PW3 & azw2 support + miscellaneous questions

ntamas · 05-18-2016, 11:58 AM

Hello!

I have Paperwhite 3 and a Keyboard. I'm not an expert at jailbreaking kindles at all.

I noticed that there is an .active-content-data folder on PW3 as well. But it's always empty. So this implies that PW3 supports Kindle Active Content somehow. Though Amazon support wrote me the following:

Kindle active content is not compatible with Fire tablets, Kindle Paperwhite (7th Generation), Kindle (7th Generation), Kindle Voyage, and Kindle reading apps.

Then I thought, if this is the case I should buy a used Keyboard with azw2 support. I decided to buy the Keyboard because it supports a wide range of active contents.

As you can see I'm not from the US, so I had to trick the system by making another amazon account with settings like US billing address, US country, US VPN and by registering my Keyboard to that account. So now, I'm able to download, purchase kindle active contents.
But there are apps that I still can't buy though.

And I don't know why. Let's see three examples:

http://www.amazon.com/Utility-Kit/dp/B00AYIR57E

This is not compatible with Keyboard but I don't know why because I don't think that the application itself relies only on touchscreens. But it's OK, I can accept that there are a few apps not compatible with Keyboard. Most of them are.

http://www.amazon.com/Fluid/dp/B00793C3K6

This is compatible with it but somehow it can't be purchased. There is a short reference why you are not allowed to buy it.

This title is not available for some devices because the media content and file delivery are not optimized for those devices.

As far as I can tell these titles/apps (I remember there are others in interactive fiction category) are not available because of adult content. So the question is how can I cheat the system to let me buy those as well? I was searching a lot where you can set your age in your amazon account but no avail.

http://www.amazon.com/Maze-A-Thon/dp...dp_product_img

This one here is the strangest because it's compatible with Keyboard, there is no adult content, though you still can't buy it. WHY?

Each of these says: This title is not currently available for purchase.

Moreover, they are not listed on Keyboard's kindle store search and you can't even search them by typing @author <the author's name>. Why? You could list and buy at least those being compatible with Keyboard.

So the active content data folder on PW3 aroused my interest and I decided to copy some of those azw2s to my PW3. And it was an astonishing discovery for me to find out that PW3 is able to recognize them. There is the "active" inscription next to the apps in my library listing and the context menu consist of the same items: Add to Collection, Open, Description, Support, Get Latest Version, Delete. But when I tap to the Open I get something like: this type of content is not compatible with this device. But if it's true, why DOES it recognize the active content at all?

(I mean the menus, the inscription next to the app's name) And if you just tap on description it opens the kindle store version of item description and it says: Currently unavailable. But you can still read all the information and the reviews lol.

I fully understand that there are apps requiring keyboard or at least the 5-way navigation button, such as Inheritance. But I can hardly imagine that none of these(I mean all the kindle active contents) apps are compatible with PW3. I think, at least apps compatible with PW2 must be compatible with PW3 as well.

I have the version 5.7.4.1, so can it run somehow azw2 apps or should I be satisfied with Keyboard compatibility?

Otherwise I usually read interactive fictions on Keyboard so I wondered if there is a way to use dictionaries for the texts of azw2 apps?

Thanks for your replies.

Cinisajoy · 05-18-2016, 12:11 PM

No clue on the first one.
On the other two, it means the apps have been pulled from Amazon and are no longer available.
The reason you still see them is because there has to be a copy for those that already own it.

My guess would be either they didn't sell like the developer thought they should or they violated someone else's copyright or trademark.

Has nothing to do with adult content.
On the fluid one, it was designed for your keyboard but has been pulled from the store.

Little hint,
Anytime you see not available for purchase, it means that it is no longer in the store.
Brb. I want to look something up.

Just learned something. If the developer pulls it, Amazon keeps a copy.
If Amazon pulls it, you get page not found.

NiLuJe · 05-18-2016, 12:57 PM

Active Content has been deprecated by Amazon, but is (as of current FW) still supported on all the Kindle eInk line (provided FW >= 2.5).

