[Ann in Arlington]

Hopefully someone with more knowledge than I will weigh in, but I thought that's more or less what choosing the "Kindle Cloud Reader" option does? I have never used the Cloud Reader, did not register it to my account, it just became one of the download options a few years ago.

Wouldn't downloading with that option automatically put it in Manage Your Content and Devices to then you can send it to whatever specific device you want at some future time? In effect, downloading it to your Amazon account/Cloud but not to any device.

That's how I understand it, though, like you, I don't really use it. I just send it to my default kindle. Haven't had any problems. I'm generally on my home wifi. I wonder if it makes a difference if you're on a public/unprotected wifi network or trying to download via the cell network.

 

[CS]

Hopefully someone with more knowledge than I will weigh in, but I thought that's more or less what choosing the "Kindle Cloud Reader" option does? I have never used the Cloud Reader, did not register it to my account, it just became one of the download options a few years ago.

Wouldn't downloading with that option automatically put it in Manage Your Content and Devices to then you can send it to whatever specific device you want at some future time? In effect, downloading it to your Amazon account/Cloud but not to any device.

You're right about that, crebel but I've always wondered if Cloud Reader counts as one of the 5-6 device limit slots. Does anybody know?

That's how I understand it, though, like you, I don't really use it. I just send it to my default kindle. Haven't had any problems. I'm generally on my home wifi. I wonder if it makes a difference if you're on a public/unprotected wifi network or trying to download via the cell network.

I use home wi-fi so that definitely isn't the issue for me.

One thing I've noticed though is that the wi-fi on my Kindle will sort of shut off if it goes into sleep mode, only to start back up again once I wake it up. Is this a drawback of the newer deeper sleep function Kindles have now? Wondering if I should disable that.

 

[Ann in Arlington]

One thing I've noticed though is that the wi-fi on my Kindle will sort of shut off if it goes into sleep mode, only to start back up again once I wake it up. Is this a drawback of the newer deeper sleep function Kindles have now? Wondering if I should disable that.

I've seen similar behavior. I wouldn't have described it as wifi shutting off, exactly, but I do notice -- mostly with my Oasis which I generally only use for an hour or so before bed at night -- that when I wake it up, it will take a few seconds to D/L anything new from the day. It's actually my 'default' device (mostly because it's first alphabetically and I can't make anything else stick : ) so if I buy or borrow something during the day, it DEFINITELY gets sent there. When I turn it on, the first thing that happens is new material shows up. So, I guess it could be that wifi is OFF all day, so when turned on, the first thing it does is turn wifi ON and call for any changes/new content and take care of that straight away.

I don't notice it as much with the PW, probably because it rarely goes so deeply asleep during the day. But I've noticed similar behavior if, say, a pre-order arrives overnight. It's not precisely THERE on wake up, but shows up immediately after.

 

[Linjeakel]

I've seen similar behavior. I wouldn't have described it as wifi shutting off, exactly.......

Updates download and install overnight sometimes, so the wi-fi can't be completely disabled when the device is in sleep mode.

But it's true that books sent to the device don't seem to download right away unless you wake it up - so clearly the function is limited in sleep mode.

Maybe it just doesn't 'phone home' as often in sleep mode as it does while it's awake?

 

[Paperbackstash]

I've had this problem for over a year with my PW4. I first made a thread about it on another forum in February 2019. Others chimed in that some shared the issue. It randomly starts working again, but then does not hold. It's frustrating for sure, but from what I've seen others go through to try to fix, and my lack of luck myself, there's not much that can be done for this bug. It seems to strike randomly to different people for no reason.

 

[John Hopper]

I've had this problem for over a year with my PW4. I first made a thread about it on another forum in February 2019. Others chimed in that some shared the issue. It randomly starts working again, but then does not hold. It's frustrating for sure, but from what I've seen others go through to try to fix, and my lack of luck myself, there's not much that can be done for this bug. It seems to strike randomly to different people for no reason.

This is my situation also. I have had this problem intermittently since autumn 2017, more often not working than working. I've had a few different kindles in that time and on each of them, it initially works for a time, then stops working most of the time, with occasional periods of working as it should. I've stopped caring too much about it.

