Firmware Update 5.4.2 has arrived with Goodreads integration

[tomsem]

They need to add an option on MYK in the 'Device Synchronization' settings so that each device can have its own Collections.

And there should be a filter you can easily toggle when viewing a collection so that only on device items display. It is great that you can see all the collection members but it needs to be optional.

Collections with ONLY cloud items should only show up when you have Cloud filter set.

I gather that you cannot define a manual sort order in a given collection? You can do this with the iOS Kindle app, which is nice for book series, or for 'ranking' things. I wonder if the order set there is preserved when it syncs to other devices.

But I don't have a stake in this, I have never had any use for collections and probably won't start now, even if they manage to improve the UX a little. Mostly this is because they inevitably add clutter, navigation inefficiency, and overhead to maintain. And it does not scale to large libraries, does it? Ironic, that.

[tashk]

Originally Posted by booklover6

FUN???.

As indicated by the uppercase letters, "FUN" is certainly an acronym, not to be confused with the noun "fun". I agree the firmware update exposes the user to lots of FUN, even though I haven't figured out what the N stands for.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

The ghost collections are unbelievably annoying .... I've owned quite a few Kindles over the years - and have deregistered many - but all the collections on my current & deregistered Kindles appeared on my PW2 - what imbecile came up with this idea?

"I shall infect their Kindles with
ghost collections... oooooo..."

Here is the email text I'm sending to Amazon. Feel free to copy and paste and/or modify for an email you send to them. They probably won't listen, but lets try anyway.

Concerning the 5.4.2 firmware update for the Paperwhite 2013:

Have your programmers and managers completely lost their freaking minds?!? Do you realize how utterly useless you have now made Collections on the Paperwhite 2013? Here are the problems.

(1) You force all the Cloud Collections onto the Paperwhite 2013 when the 5.4.2 update is installed. WTF! What if we don’t want every ancient collection we ever used on devices we no longer even own to be forced onto our Paperwhite 2013? Did you even consider that? You need to give us the option to select which Cloud Collections we place on our Paperwhite 2013. Some people have multiple Kindles and would like to have different collections on them, not every collection they ever created.

(2) You force all of the Cloud Collections onto our Paperwhite 2013 then you also force the display of every book/doc stored in the Cloud into those collections. Again, WTF!! Some people have thousands of books/docs in the Cloud but only want a few listed on their Paperwhite 2013. But now you force us to page through dozens of pages to find anything we look for. Give us the ability to turn off the displaying of all those damned Cloud book/docs so we can see what the hell we have on our Paperwhite 2013!

(3) You now make any edits done to Collections on the Paperwhite 2013 automatically apply to the Cloud Collections. Again, WTF! What if we want to have some collections on one device and different collections on another device? If we delete or rename a collection on the Paperwhite 2013, it is modified in the Cloud Collections and forced onto all of our applicable devices. Give us a Web Page where we can edit Cloud Collections rather than doing it directly from a device.

To reiterate, we need the following improvements to Cloud Collections. Do NOT force all of the Cloud Collections onto our devices. Give us the option to select the ones we want. Give us the ability to turn off the display of Cloud items that are listed within our collections on our devices. Give us a Web Page from which we can modify Cloud Collections rather than the confusing modification currently done on our devices.

[HarryT]

I'd STRONGLY recommend expressing support requests politely, rather than using expressions like "Have your programmers and managers completely lost their freaking minds?!?". People respond a lot more positively to polite requests than to rudeness.

[fearindex]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

You folks deciding not to upgrade to the Paperwhite 2013 and Fire HDX 2013 with the latest firmware are missing lots of FUN.

sirmaru, ever consider empathy? It might help mentally settling into the shoes of others long enough to understand them and appreciate their woes. From the looks of it, those with plenty of Kindles and collections are not having fun with the Cloud Collections.

Doesn't affect me (don't use collections), but I can sympathize with those who are affected.

[fearindex]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'd STRONGLY recommend expressing support requests politely, rather than using expressions like "Have your programmers and managers completely lost their freaking minds?!?". People respond a lot more positively to polite requests than to rudeness.

Agree. At least if you feel like you must express your anger, leave it to the end of the message, not the start where it might cause the whole message to be disregarded as abuse.

[tashk]

I was just chatting with Amazon Customer Service regarding problems with 5.4.2 and the possibility of a downgrade and I was informed that

"Software update is being sent to devices to fix the bugs and to improve the device performance."

Unfortunately the CS representative left before I could ask if this is supposed to mean there's a bugfix release for 5.4.2 in the works, or if that's just their way of telling me that 5.4.2 is better than 5.4.0, whether I agree or not.

