4 straightforward methods I upgraded my new Kindle

One of many issues I recognize about (most) e-readers is their simplicity. It is the purpose, actually — whilst you can read books on an iPad or in your cellphone, there’s not often any must obtain new apps on an e-reader, and even swap between them in lots of circumstances. You wake the pill up, decide a brand new e-book or preserve studying the place you left off, then put it again to sleep whenever you’re carried out. It’s possible you’ll not even must cost the gadget for weeks at a time.

You need to use a Kindle with out a lot bother out of the field, at the very least as soon as you’ve got linked it to Wi-Fi and linked it to your Amazon account. However if you wish to get essentially the most out of it, there are a number of issues you are able to do that may make your studying expertise higher, and even prevent some cash.

Modify brightness, heat, and colour settings to your tastes

Or the time of day, anyway

In case you’re new to Kindles, it is likely to be exhausting to consider there was a time when none of them had a entrance gentle. You had to make use of them in daylight or underneath a lamp in the event you needed to learn something. For some time, there was an aftermarket for clip-on lamps. Fortunately, in 2026, even the most cost effective Kindle has a built-in gentle.

Every mannequin has a special set of lighting choices relying on its specs. From the homescreen, you may entry these by swiping right down to entry the Fast Actions menu or by deciding on the Settings icon. In case you’re in the course of studying a e-book, simply faucet on the highest of the display screen.

Most Kindles will allow you to scale brightness and heat, the latter producing numerous shades of white from a bluish tone to amber. You may management these manually, however the Auto-Brightness possibility will adapt to ambient circumstances, and you could need to Schedule heat modifications so that you simply get amber tones nearer to bedtime. Do not forget that increased brightness ranges devour extra battery energy — you should not be blazing at full brightness until you completely want it.

Black-and-white Kindles have entry to Darkish Mode, which primarily inverts your show in a manner that could be simpler to learn, particularly at evening. Full-color fashions (like Colorsofts) can solely make pages darkish, not the person interface, however do get the flexibility to modify between Customary and Vivid colour ranges. Vivid is extra saturated, however will not essentially enchantment to everybody.

Borrow library books at no cost

No must pay for every thing

Whereas there are roundabout methods of getting books from exterior shops on a Kindle, say in the event you’ve obtained PDF or EPUB recordsdata you may sync by way of Send to Kindle, Amazon actually needs you to spend cash on the Kindle Retailer or on a Kindle Limitless subscription. Third-party shops are inaccessible from the Kindle UI.

The excellent news is that many libraries have advanced to fulfill the instances, and are licensed to allow you to borrow e-books such as you would paper copies. You may want a library card first, so make a go to to your native department.

Within the US, Kindle library titles are dealt with by a service known as OverDrive, which additionally has a cellphone and pill app known as Libby. To make use of these, you will want a PIN you (hopefully!) acquired alongside your library card. Subsequent, you will must log into your library’s web site, then seek for a class like Kindle books or eBooks. Throughout the checkout course of, you will be requested to signal into your Amazon account, then decide the gadget you are sending your e-book(s) to.

Observe that in your Kindle, you could have to manually set off downloads from the Cloud or Archived Objects sections. Some books might even require a USB switch from a pc, however that is unlikely.

Most vital is that Kindle books are like something you’d borrow from a library. You may solely obtain so many directly, and also you solely get to maintain them for a restricted time. You may even be coping with a restricted choice, so you could must open your thoughts if the titles you need are out or fully lacking.

Purchase an ornamental case

Take into consideration safety too

You do not want a case for a Kindle. Amazon tries to upsell you on one, but when your Kindle sits at residence more often than not, it needs to be completely high quality bare. It ought to even be high quality on planes, trains, and buses so long as you are stashing it someplace protected from scratches or heavy impacts.

That is not all the time sensible, although, and for many individuals, an e-reader appears like an intensely private gadget. A case could also be worthwhile for these causes. Some fashions embrace handles and/or stands, which may scale back fatigue throughout longer studying periods.

One widespread method is to purchase a “vanilla” case matched to your Kindle mannequin, then customise it with stickers, drawings, or different private touches. If that is extra effort than you take care of, there are many third-party circumstances with distinctive patterns and supplies. You do not have to purchase them on Amazon’s web site, both.

Do not forget the protecting component. You may like the concept of a minimalist case that is all about ornament, however in the event you’re a frequent traveler, you will need one thing that may survive a drop or jostling in your backpack.

At all times present the duvet of your present e-book

Count on to pay for the privilege

One thing you may miss from paper books is the duvet artwork. When it is nicely carried out, a canopy can really feel like its personal inventive assertion, setting the tone for what you are about to learn. Even when it is pure textual content, although, it is good to determine a e-book earlier than you decide it up.

You may get this stuff again on a Kindle by a characteristic known as Show Cowl. When it is obtainable, you may allow it by going to the Settings tab, deciding on Display and brightness, then toggling the Present Cowl possibility. The following time you set your Kindle to sleep with a e-book in progress, the related cowl will present onscreen as a substitute of a generic picture.

“When obtainable” is a key phrase, sadly. You want an ad-free Kindle to make this work, which comes at a premium, and a few older fashions might not assist the characteristic anyway. Usually talking, something launched after the eighth-generation primary Kindle or the seventh-gen Paperwhite needs to be suitable.

In case you’ve obtained an ad-supported Kindle, you are not caught. You may go to the Manage your Content and Devices part of Amazon’s web site to take away advertisements for a one-time payment. Within the US, that payment is at the moment $20 — in the event you stay elsewhere, you will must verify your personal area’s web site for the small print.