Sent from my SM-N976B using Tapatalk

 

[Paperbackstash]

This is my situation also. I have had this problem intermittently since autumn 2017, more often not working than working. I've had a few different kindles in that time and on each of them, it initially works for a time, then stops working most of the time, with occasional periods of working as it should. I've stopped caring too much about it.

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It does still bother me when it interferes with my life/reading time - which it sometimes does, but I have given up mainly solving the bug. It does seem to help if I leave the Wi-Fi on awhile before downloading, at times.

Really I'm just ready for another paperwhite to be released. It will probably be years from now, and I find it discouraging. I was excited about the PW4 but find I like the PW3's screen clarity much better, and keep getting weird bugs. I have kept it since it's waterproof, which I needed. I do think Amazon can do better, however. I never invested in an Oasis because of the price difference and I didn't like the shape. I can't stand the thought of just having this PW4 for years more, though. All my amazon devices have become buggy, so I'm not sure if it's software update issues or less quality with build design anymore.

 

[CS]

It happened again last night. Wouldn't push out a free book I "bought." However, it did finally push out the April 2020 update, so that was at least an encouraging sign. (Never mind that we're almost in July, and I only now got the update!)

John Hopper and Paperbackstash, does your Paperwhite 4 have the latest update?

My latest working theory is that our Kindles have been trying to push this update out for the past few months while also trying to push our books out, and both somehow fail, causing this issue. Total wild guess, but it makes sense.

It does seem to help if I leave the Wi-Fi on awhile before downloading, at times.

How do you leave wi-fi on without having the device attempt to automatically download books? Isn't the "sync Kindle" button the only way to turn on wi-fi?

Really I'm just ready for another paperwhite to be released. It will probably be years from now, and I find it discouraging. I was excited about the PW4 but find I like the PW3's screen clarity much better, and keep getting weird bugs. I have kept it since it's waterproof, which I needed. I do think Amazon can do better, however. I never invested in an Oasis because of the price difference and I didn't like the shape. I can't stand the thought of just having this PW4 for years more, though. All my amazon devices have become buggy, so I'm not sure if it's software update issues or less quality with build design anymore.

I feel the same way. I should've listened to my gut instinct not to get a PW4 (I had a PW2 and the battery was getting a bit long in the tooth but was mostly fine otherwise). I like the PW4 when it works, but it drives me up a wall when it's buggy.

Either way, I definitely won't get the PW5 at launch. I'll wait a few months so I don't get a launch unit and I'll wait for a sale.

I would've gotten an Oasis a long time ago, even though I don't think it's worth the cost, but I hear it has terrible battery issues (at least the Oasis 2).

I do think Amazon can do better

The problem is, without competition, they never will.

That's why the Nook was so good to have around - it forced Amazon to raise its game. Now that Amazon has a monopoly on the market, there's no motivation to innovate.

I'm aware of Kobo, etc., but that has such a minuscule share of the market - at least in the U.S.

 

[John Hopper]

"John Hopper and Paperbackstash, does your Paperwhite 4 have the latest update? "

Mine is the Oasis 3 and yes, it does have the latest update. On your latter point, the battery life is worse than the PW4's, but slightly better than the Oasis 2's. It's a brilliant reading device overall, though.


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[gdae23]

I'm having the problem too, with books and with my daily newspaper. Like several of you have mentioned, the problem has been intermittent over the last few years. At some point, out if the blue, it will suddenly start to work correctly again. I'm speculating it's going on longer this time because of pandemic related staffing or workload issues and priorities, but that's just a guess.

 

[gdae23]

My newspaper has now started downloading automatically again. (Hope I didn't jinx myself by writing that...) I haven't bought any books in the last few days so I don't know if that's working.

I did have to call Amazon about an unrelated problem a few days ago, and the rep mentioned there was some kind of computer glitch around June 14th. I can't remember now if that's when the issue started for me this time.

 

[CS]

I'm still experiencing this glitch with books not automatically downloading.