Originally Posted by tashk

I was just chatting with Amazon Customer Service regarding problems with 5.4.2 and the possibility of a downgrade and I was informed that

"Software update is being sent to devices to fix the bugs and to improve the device performance."

Unfortunately the CS representative left before I could ask if this is supposed to mean there's a bugfix release for 5.4.2 in the works, or if that's just their way of telling me that 5.4.2 is better than 5.4.0, whether I agree or not.

The latter is my guess. Remember that CS reps are usually scripted on what to say. They are often clueless and merely follow a loose script as to how to respond. I used to write those scripts for Computer Associates way back when. At least he didn't tell you you were holding it wrong!

[Josieb1]

I'm manually updating our two Paperwhite 1's to 5.3.9 and then turning wifi off, permanently. Just in case Amazon try to inflict it on us.

[Chi Cygni]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I'm manually updating our two Paperwhite 1's to 5.3.9 and then turning wifi off, permanently. Just in case Amazon try to inflict it on us.

Ha. I will do the same. My PW1 will be 3 months old tomorrow. I somehow don't regret keeping it
I hope I will never ever forget to keep wifi off.

[sirmaru]

Some of you folks do NOT understand how these Collections work.

All the Collections and eBooks are shown in the Cloud - NOT on the Device for the Paperwhite 2013. Tap Device and you will not see them. The whole idea is to manage them on the Cloud by deleting and Adding Collections you want.

All eBooks in the Cloud are shown in the Cloud. The Device only shows eBooks downloaded to the Device. The Cloud shows eBooks inside the Collections as well as showing them a second time outside the Collections.

If you have eBooks on the Device you do not want, just delete them.

On the HDX 2013 you can see Collections if you go to that Menu function in the Book area. They do not show on the Home Page unless you copy them there.

The whole idea is to give the user a place to manage the Collections on either of those 2 devices. Making changes on one syncs to the other.

I don't see what the problem is for all the complainers here other than huge misunderstandings from reading posts here and never really trying to access this feature on their own mostly because many, if not most of the posters here, do not own a PW 2013 or an HDX 2013.

By the way, Collections can be in any order you want by just preceding the Collection name by a NUMBER.

Finally, those, who own a Kindle Fire HDX 2013, can call Mayday right on that unit and get advice based on the best information available for both units. Response is IMMEDIATE and all the advisors appear to be AMERICAN.

[shalym]

Sirmaru, Are you sure about that? I saw a screen shot from someone on Kindleboards showing collections that she didn't have on her device, and "On Device" was definitely chosen, not "Cloud"

Shari

Originally Posted by sirmaru

Some of you folks do NOT understand how these Collections work.

All the Collections and eBooks are shown in the Cloud - NOT on the Device for the Paperwhite 2013. Tap Device and you will not see them. The whole idea is to manage them on the Cloud by deleting and Adding Collections you want.

All eBooks in the Cloud are shown in the Cloud. The Device only shows eBooks downloaded to the Device. The Cloud shows eBooks inside the Collections as well as showing them a second time outside the Collections.

If you have eBooks on the Device you do not want, just delete them.

On the HDX 2013 you can see Collections if you go to that Menu function in the Book area. They do not show on the Home Page unless you copy them there.

The whole idea is to give the user a place to manage the Collections on either of those 2 devices. Making changes on one syncs to the other.

I don't see what the problem is for all the complainers here other than huge misunderstandings from reading posts here and never really trying to access this feature on their own mostly because many, if not most of the posters here, do not own a PW 2013 or an HDX 2013.

By the way, Collections can be in any order you want by just preceding the Collection name by a NUMBER.

Finally, those, who own a Kindle Fire HDX 2013, can call Mayday right on that unit and get advice based on the best information available for both units. Response is IMMEDIATE and all the advisors appear to be AMERICAN.

[nynaevelan]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

You folks deciding not to upgrade to the Paperwhite 2013 and Fire HDX 2013 with the latest firmware are missing lots of FUN.

Originally Posted by sirmaru

All the Collections and eBooks are shown in the Cloud - NOT on the Device for the Paperwhite 2013. Tap Device and you will not see them. The whole idea is to manage them on the Cloud by deleting and Adding Collections you want.

You are INCORRECT.

When in Cover View:
With On Device selected you still see all the Cloud Collections and every book/doc from your cloud that was ever assigned to each collection listed within that Collection but greyed out if it is not on your device. However, cloud items not on your device display only within Collections. Items not assigned to a collection and that are not on your device do NOT show up.

When in List View:
The same as discussed above above in Cover View.

So to clarify, the only mess of having greyed out Cloud only items being displayed whether you want them or not applies ONLY to Collections. It does not apply to items not assigned to a Collection.