It is known to be broken on a number of select combinations of devices/FW versions, but should be working fine on current (as of now) FW versions.

As for the compatibility issues, yes, perfectly normal. There are two major versions of the framework, one for touch devices (KDK 2), one for non-touch devices (KDK 1). Stuff built for KDK1 won't run on KDK2, and vice-versa. A number of the official apps were never updated for KDK2.

Cinisajoy · 05-18-2016, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

Active Content has been deprecated by Amazon, but is (as of current FW) still supported on all the Kindle eInk line (provided FW >= 2.5).

It is known to be broken on a number of select combinations of devices/FW versions, but should be working fine on current (as of now) FW versions.

As for the compatibility issues, yes, perfectly normal. There are two major versions of the framework, one for touch devices (KDK 2), one for non-touch devices (KDK 1). Stuff built for KDK1 won't run on KDK2, and vice-versa. A number of the official apps were never updated for KDK2.

I pulled up all the links he gave and the last two are not available to purchase even in the US and yes I had compatible devices according to the pull down.

ntamas · 05-18-2016, 01:05 PM

Thanks for the infos.

Quote:

Anytime you see not available for purchase, it means that it is no longer in the store.

But that is not quite right because there are many apps in the store available officialy only in the US so you can download it there or via VPN with US billing address but if you are outside of US, you'll get the "not available for purchase" message. So it doesn't necessarily mean that it's no longer in the store.

Cinisajoy · 05-18-2016, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ntamas

Thanks for the infos.

But that is not quite right because there are many apps in the store available officialy only in the US so you can download it there or via VPN with US billing address but if you are outside of US, you'll get the "not available for purchase" message. So it doesn't necessarily mean that it's no longer in the store.

Agree and disagree.
I am in the United States. My billing address is the United States.
As it turns out, the ones you linked are no longer available to anyone.
I got the same message.

Now tell you what, if you run across that message again, feel free to pm me and I will see if it is US only or if the developer took it down.

Now not on Active Content but on several books I picked up in 2012 and 2013, if I go to the book page, I get no longer available for purchase.
I think what happened is some authors/developers put their books/apps up for sale at Amazon and didn't make the money they thought they would. Rather than deal with what would be considered very little money here in the states, they just pulled their product.
I am talking less than $50 a year.

Good luck finding active content since Amazon no longer really supports it.

ntamas · 05-18-2016, 02:51 PM

Quote:

the ones you linked are no longer available to anyone.

Regarding Keyboard compatibility, that's true. But Utility Kit is avaliable for other devices as well. It sometimes appears in the best seller list of Kindle Active contents. So it's probably an existing one. Regarding the other two you are absolutely right.

Quote:

Now tell you what, if you run across that message again, feel free to pm me and I will see if it is US only or if the developer took it down.

Thanks for the offer. Well, via VPN trick I might get exactly the same results as you. But the interesting thing is that my Keyboard is a wifi only version and of course I don't set any VPN-s, proxies and other things to connect the device to the whispernet (or what is the name of it) and I always get the same results as if I loaded amazon site with VPN from a PC.

I don't really understand how this whispernet works but I get the wifi signal from a Hungarian network. So I think you can connect from anywhere to the whispernet where there is a wifi connection and the site or the Kindle store (on Kindle devices) show the results in accordance with the country settings and billing address.

Because if you connect from Europe (for example via VPN + a European country + billing address) or try to connect from the US but with for example PW3, then you'll get the same "not available" messages.

Quote:

Good luck finding active content since Amazon no longer really supports it.

Well, they can be easily found if you sign in from the US. Otherwise they seem to be non-existent.

But I don't really understand the conception of selling these apps. If they are already drm protected anyway, why don't they sell them worldwide or with discount? Moreover, if it's true that they're deprecated.

Quote:

Now not on Active Content but on several books

Yes, and those apps (I refered to) with adult contents have also a kindle ebook version, and the publisher is the same, but at the same time app is not available while the ebook version is. Just like in case of Fluid, but I'm gonna write some other titles as well.

