10 Amazing Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do With Your Kindle
Whether you’ve just bought your first Kindle or have been using one for years, there are a number of features that often get overlooked by owners but which can prove very useful. Our list of 10 things you didn’t know you could do with your Kindle will give you some new things to try with your e-reader.
Take a Screenshot
There are different ways of taking a screenshot depending on which version you have- on the original version, hold down shift + alt + G to take a photo of your device’s screen. On the Voyage and Paperwhite, press down two opposite corners of the screen, and on the Kindle Touch hold down the home button then tap the screen. To download the PNG image, just connect your Kindle to your computer via a USB cable.
Borrow over 800,000 Books
One of the cool things you can do on your Kindle is download and borrow from a large selection of books. If you have a prime membership you can gain access to the Kindle Owner’s Library which lets you choose from over 800,000 including all the Harry Potter books plus 100 current and former bestsellers.
You’re able to borrow one book at a time and can access the Owner’s Library by navigating to All Categories within the Book Store. Books in the Library are shown with a Prime badge and they can be downloaded by tapping Borrow for Free.
International Data
Kindle Keyboard 3G devices can take advantage of free international data- tap Experimental > Launch browser in order to gain internet access. Some sites such as Wikipedia and Kindle Store can still be access even when you reach the 50mb limit and you can access the data wherever you are in world.
Reset Your Reading Time
Resetting your reading time is a cool thing you probably didn’t know you could do with your Kindle. The reading time is the amount of time in hours or days that you have left before you finish reading a book. This usually appears at the bottom of the page screen while you’re reading and is based on how quickly you read. To reset this, type ;ResetReadingTime in the search bar, then tap the back button and your Kindle will reset your reading time.
Define Words
While Kindle’s own dictionary allows you to easily define words you don’t understand by tapping or holding to view the definition, a site called The Fictionary does more. Fictionaries are easy to install dictionaries that can be downloaded to your Kindle and will define words, names and places that form part of the fiction book you’re reading so you don’t lose track of the plot. These are spoiler-free and available for a range of books from The Hobbit to Sense and Sensibility.
Lend Books to Friends
You can lend eligible books from your device to friends with a Kindle once for 14 days. Log into Amazon then navigate to Amazon.com/mycd, find the title you wish to lend, click the action button and press ‘loan this title’. You’ll need to know the email address for the Amazon account of the person you wish to lend it to.
Read Online Articles
Something you probably didn’t know you could do with your Kindle is to read web articles on your e-reader. By using a bookmarking service such as Instapaper you can transfer internet articles to read later on your Kindle. Instapaper is available for smartphone, tablet and computer. When you have an account, head to Settings > Kindle to set delivery options. When you save an article to Instapaper from then on it will be automatically synced to your Kindle.
Read Documents on Your Kindle
You can send and read more than 10 types of files on your Kindle- .pdf, .doc, .jpeg, .rtf, .html, .gif and more. These can be sent by emailing the document as an attachment to your Kindle email address. You can either download Send to Kindle for Mac or PC to let you transfer files or find your Kindle email address by going to Manage Your Content and Devices > Settings > Personal Document Settings then looking for an address that looks like [email protected]. Add your email to the Approved Document Email List then send your document by changing your Kindle address to name@free.kindle.com to avoid charges.
Remove Recommended Books
If the recommended books portion of your homescreen is annoying you and you’d like to remove it to allow for more space then you can do so easily. Tap the menu bar then go to Settings > Parental Controls > Restrictions > turn Kindle Store off then tap OK.
Organise Your Collection
You can group your books into collections so that you can easily find your favourites or choose the next one you wish to read. In order to create a collection, open the homescreen menu and tap ‘Create New Collection’, then enter a name for your collection and press save. You can then move your books, audio books and documents into the relevant collection to keep everything organised.
