feels somewhat clunky. Typing notes onto an external keyboard helps solve this problem; however, that's not as convenient or intuitive as using a mouse or touchscreen instead.

2. Inability to write directly on PDFs and Word documents

The two biggest complaints with the Kindle Scribe are its inability to write directly onto PDFs or Word documents, two features few will use. That's why I'm delighted that its next update will bring some improvements - such as typing your scrawl into typed text!

3. Copy and Paste Texts

In the coming months, the Kindle Scribe will finally get a feature that has been long in development: copying and pasting text from another app. This is hugely advantageous as other devices already offer this capability, potentially opening up more note-taking possibilities for Kindle Scribe users.

2. Subfolders

Amazon's Kindle Scribe wasn't perfect when it launched in 2022, but the company has taken steps to remedy its shortcomings. One such measure is adding regular software updates to the device - starting with this latest one which introduces new brush types and improved organization capabilities.

No doubt, the Kindle Scribe is an innovative device with great potential to revolutionize e-reader writing. However, it lacks notetaking functionality such as tags for organization of notes written, optical character recognition (OCR) to convert handwritten text into editable text, or direct access to files on cloud storage services like Dropbox or Google Drive.

With the Kindle Scribe update, you can create subfolders within your notebooks to help stay organized. Simply tap a folder and then click "+," or you can move subfolders within folders by tapping the three-dot contextual menu when viewing a folder or subfolder, selecting "move," and dropping it somewhere new.

Another new feature added with the Kindle Scribe update is improved page navigation. This allows you to quickly jump to pages inside your notebooks without having to flip through the entire composition - simply type in the page number you'd like to access and you'll be taken directly there.

Functionally speaking, these upgrades are an improvement for the Kindle Scribe. However, they don't provide a perfect solution to all the issues people were experiencing with the device when it first released.

The primary limitation of the Kindle Scribe is its inability to convert handwriting into typed text - something other devices do well. This can be especially frustrating for those who take long-form notes instead of just short summaries or bullet points.

Another noteworthy feature is the addition of direct writing capabilities on PDF documents imported through Send to Kindle. Previously, this was only supported for sideloaded PDFs; now, sent PDFs can also be written on.

3. Go to Page

Amazon's first E Ink tablet with a pressure-sensitive pen for writing and notetaking was released in November, featuring the same E Ink display as other Kindle devices such as the Kindle Paperwhite and Oasis.

The Scribe is an impressive piece of hardware for its price point, boasting a large 10.2-inch screen, pressure-sensitive pen and full keyboard with dedicated arrow key. Furthermore, you have access to Amazon Kindle library and services like Kindle Unlimited. However, there are some major drawbacks that should be addressed before purchase.

One major drawback with Scribe is its lack of handwriting-to-text capability, which many competing devices offer. This feature is especially essential when taking long form notes which typically end up as text files instead of books or Word documents.

Organization and management of notes with the Scribe can be a real pain, since it doesn't allow exporting individual pages from notebooks or inserting new ones between existing ones. This glaring omission in today's digital notebook era has to be addressed, so we're delighted that Amazon Kindle Scribe has made some improvements on this front.

Now, Kindle Scribe has received an update that brings several new features to the device that will enhance users' experience even further. In addition to a brand-new brush type, users will gain improved page navigation and folder organization with this update.

New Brushes:

The Kindle Scribe has added five-thick fountain pen, marker and pencil brushes with pressure and tilt capabilities to its writing toolbar. These new types of brushes will be available in notebooks, sticky notes and anywhere else you can write on a Kindle Scribe.

Enhancements to Folders: Kindle Scribe now features subfolders, which are folders within folders for categorizing and storing your notes. These features will be accessible to all Kindle Scribe users today by tapping the plus sign on top of a folder.

Go To Page in Notebook:

Finally, the Kindle Scribe update has added a "Go to Page" feature that takes you directly to any notebook page when opened. Unfortunately, this feature can be difficult to use so we recommend only using it when necessary.

4. Customization

Amazon recently released an update for their Kindle Scribe digital notebook that brings new brushes and improved organization features. This should make this tablet even more useful when taking notes or annotating documents.

The major changes to Kindle Scribe include three new brush types: fountain pen, marker and pencil. Each comes with five thickness options and can be used in various situations. Furthermore, these new bristles will offer enhanced pressure and tilt capabilities for a more natural writing or sketching experience.

Other new features include improved page navigation, which lets you quickly jump to any page in your Kindle Scribe notebook by typing in the page number. This makes note taking much more efficient, especially if working with large amounts of documents.

Storage management has also been enhanced in the Kindle Scribe update, offering users the option to manually delete items from internal memory or offload them to the cloud. Though this feature may not be available across all devices, it's an effective way to clear out outdated files you no longer require.

In order to use this functionality, you'll need to set up a password and email address. After doing so, you can access the storage management feature from within the settings menu.

It's an intuitive feature designed to organize notes and notebooks, making it ideal for users who struggle with managing their device space. Plus, with the Quick Archive icon, you can even delete older files quickly!

If you haven't used your Kindle Scribe in some time, the app may prompt you to automatically delete older files and upload them to the cloud. Not only will this free up space on your device, but you also have control over when this deletion will take place - such as 3, 6, 9 or 12 months.

Though there are still some shortcomings with the Kindle Scribe, its new brushes and improved organization features should make it more useful for note taking and annotating. Nonetheless, the device still has a ways to go before it can fully replace some of the more established E Ink tablets on the market.