And what about my other questions about PW3?

like: .active-content-data folder on PW3 (why?)

There is the "active" inscription next to the apps in my library listing and the context menu consist of the same items: Add to Collection, Open, Description, Support, Get Latest Version, Delete. But when I tap to the Open I get something like: this type of content is not compatible with this device. But if it's true, why DOES it recognize the active content at all?

I have the version 5.7.4.1, so can it run somehow azw2 apps

I wondered if there is a way to use dictionaries for the texts of azw2 apps?

knc1 · 05-18-2016, 03:05 PM

Because, as stated above, all Kindles with firmware more recent than 2.5.<something> support active content documents.

Which is why KUAL works on all devices except K1 and K2/DX with non-current firmware.
It is an active content document - try it - it works just fine on your PW-3.

= = = =

When Amazon writes: "Active Content not supported by Amazon"
It means exactly what it says.
Note that it makes no mention of the support present on **Amazon Devices** - it is only a statement of company policy, not a technical review of the device capability.

Same when Amazon writes: "Custom, after-market add-ons are not supported by Amazon".
It means exactly what it says.
Note that it does not make any statement about Mobileread supporting after-market add-ons, nor on the Kindle devices ability to run such additions.

= = = =

There are thousands of members, and an unknown number of non-members that would be very surprised to be told the things they download from this site don't actually work.

Cinisajoy · 05-18-2016, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ntamas

Regarding Keyboard compatibility, that's true. But Utility Kit is avaliable for other devices as well. It sometimes appears in the best seller list of Kindle Active contents. So it's probably an existing one. Regarding the other two you are absolutely right.

Thanks for the offer. Well, via VPN trick I might get exactly the same results as you. But the interesting thing is that my Keyboard is a wifi only version and of course I don't set any VPN-s, proxies and other things to connect the device to the whispernet (or what is the name of it) and I always get the same results as if I loaded amazon site with VPN from a PC.

I don't really understand how this whispernet works but I get the wifi signal from a Hungarian network. So I think you can connect from anywhere to the whispernet where there is a wifi connection and the site or the Kindle store (on Kindle devices) show the results in accordance with the country settings and billing address.

Because if you connect from Europe (for example via VPN + a European country + billing address) or try to connect from the US but with for example PW3, then you'll get the same "not available" messages.

Well, they can be easily found if you sign in from the US. Otherwise they seem to be non-existent.

But I don't really understand the conception of selling these apps. If they are already drm protected anyway, why don't they sell them worldwide or with discount? Moreover, if it's true that they're deprecated.

Yes, and those apps (I refered to) with adult contents have also a kindle ebook version, and the publisher is the same, but at the same time app is not available while the ebook version is. Just like in case of Fluid, but I'm gonna write some other titles as well.

And what about my other questions about PW3?

like: .active-content-data folder on PW3 (why?)

There is the "active" inscription next to the apps in my library listing and the context menu consist of the same items: Add to Collection, Open, Description, Support, Get Latest Version, Delete. But when I tap to the Open I get something like: this type of content is not compatible with this device. But if it's true, why DOES it recognize the active content at all?

I have the version 5.7.4.1, so can it run somehow azw2 apps

I wondered if there is a way to use dictionaries for the texts of azw2 apps?

On the Fluid one, what probably happened was the app either didn't go over as well as the developer hoped or people couldn't figure out how to use it and the developer was spending major time doing customer service.
Whichever it may have been, it sounds like the developer didn't want to keep it up for sale.

Oh and on your first link, I said no clue as to why it doesn't work for you.

Cinisajoy · 05-18-2016, 03:34 PM

I see the active content book for Fluid is not available but the other book is.
Question though, what makes you think Fluid is adult content?
Nothing in the description or categories fits with adult content.
Of course he did place it in logic puzzles.
That description read young adult to me.

Now it may be our different countries but here adult content means for 18 years and over. Typically involves graphic sex.

ntamas · 05-18-2016, 05:39 PM

Well, thanks for the answers. Now I understand how to interpret active content support.

So PW3 also can run azw2 apps via KUAL but I suppose azw2 apps downloaded from Kindle store won't work, will they?

