The Mysterious Case of the Auto Sleep Cover!

[BookCat]

I have just received a new case for my Kindle. Like the one I had previously, this one is supposed to put the reader to sleep when closed, but a sneaky peek between the covers showed that the light from my Paperwhite was still on.

Has anyone else had suspicions about the activities of their "auto sleep" covers? If so, what did you do to rectify this?

[Dazrin]

I've had that happen a couple time with my Voyage. Generally it meant that it was time to restart the Kindle. After a restart it started behaving properly.

If the problem is that they didn't properly align the magnet for the switch, unless you are prepared for some destructive reconstruction of the case I would suggest returning it.

[John F]

Originally Posted by BookCat

I have just received a new case for my Kindle. Like the one I had previously, this one is supposed to put the reader to sleep when closed, but a sneaky peek between the covers showed that the light from my Paperwhite was still on.

Has anyone else had suspicions about the activities of their "auto sleep" covers? If so, what did you do to rectify this?

Does the Kindle have an option to enable/disable the sleep cover? Is it checked/unchecked.*

*A general possible solution is given, since this is in the General section.

[maddz]

I have noticed that auto-sleep isn’t always instantaneous on any device I’ve owned with such a cover - it can take up to 30 seconds to register. Which is good, because if you’re shifting position or briefly putting the device down, and the cover snaps closed briefly, you don’t want to have to fiddle around reopening whatever you’re doing. The cover snapping closed seems to happen more often with folio cases on smaller devices like my iPhone SE.

[John F]

Originally Posted by maddz

I have noticed that auto-sleep isn’t always instantaneous on any device I’ve owned with such a cover - it can take up to 30 seconds to register. Which is good, because if you’re shifting position or briefly putting the device down, and the cover snaps closed briefly, you don’t want to have to fiddle around reopening whatever you’re doing. The cover snapping closed seems to happen more often with folio cases on smaller devices like my iPhone SE.

Maybe it depends on the ereader? I believe with Kobo ereaders, when you open the cover, you should end up on the last page you were on.

[maddz]

Originally Posted by John F

Maybe it depends on the ereader? I believe with Kobo ereaders, when you open the cover, you should end up on the last page you were on.

It depends; a brief closure, yes, that’s what happens, but a longer closure would reopen at the home screen - the same happens with my Icarus.

[princeyann]

Sometimes my PW 3 has issues with the cover too. It goes to the idle screen, but the light keeps on forever. Using the main button is the only salvation.

[John F]

Originally Posted by maddz

It depends; a brief closure, yes, that’s what happens, but a longer closure would reopen at the home screen - the same happens with my Icarus.

Isn't that a power off setting (for Kobo at least) though, not a sleep cover related issue?

[BookCat]

I have a case by the same company and didn't have any problems with it; I bought the new one because the other is brown and doesn't show well against my sofa - I've always worried about sitting on it.

The kindle has just finished a restart ...

seems to be working in that when I open the cover it flickers then immediately shows one of the silly screen savers, then it goes to the page I was on, which is pretty much what the other one does.
But the cover does seem to require a few seconds to affect the reader's status.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by maddz

It depends; a brief closure, yes, that’s what happens, but a longer closure would reopen at the home screen - the same happens with my Icarus.

If you are only using sleep, it will open on the last page read regardless of how long your Kobo ereader is asleep whether from the sleep cover, sleep timer or tapping the power button. Caveat as long as the battery doesn't run down completely.

The only time I would see my Kobo ereader going back to the home screen from sleep is if I have the auto power off set so it powered down from sleep mode.

[maddz]

Well, I don’t use the Touch any more (I had major problems with the external and internal SD cards and my Mac), and I think I had auto-power off set to 15 minutes. This was to preserve battery life on trips when I couldn’t be sure of power access.

I’ve got a similar set-up on the Icarus; I read on it for about 30-40 minutes on my commute, rarely on my lunch-break, and occasionally at the weekend. So power-off is best for me.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by maddz

Well, I don’t use the Touch any more (I had major problems with the external and internal SD cards and my Mac), and I think I had auto-power off set to 15 minutes. This was to preserve battery life on trips when I couldn’t be sure of power access.

I’ve got a similar set-up on the Icarus; I read on it for about 30-40 minutes on my commute, rarely on my lunch-break, and occasionally at the weekend. So power-off is best for me.

In view of your setup, I have trouble understanding why you stated:

It depends; a brief closure, yes, that’s what happens, but a longer closure would reopen at the home screen - the same happens with my Icarus. that sleep would cause your ereader to restart to the home page after a certain length of time?

From a state of confusion...

[maddz]

Basically, I have (had) the devices set to power off after 15 mins of inactivity regardless of whether the cover was open or closed. Just checked the Icarus - it’s set to go to sleep after 10 minutes and power off after another 20 minutes. This fits with my usage pattern; I may put the device down for a rest break so I’ll pick it up again within 30 minutes. Otherwise, I won’t pick it up again for several hours (either later that day after work or next day). So why bother to leave it sleeping? All I do on the device is read books so I don’t need notifications.

So waking from sleep on the Icarus drops me where I was, from power off, to the home screen with recently read on the screen - and I just select the book I want to go back to.

[John F]

Originally Posted by maddz

Basically, I have (had) the devices set to power off after 15 mins of inactivity regardless of whether the cover was open or closed. Just checked the Icarus - it’s set to go to sleep after 10 minutes and power off after another 20 minutes. This fits with my usage pattern; I may put the device down for a rest break so I’ll pick it up again within 30 minutes. Otherwise, I won’t pick it up again for several hours (either later that day after work or next day). So why bother to leave it sleeping? All I do on the device is read books so I don’t need notifications.

So waking from sleep on the Icarus drops me where I was, from power off, to the home screen with recently read on the screen - and I just select the book I want to go back to.

That makes sense.

The Power Off functionality for the Kobos doesn't bother me:

1. I usually don't power off the device (I have the Power Off timeout set to Never).

2. It is only one tap to get back to where I was reading when I do power down/up.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by John F

That makes sense.

The Power Off functionality for the Kobos doesn't bother me:

1. I usually don't power off the device (I have the Power Off timeout set to Never).

2. It is only one tap to get back to where I was reading when I do power down/up.

Well I would agree it makes sense, his original post made it sound as if when his Kobo and Icarus devices were in sleep mode, after a certain length of time, they would return to the home screen and not the book when they left sleep mode. For Kobo devices, this does not happen. When I asked him about this, his response that he had his devices set to power off made sense but this did not match his original response which referred to sleep mode only.

Also note that on a Kobo device, once it has gone to power off, you need to hit the power button to power it on as simply opening the sleep cover will not power on a Kobo. I can't speak to Icarus devices as I don't own one.