Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

Messages - tsemple

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ... 20

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: PW4 battery: What's considered "normal"? Let's compare experiences.

« on: November 27, 2018, 03:43:29 pm »

Quote from: CS on November 19, 2018, 10:07:11 am

(The PW2, of course, never had a percentage indicator.)

PW2 should have one now, with the latest update. So a direct comparison should be possible if you still have both devices.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: PW Error Question

« on: November 23, 2018, 01:33:15 pm »

Quote from: Yvonne473 on November 23, 2018, 12:29:16 pm

I have a Paperwhite, which is I think first generation, and everytime I "swipe to unlock", I get an error box that says "Application Error" - The selected application could not be started. Please try again. Once I close the box, it's perfectly fine to read my books, but I'm wondering why this is happening. I've powered down and turned it back on, which helps for a little while but then it starts happening again. Anyone else have this?

(Of course I'm also trying to figure out if I should splurge on the new PW4 and I'm wondering if this error means my PW is on it's way out - yes, I'm rationalizing )

Mainly I read on my Voyage and I have several other options - Kindle Fire (several different ones), Kobo Glo, and Nook. So, the PW isn't a priority but the new one does look nice

It will not hurt to download the latest update for PW1 and apply it, if it is not already on that version (5.6.1.1).

I get Application Error every now and then; I think it has to do with Kindle Store needing a refresh. It does not mean anything is wrong with the Kindle.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: Anybody using Themes yet?

« on: November 16, 2018, 12:00:51 pm »

Quote from: Jane917 on November 15, 2018, 05:07:55 pm

How do I find themes?

You need a 6th generation or later Kindle (PW2 or later) with the latest software update (5.10.1.1 or 5.10.1.2, depending on model) to get this feature.

If your Kindle does not update automatically you can download it from here and manually update:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200529680

Apple devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod...) / Re: Favorite Apple Watch apps?

« on: November 14, 2018, 06:50:12 pm »

I like Shazam (now owned by Apple) Watch app. It can identify songs without having to pull out phone.

Night Sky is cool too if you are curious as to what you are seeing up there!

Fire Talk / Re: Continuous Scrolling!!!

« on: November 14, 2018, 06:44:26 pm »

I checked my Fire HD8 last night, downloaded all system and component updates, and I do not see this feature. Is it found somewhere other than on the Aa menu?

I like using it on my iPhone, wish you could still use Immersion Reading and Speak Screen. Footnotes do not pop up, but jump to footnote location, and they need better navigation (scroller on right side with markers for previous locations etc., if not some analog of Page View). And I wish it would just switch to Paged mode with books that have audiobook companions when you push Play icon instead of reminding you that ‘immersion reading not currently supported in Scrolling view’. So room for improvement.

Fire Phone has ‘auto scroll’ but it does not work very well, and of course there will be no updates.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Anybody using Themes yet?

« on: November 14, 2018, 06:28:16 pm »

I just started playing around with them. My initial take was negative, that they just made it harder to get to page settings etc.

But I have changed my mind:

you can have different font/margin/size options for Portrait and Landscape, which is something I have wanted for awhile because it is more correct typographically
I can have one with larger text for when I am on treadmill or w/o glasses
it is much easier to switch themes once you have them set up

I just wish one could pin a theme to a particular book so I can go from one book to another and have them look different and stay that way without having to switch themes.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: One week in with the new PW4. Question to those multi e-reader users.

« on: November 14, 2018, 06:12:03 pm »

I have switched from Voyage to PW4 as my primary eReader device. The Voyage is now my Foreign Language Studies device, where I try to improve my Russian and Spanish literacy. English on the PW4 for quick reference.

I think the Voyage display looks slightly better, but it is not enough to deter me from using PW4, which is very good, and I think I will use VoiceView more with PW4 since I don’t have to carry another wired headset around (I have Lightning headset, but adapters seemingly do not exist to plug that into female 3.5mm stereo jack).

I miss the automatic light adjustment some, but not the haptic page turn buttons. The thing I find disappointing about page turn buttons on Voyage (and I assume Oasis) is that they don’t do anything in contexts where they should do something (page through Kindle Store search results, scroll scrolling views, etc.). Things that Kindle Keyboard page turn buttons used to do.

