Kindle Paperwhite Software Upgrade from v5.3.9 to v5.4.4.
The Kindle Forum has an announcement that a major software update to the first Kindle Paperwhite is available, adding features to Kindle Paperwhite 1 that were first seen on the Paperwhite 2, the later and current model with a faster processor. (A Paperwhite 1 U.S/ software update {UK page here} is also ready.)
Affected Paperwhite models: See Paperwhite 1 (US); (UK Paperwhite 1: here;
The new, free software update available for Kindle Paperwhite 1 can be found [here] [U.S.and international]
[And Here's the UK-only software update page.]
The software page tells you how to check the software version currently on your Paperwhite. Mine still has v5.3.9 on it rather than v5.4.4
This update automatically downloads and installs on the applicable Kindle Paperwhite; however, you can also manually download the software and transfer the update to your device via USB cable.
I've revised this blog entry March 10 to add, at the bottom, new information on the Power off options.
The software update includes general improvements and the following new features:
* Kindle FreeTime:
FreeTime lets you create personalized profiles for kids, and give them access to titles from your collection of books. Kids can keep track of their personal reading progress and earn achievement badges. To learn more, go to Kindle FreeTime
* Goodreads on Kindle (US only)
Connect with the world's largest community for readers from your Kindle Paperwhite. See what your friends are reading, share notes, and rate the books you read. To learn more, go to Find and Share Books with Goodreads on Kindle.
* Cloud Collections [Long awaited]
Use Cloud Collections to organize your content in custom categories. See your collections in a Collections view, and customize where your collections show on your device. To learn more, go to Organize Your Content with Cloud Collections.
* Page Flip [Great feature many of us have hoped for]
While reading, you can skim the book page-by-page, scan by chapter, or skip to the end for a sneak peek without losing your place. To learn more, go to Go To Other Locations in a Book
* Enhanced Bookmarks, Highlights & Notes
Access and manage all of your bookmarks, highlights, and notes more quickly and easily. To learn more, go to Bookmarks, Highlights & Notes
* Smart Lookup
When you look up a word or character, Smart Lookup provides you with dictionary, X-Ray, and Wikipedia information.To learn more, go to Explore Your Book with X-Ray.
* Vocabulary Builder
Words looked up in the dictionary are automatically added to Vocabulary Builder. View the definition and usage of the words, and quiz yourself with flashcards. To learn more, go to Expand Your Vocabulary. '
In a forum discussion, Kindle Forum Pro CBRetriever wrote the following about changes noticed in the (1) Cloud Collections processing (which AVOIDS the Paperwhite 2 problems from a default-automatic-importing of Collections from ALL other devices sharing the same account) and (2) Kindle Paperwhite Restart procedure. (Bracketed info and emphases are mine):
' It didn't import any collections from my other kindles (YAY!!!!) not even in the Cloud
... my notes so far:
There's another new thing I've never seen before - when I hold the button in for 30 seconds, it doesn't restart, but I'm given 3 choices and I had to pick one (Shut Down, Cancel or Restart) I'm wondering if the new PW2 has the same choices [it DOES] ... I also had to reboot since it came up with a 2G and not a 3G connection. My collections have stars...
It did not bring in the Collections from other Devices. I have now added 11 more dictionaries and user guides... I had to go download the user guide via manage Your Kindle - it didn't automatically download. ' [UK user's guide here]
New Power-off Options display
Oddly, my Paperwhite 1's pop-up dialog box showed options different from what's described above. The choices I saw during the attempts to either Power Off (holding the Power On/Off button for ~4 seconds) or force a clean "Restart" (holding the Power On/Off button for 20+ seconds) were:
"Cancel | Restart ! Screen Off" ...
When an eInk screen is displaying a page but there is no change to that screen, the display is having no effect on the battery.
