Your Kindle Just Got A Cool New Feature In June 2026

Amazon may have upset consumers recently by ending software support for several old Kindle models, which could limit core functionality on those e-readers, but the company also has good news for its Kindle users. Amazon rolled out a new feature that users who read multiple books at a time may appreciate. Called Story So Far, and announced in late September 2025, the feature lets users catch up on what they have already read in a book after a long break. The feature uses AI to generate limited summaries based on the user's progress with a title, and can be useful for enhancing the reading experience.

In addition to Story So Far, supported Kindle models also offer a Recaps feature that lets users catch up with events that happened in previous books in a series, and an Ask This Book feature that lets readers ask questions about a book. The Recaps feature rolled out to U.S.-based users in April 2025 for thousands of Kindle titles. The Ask This Book feature was unveiled alongside Story So Far in September 2025, with Ask This Book rolling out to the Kindle iOS app in December 2025.

Usefulness aside, these AI features are also somewhat controversial. The Authors Guild raised concerns about the Ask This Book feature in late December 2025, pointing out there was no way for publishers and authors to opt in or out. Amazon explained to the Guild that the Ask This Book feature is not used to train the AI model or retain the content. Amazon also said it's using a dedicated AI model for the feature. However, the Guild also said that the new Ask This Book feature is not licensed and doesn't bring new income for authors.

The Recaps feature is available for purchased and borrowed titles, according to Amazon. To find the feature, you'll need a Kindle reader updated to the latest operating system version, or the Kindle app for iPhone and iPad. Users will have to look for the View Recaps button to use the summarization feature when reading a series of books. The button is found in the three-dot menu for a book-series group on Kindle devices. It can also appear in the Kindle Library. If you're reading Kindle books on iPhone and iPad, you'll find the button by pressing and holding the group of books that make up a series.

The Story So Far feature is part of the Recaps functionality, allowing users to get recaps for the current story up to the page they're on. Pressing and holding a book title in the Kindle Library will show a Read Recap button, if the title supports the feature. There, you can select the Story So Far button. Amazon also explains that the three-dot menu available in the book will also include a Story So Far option.

Finally, users can highlight a passage in a book and use the Ask This Book feature to obtain information about a plot point, a character, or the book overall. Amazon describes the feature as a reading assistant available directly inside the book you're reading. Ask This Book is only available on iOS via the Kindle app, but Amazon plans to expand it to Kindle readers and Android devices. That said, Amazon has rolled out these AI features only in the U.S., so international readers won't be able to use them.

You don't need to buy a new Kindle to take advantage of these reading-assistance tools that Amazon made available. Software update 5.19.4.0.1 (or later) should enable the features in the U.S. on Kindle e-readers. If you're using the Kindle iOS app on the iPhone or iPad, you should update it to the latest version. Users who don't own Amazon e-readers, or consumers who have stopped using Kindle readers recently, can take advantage of similar AI-powered features on competing platforms.

For example, Google launched a new Book Insights feature in early June for the Google Play Books app, which now offers a "Catch me up" feature similar to Story So Far, as well as support for asking questions about the story and characters. Spotify launched a beta version of Audiobook Recaps in November 2025 that allows listeners to catch up on the story so far.

Finally, Kobo announced plans to launch an AI-powered recap feature for its Kobo App. Unlike Amazon, Kobo offered a few additional details about how the feature will work, saying that the AI will not use the recap data for training an AI model, and the short 150-word recaps will not be saved permanently. Also, the recaps will be visible only to the reader. Kobo also noted that any AI recap and summary features will come with opt-out options for authors. Kobo last updated an FAQ document on the matter in April 2026, without providing a release date for these AI-powered features.