I keep sending kindle-feedback suggestion to add Bluetooth keyboard profile so you can connect a keyboard and use that for navigation (at least page turns) and typing. But it must be a low priority.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: PW4 Features

« on: November 12, 2018, 02:12:19 pm »

Yes, I did not really think about the KU offer before ordering my PW4 but it is a tangible benefit for me, as I have been a subscriber since its inception. I do not necessarily get my money’s worth (not enough time to read) but at least it stops me from buying KU titles when they go on sale. You could even say that KU authors benefit from my NOT reading their books since I’m still paying in to the pool they get paid out of.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: PW4 Features

« on: November 12, 2018, 11:32:02 am »

Quote from: barryem on November 12, 2018, 09:40:04 am

I'm not sorry I got 32 gig but I don't really see any reason to have it. I could probably put my entire Amazon library in 8 gig but I don't see any reason to do that. It would just make it harder to find things. My guess is that i'll remove a lot of the books I've put on this thing just for that reason.

I have the 32 gig WiFi only model. I definitely don’t need the storage as things stand, but it did not cost that much more and I have some hope that Amazon will get around to implementing immersion reading at some point (even if it just turns pages and does not highlight text/sentences). At that point it will be helpful for audiobook storage.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: Glare issues

« on: November 09, 2018, 05:31:37 pm »

Folks, you should be using Reading Gloves if fingerprints bother you.

Flush screens are much easier to clean off, in any case.

Apple devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod...) / Re: Favorite Apple Watch apps?

« on: November 09, 2018, 05:00:18 pm »

Quote from: Betsy the Quilter on October 16, 2018, 06:33:43 am

Hey, splitting this out from the general Apple Watch thread to make it easier to find talk about apps.

I learned about Pedometer++ from the Apple Watch thread and love it--it's exactly what I've been looking for as now my steps/mileage show directly on the watch face! Thanks y'all!

I also love the Strong app for working out at the gym. I set up a routine on my phone, send it to the watch and then can log it from the watch.

Betsy

Workout app does not measure steps, but at least for me that is not important. Distance, time, calories, heart rate are all there. And you do not have to set up anything from your phone.

If you launch Activity app it will show Steps, Miles etc. So I do not see much need for Pedometer.

Apple devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod...) / Re: Apple Watch

« on: November 09, 2018, 04:53:15 pm »

Quote from: Betsy the Quilter on October 19, 2018, 05:47:33 pm

That's cool. Though I think I would still prefer to use the phone for Audible...I'll have to play around with it.

Betsy

I cannot get it to sync to watch reliably(*), and when that works, it takes a long time to copy it over (3 or 4 minutes per hour of audio). It says it will be faster if Watch is on charging dock, which mostly seems to mean it does not sync at all if it isn’t (some sort of limitation of WatchOS?). But it is great to go for a walk or run and leave the phone behind (I used to carry it in a waist belt).

They finally fixed the bug where playing Audible content from phone would launch Audible app on Watch, which ironically prevented one from controlling playback on the phone (had to manually switch to the Watch’s media player). Ideally the Watch app could control both onboard content and content playing back on the phone (with the additional controls for speed, chapter navigation etc.). My podcast app’s Watch app does this.

(*) I think I know why: Watch cannot connect to corporate ‘secure’ WiFi as devices have to be individually authorized to do so. Have to drop off secure WiFi and connect to WiFi where phone can share the credentials with Watch. Not going to be a problem for most folks, though. For some reason sync does not use Bluetooth, which seems like it would be a good fallback even if it is slower.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: PW4 Features

« on: November 07, 2018, 08:42:32 pm »

Quote from: CS on November 07, 2018, 01:41:51 pm

I'm looking forward to testing the white text on a black background feature, even though I'm guessing it will be a half-baked gimmick that slows everything down.

It will not slow anything down. It is refreshing the same number of pixels either way, and appears to be something the CPU/GPU is designed to do in microcode (as opposed to application code).

Can someone do a side by side performance test with previous Paperwhite or Voyage? Is anything faster? According to Wikipedia Oasis 9th gen has a slightly faster CPU and maybe it is dual core instead of single core. I am guessing the new Paperwhite has the same one, since it is the only other Kindle that does the Invert White and Black thing.

Mine has been delivered but it will be a couple of days before I am where it is.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: PW4 Features

« on: November 07, 2018, 08:36:22 pm »

Quote from: Ann in Arlington on November 07, 2018, 12:48:54 pm

These are in no particular order, just things I'm noticing as I set up.

1. When it came to set the time, there was a notation that the device would get the time from the local wifi network. So that's new -- and something folks have asked for, though it's fairly minor. That said, mine was on pacific time when it arrived . . . . I'll leave it alone and see if it fixes itself.

Kindle does not have a Time Zone setting, so when you say Pacific time, I assume you mean the time it would show if I lived in Pacific time zone. Seems to me if Kindle asks the WiFi network what the local time is, and your network was never told what time zone it was in, then that might be why Kindle is not showing correct time. I cannot remember the last time I got into my router settings to check any of this, myself.