I can go into the cloud and manually download them, and I've resigned myself to doing that - I just wish I knew if this was a hardware issue or some kind of server issue on Amazon's end.

My phone and tablet apps are fine, but that is obviously apples and oranges compared to a Paperwhite or any other e-ink Kindle.

 

[John Hopper]

Mine actually worked normally for a book I bought yesterday. And the previous day I noticed that some book updates downloaded spontaneously as well.

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[barryem]

I haven't been using my Kindles much lately since I've been reading on my phone so I thought I'd give this a try.  I sent a book from my Content and Devices page to my Paperwhite, latest version with the most recent firmware and then looked down at the Kindle to sync it but the book was already downloading.  Instead of syncing it I waited and it downloaded.  I keep this kindle by my computer just for checking out books I might want to read next.  I don't recall having any problems downloading books but most of the time I initiate the download from the device itself.  I don't remember if I've initiated any from Amazon's end recently until just now.

My guess is there's not much useful information there but it's what I have.

Barry

 

[Paperbackstash]

It happened again last night. Wouldn't push out a free book I "bought." However, it did finally push out the April 2020 update, so that was at least an encouraging sign. (Never mind that we're almost in July, and I only now got the update!)

John Hopper and Paperbackstash, does your Paperwhite 4 have the latest update?

Yes, I keep mine updated.

I ended up ordering an Oasis last week and switching to that. Enjoying it so far

 

[Paperbackstash]

I haven't been using my Kindles much lately since I've been reading on my phone so I thought I'd give this a try. I sent a book from my Content and Devices page to my Paperwhite, latest version with the most recent firmware and then looked down at the Kindle to sync it but the book was already downloading. Instead of syncing it I waited and it downloaded. I keep this kindle by my computer just for checking out books I might want to read next. I don't recall having any problems downloading books but most of the time I initiate the download from the device itself. I don't remember if I've initiated any from Amazon's end recently until just now.

My guess is there's not much useful information there but it's what I have.

Barry

Many paperwhites don't have this issue. You may be one of the fortunate ones

 

[CS]

I am still having this issue, but the fact that it has cleared up for so many of you is promising news. Hopefully that means this is being investigated and worked on. Fingers crossed!

Found this today: https://www.amazonforum.com/s/question/0D54P00006zSvyB/kindle-paperwhite-download-issue

It's an old post but has responses as recently as two days ago, so at least it isn't just me/us.

 

[Linjeakel]

Apparently some people have always had problems with automatically downloading books and others are only just having the problem.

I'm one of the latter - after about 11 years of Kindle owning it's only been in the last few days that I've noticed any problem. When I buy a book it normally downloads immediately to my default device - my PW4 - and I also send it to my Voyage at the same time. But now the downloads are not showing up on either device - I have to change my settings from 'Downloaded' to 'All' and then choose the books I want downloaded - at that point they download without a problem.

Since it's also happening on my Voyage as well as the PW4 I don't think this is a particular device problem. It could be an update problem. Both my devices are on the same version - 5.12.5 - though I've noticed differences between them, such as what options you get when you choose 'settings' at the top of the home page. This new way of sending out updates where not all of the features associated with them show up at once is very strange and I can't help wondering if this different way of doing things is responsible for some of the anomalies we're seeing lately.

It's not a huge problem, just an irritating one. If it's intentional, it's definitely a step backwards.

 

[John Hopper]

Mine actually worked normally for a book I bought yesterday. And the previous day I noticed that some book updates downloaded spontaneously as well.

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Stopped working again just now. Tried a sample from the Kindle Store actually on my Oasis and it still didn't download automatically.

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[LDB]

I confess to not reading the entire thread. I've had this problem with my O3 for a couple of weeks now but only with trying to send prior purchases back for a second reading. My new purchases are downloading when I turn off airplane mode. I stay in airplane mode 99% of the time to extend battery life. Anyway, if I search on the Kindle for the title I want it finds it and downloads it. If I go on the computer to manage content and say deliver it nothing happens. I've restarted the Kindle a few times but not reset it. I don't really want to do that. Hopefully Jeff Bozo and the rest will stop politicking and take care of business like fixing this problem.