Last December 22, the Amazon software update for Kindle Fire went live after Amazon released due to a number of complaints from not so satisfied customers. The Kindle Fire software update was supposed to resolve the problems that customers reported after using their tablets like unresponsive screen, poor security, absence of an external volume control, and other performance based complaints. On the other hand, even if there are some significant differences after installing the update, still, the Kindle Fire seems to have the problems when it comes to its performance and the web browser is still not fast enough to satisfy its customers.
The update was supposed to improve fluidity and overall performance but it seems that the software only managed to improve touch screen navigation responsiveness, add password security on wi-fi access, and fix Carousel display options. One of the biggest problems of Kindle Fire is its overactive Carousel that continuously displays recently visited items right on the tablet’s home screen.
Before the update was introduced, the Carousel is overly sensitive and even a tiny swipe generates a response and most of it is unwanted. After the update is installed, a little swipe across the Carousel provides a now much slower move of just the first two items. This change is very much needed because most customers are complaining that instead of getting just the first two to three items, they have to deal with up to thirty recently used items. On the other hand, the Kindle Fire’s touch responsiveness is also quite uneven before the update was installed. Sometimes it reads taps as swipes or respond actively on unintentional bumps. There are times wherein it will not respond at all which is why customers have been complaining about this particular problem. The update was supposed to fix this but it seems that the software release only made a little difference. Swipes are sometimes totally ignored and repeated taps do not register as it should be.
However, the Kindle Fire software update did enhance the typing experience. The autocorrect in particular is now very active and can correct a lot of egregious errors. The dropdown quick settings menu can now be accessed anywhere where before it appears only as a black hole image for touch interaction. But when it comes to performance, the Kindle Fire only improved quite a bit after the update was released. Turning a page on an e-book is still a bit jerky and once it is turned, the screen pauses for awhile while waiting for it to load.
Overall, the update did some good improvements on Kindle Fire although it was not able to address most of its major issues. The next hope of Kindle Fire users will be the next update from Amazon and hopefully, this will help improve the overall performance of the tablet.