That said, I reset my Voyage recently, and the time was correct then (do not remember it notifying me about any time thing), but it has not subsequently self-adjusted to Standard time. I do not remember needing to adjust it before, or maybe just never noticed it was wrong. Seems like a bug, maybe that is what they are trying to fix with the notification, etc.

Quote

4. Device Options menu: no real difference -- still waiting for the time to update. Going to advanced options, there's a setting on the new PW called Power Saver. I suspect it acts similarly to the Oasis where it goes to deep sleep when not used for a while, which means it takes a bit longer when first waking up.

That does seem new.

Quote

6. Reading Options/Highlights & About This Book: There is no option to toggle public notes on or off. The popular highlights "feature" is still there . . I've turned it off. (I think this menu changed after the update, but I can't be sure; I didn't look at it long.)

Public Notes really does not exist any longer - there is no way to Follow or un-Follow anyone on Kindle since the redesign of kindle.amazon.com. It was a cool idea but not very usable, no need to keep a setting for it. But I would like to see them wire up a similar feature to Goodreads so that notes and highlights from people you follow there show up as you read the book. I think that would actually get used, and be a lot of fun.

**Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: A font offering for Kindle owners...*this one is AWESOME**

« on: November 07, 2018, 08:04:18 pm »

It would be fun if reading apps had a ‘typewriter mode’, where each page starts out blank, and the text gets ‘typed out’ with some sound effects, as if you are peering over the shoulder of the author as they write the book.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: KindleWatch is ON!

« on: November 07, 2018, 08:00:25 pm »

Quote from: mom2karen on November 07, 2018, 05:47:01 pm

Mine is here. I can't get it to connect by bluetooth to my portable speaker. It's not finding any bluetooth devices (including my cell phone).

Speaker needs to be put in pairing mode first of course. I don’t think you can pair to a phone, for audio, destination needs to be a ‘slave’ (speaker or headset) for Kindle.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: Software update for newer Kindles (5.10.1) - UPDATED THREAD 10/18/18

« on: October 25, 2018, 05:39:59 pm »

Quote from: Ann in Arlington on October 25, 2018, 06:16:06 am

So she did . . . . but that was before my Voyage had actually updated so it didn't register. AND, I had both 'before' and 'after' available for direct comparison, so thought that might be helpful for some.

On Voyage you can use page turn button to go to Library view from new Home page. But swipe right to left no longer does that.

One thing I wish they would do is to make page turn buttons work everywhere instead of just here and there (functioning as page down/up on scrolling views, including Kindle Store listings, browser etc.). But they seem to have forgotten how they used to work on non touch screen Kindles.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: New Paperwhite release date November 7th

« on: October 22, 2018, 07:53:45 pm »

Quote from: Brownskins on October 19, 2018, 09:40:11 pm

I was able to pair (only with jabra since it doesnt pair with powerbeats) but now it looks like the only option is to read a word at a time. how does it read a page?

It will help to go through the VoiceView tutorial a couple of times, or if you have not used it for awhile. I think you need to ‘swipe down with two fingers held together’ to resume continuous reading, else it will just read what you touch.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: Software update for newer Kindles (5.10.1 - UPDATED THREAD 10/18/18

« on: October 22, 2018, 07:42:59 pm »

Apologies if I complained about it here before but I don’t like it that it takes more taps to get to some things in reading mode, because of the way the Page Display takes over what used to be the reading options toolbar. So now extra tapping to get to:
- page options
- X-ray
- sharing

I doubt I will be switching themes more often than doing at least those first two things, so to me it is a regression. I would have gone the other way: made everything in the toolbar an icon, and add one to access Notes directly: more or less what is done on smartphone UI. But I get why some people might be put off by more extensive use of icons. Maybe there is room for expert mode UI that you have to turn on in Settings and then you get the more efficient navigation.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: Software update for newer Kindles (5.10.1 - UPDATED THREAD 10/18/18

« on: October 22, 2018, 07:15:53 pm »

Quote from: Gone 9/21/18 on September 08, 2018, 04:47:41 pm

Just reading about the updated ability to return borrowed books didn't excite me enough to manually update, but my Oasis has updated itself, and wow, I really do like it. Mine is returning both KU and library borrows at a touch, well 2 touches. I've often felt guilty about not returning library books when I'm done and there was a long waiting list, but it was just too much bother, so most of the time I'd forget to do it and let the 3 weeks run out even though I read the book within a day or two of borrowing it. I could do without the stupid letter, which I have to delete, saying it's done what I told it to do and had to confirm at the time, but it's still great.