When you change what's being displayed (changing or adding anything on the page, as in tapping it on the side to get a new page or when an action brings a pop-up window or dialog box), the display is not using the battery. That's why just pressing the power button for only ~1 second puts the Kindle to 'sleep' during which it displays an image but the Paperwhite light turns off.
Leaving it in this sleep state doesn't draw battery power as a result of the image display itself. If, however, WiFi is On during Sleep state, any activity with subscription downloads or a Special Offers download -will- use battery power.
There is always very slow battery drain in between charges even when a device is turned off.
So, the "Screen Off" is an odd new choice on mine. This just blanks the screen and puts it into sleep state. SOME have requested a blank screen so they know it's "Off" but, in this case, it's only that there's no image seen - not even Amazon's default images during normal sleep-screens.
"Restart" acts more like a soft-reboot on a computer and clears up memory states that may be causing problems.
There is NO option on my Paperwhite 1 to completely Power Off or Shut down the Kindle.
It could be that my dialog box for powering off is different because I chose not to get Special Offers sent to my Paperwhite (I accept Special Offers on my Kindle Fire tablets though) and, therefore, blanking the screen with a "Screen Off" does not interfere with the marketing offers on the lockscreen.
CBRetriever, quoted above, may choose to get the offers on the Paperwhite and, as a result, doesn't get the 'Screen Off' option. That's just conjecture on my part.
But she does get the option to 'shut down' her Kindle. Odd.
Also, in my case, holding in the power button for over 20 seconds did cause a Restart, as in the past.
IF you experience unusual battery drain
Note that keeping your Kindle always connected to a Wi-Fi network can drain the battery faster under certain circumstances. If you're experiencing that, then once you've got the update "over the air," put the Paperwhite back to "Airplane Mode ON" via the 'Settings' option on the Menu -- the option lets you toggle Wireless OFF, using the "Airplane On" choice.
Amazon's Paperwhite development team won't return the Wireless Off/On choice to the front menu as they did last year for the Kindle Touch, removing the 'airplane mode' icon which confuses many. It's very inconvenient to have the WiFi On/Off setting on a secondary menu and many, as a result, don't even know that they can turn WiFi Off if needed.
Amazon probably prefers that we keep Wireless 'On' due to delivery of Special Offers but the battery-drain problem can occur when circumstances involve (1) subscriptions that are downloaded regularly (my New York Times Latest News subscription updates the Kindle edition about five times a day - $1.99/month) or (2) due to a weaker connection that results from the distance from the WiFi router, in which case the device keeps trying to connect when a download is due (and that can be for the special offers that Amazon regularly needs to send for those who choose to opt for the less-expensive model with the special-offers feature) and is then constanty active.
BUT WiFi needs to be 'On' after you've read a book and made annotations for a session AND when you then want to be able to continue reading later, on another device (like a smartphone), starting at where you'd stopped.
If WiFi isn't turned on, the Amazon servers won't have any way of knowing the last-page-read location nor any notes or highlighting you've made, which you'd want to be able to access on the other device. So, a recommendation:
1. When you're finished reading, tap the top-toolbar and press the HOME icon.
That will 'close' the book session and record the last page read and log the annotations.
2. Tap the top of the Paperwhite to bring up the toolbar and menu icon.
3. If you see an airplane icon at the top, your WiFi is Off (and you're in "airplane" take-off mode).
4. Tap 'Settings'
5. Turn Airplane Mode OFF, and that'll turn WiFi ON.
6. At that point, the Kindle will try to sync your changes to the Server and will download anything that is pending (a subscription to a newspaper, magazine, or blog, usually).
7. After that's done, you can go ahead and leave WiFi ON if you have no problems with faster battery drain
OR you can turn OFF the WiFi if you need to save battery power.
Only if you'd rather not wait - DOWNLOADING and transferring the Update via USB
US: Go to the Kindle Paperwhite Software Update v5.4.4 download section to get the instructions for the download and transfer to your Kindle via USB:
UK: You can do the same for the UK-only page
Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. Top 100 free bestsellers. Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.
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