Ability to return from library and KU was in the previous update, this one added ability to return Prime Lending Library (or KOLL) as well, I take it. If you have KU you can borrow anything in KOLL or PLL as part of KU (or you might think you are unable to use your KOLL or PLL benefits if you are a glass half empty person), so it does not really add anything that was not there before. Wish they would add library return to the iOS/Android Kindle apps, still have to use Amazon app to do it (or web browser), but at least KU returns are in app now.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: Software update for newer Kindles (5.10.1 - UPDATED THREAD 10/18/18

« on: October 22, 2018, 07:00:31 pm »

Quote from: Mike D. aka jmiked on October 21, 2018, 05:51:56 am

I’ll bet the update still won’t have the ability to automatically set the time on WiFi models.

When you go through first use and connect WiFi for the first time, it sets the time display automatically. Usually that is correct and reasonable and you only need to change it if you move to another time zone. It is just display time: the time you want to see when the UI shows you what time it is. Note that Kindle never displays what day it is. It is just like simple watches people used to wear, it just tracks time of day, and you can set it to whatever you want.

My wife, for example, likes to set our house clocks 10 minutes ahead as slack time to fool her System 1 self (in Thinking Fast and Slow Daniel Kahneman’s terms) into thinking she is running late for an appointment so that she’ll be more likely to get there on time. I’m sure there are people who get lost in reading use the same trick. And people who are annoyed that Kindle even displays the time in the first place, because they want to lose track of time entirely.

Under the hood Kindle knows what time it is (unless battery discharges perhaps), and every time it connects to internet it synchronizes with real time. Else Whispersync would not work correctly. But why add complexity, ask you what time zone you are in, add location services and get your permission etc.? It is not a smartphone.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: Got a white basic Kindle on Prime Day and it is surprisingly nice.

« on: October 19, 2018, 01:37:43 pm »

I have a white basic and it is a sweet device. You cannot have too many Kindles.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: Buy 2nd hand Kindle Voyage or Kindle PaperWhite 4

« on: October 19, 2018, 01:36:15 pm »

Quote from: Eltanin Publishing on October 19, 2018, 05:41:09 am

What software things does the new PW have that the Voyage doesn't?

- Waterproof
- Invert Black and White (accessibility feature) — this is enabled by hardware, so I think this means the processor is the same as Oasis and may be a little faster
- more storage 8 or 32 vs only 4 on Voyage
- Bluetooth, can play Audible audiobooks and do VoiceView (Voyage does VoiceView with USB audio converter but not Audible)

You could buy both. I just did! Not sure I’ll keep the refurb Voyage, though — already had one.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: New Paperwhite release date November 7th

« on: October 19, 2018, 01:27:59 pm »

Quote from: Brownskins on October 19, 2018, 09:21:46 am

While i do have BT earphones, I only use them for music, so I haven't tried the new voice view. Is it better than the old TTS (as it relates to the computerized male/female narrator)?

It is definitely better than the TTS earlier Kindles had, but there is only one voice (female American English, more or less the same as Alexa). I would like it if other voices could be installed as you can on Fire tablet, especially on this
since it has ample storage.

Let's Talk Kindle! / Re: New Paperwhite release date November 7th

« on: October 18, 2018, 12:10:03 am »

It is the size of the collection that affects performance, not the number of books on-device. Adding to a collection with 4 items is instantaneous on my Voyage, adding or removing to a collection with 400 items takes about 8 seconds, but adding or removing to a collection with 1000 items takes about 16 seconds. Sort of looks like approximately linear (time proportional to number of items), which I think is not theoretically optimal even if we assume Kindle has unusually stringent constraints on system resources, but it could be worse.

On my phone adding and removing is instantaneous whatever the collection size.

My guess is that it is feasible to significantly improve collection performance, but Amazon chooses to spend development resources elsewhere. I would also guess that most Kindle users never even use collections, and the share of those with large collections is minuscule (either because it takes too much effort to create them, or because they do not scale up well, or do not meet user requirements).

I would welcome some form of auto collections: assume any book still at start position is Unread, any book where I get to Before You Go is Finished, and anything in between is Started (but allow manual override of reading status, including to None). Treat book series like magazine subscriptions, i.e. if you have more than one of the books downloaded, they appear in a Series folder when sorting by Recent or Title, and if you have more than one book by a given author they appear in an Author folder when sorting by Author (possibly with sub folders for Series). Or something like that.

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ... 20