And I suppose there is no way to use dictionaries for the texts of azw2 apps, is there?

It only says this: Please note: Fluid contains content that may be inappropriate for children.

However you must be right because this doesn't imply to sexual content.

NiLuJe · 05-18-2016, 05:42 PM

No. KUAL *is* an an Active Content. It launches *stuff*, not other Active Content, the system does that just fine on its own.

ntamas · 05-18-2016, 06:27 PM

ntamas · 05-18-2016, 06:31 PM

Otherwise, you don't really have to search for active contents. All of them can be found here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html...011&pldnSite=1

Cinisajoy · 05-18-2016, 06:46 PM

Relooked at Fluid. The one not available says may not be suitable for children. The ebook for sale does not say that.
Now just from the covers of those you linked, I would agree they are not suitable for children but do not really fall into what is considered adult content in the US. Gray area.
Oh and none of those active fiction books were available here either.

I know a couple of years back, people were trying that idea but from what I heard the sales were not good.

05-18-2016, 11:58 AM	#1
ntamas Zealot Posts: 106 Karma: 875040 Join Date: May 2016 Location: Hungary Device: Kindle paperwhite 3 + Kindle keyboard	PW3 & azw2 support + miscellaneous questions Hello! I have Paperwhite 3 and a Keyboard. I'm not an expert at jailbreaking kindles at all. I noticed that there is an .active-content-data folder on PW3 as well. But it's always empty. So this implies that PW3 supports Kindle Active Content somehow. Though Amazon support wrote me the following: Kindle active content is not compatible with Fire tablets, Kindle Paperwhite (7th Generation), Kindle (7th Generation), Kindle Voyage, and Kindle reading apps. Then I thought, if this is the case I should buy a used Keyboard with azw2 support. I decided to buy the Keyboard because it supports a wide range of active contents. As you can see I'm not from the US, so I had to trick the system by making another amazon account with settings like US billing address, US country, US VPN and by registering my Keyboard to that account. So now, I'm able to download, purchase kindle active contents. But there are apps that I still can't buy though. And I don't know why. Let's see three examples: http://www.amazon.com/Utility-Kit/dp/B00AYIR57E This is not compatible with Keyboard but I don't know why because I don't think that the application itself relies only on touchscreens. But it's OK, I can accept that there are a few apps not compatible with Keyboard. Most of them are. http://www.amazon.com/Fluid/dp/B00793C3K6 This is compatible with it but somehow it can't be purchased. There is a short reference why you are not allowed to buy it. This title is not available for some devices because the media content and file delivery are not optimized for those devices. As far as I can tell these titles/apps (I remember there are others in interactive fiction category) are not available because of adult content. So the question is how can I cheat the system to let me buy those as well? I was searching a lot where you can set your age in your amazon account but no avail. http://www.amazon.com/Maze-A-Thon/dp...dp_product_img This one here is the strangest because it's compatible with Keyboard, there is no adult content, though you still can't buy it. WHY? Each of these says: This title is not currently available for purchase. Moreover, they are not listed on Keyboard's kindle store search and you can't even search them by typing @author <the author's name>. Why? You could list and buy at least those being compatible with Keyboard. So the active content data folder on PW3 aroused my interest and I decided to copy some of those azw2s to my PW3. And it was an astonishing discovery for me to find out that PW3 is able to recognize them. There is the "active" inscription next to the apps in my library listing and the context menu consist of the same items: Add to Collection, Open, Description, Support, Get Latest Version, Delete. But when I tap to the Open I get something like: this type of content is not compatible with this device. But if it's true, why DOES it recognize the active content at all? (I mean the menus, the inscription next to the app's name) And if you just tap on description it opens the kindle store version of item description and it says: Currently unavailable. But you can still read all the information and the reviews lol. I fully understand that there are apps requiring keyboard or at least the 5-way navigation button, such as Inheritance. But I can hardly imagine that none of these(I mean all the kindle active contents) apps are compatible with PW3. I think, at least apps compatible with PW2 must be compatible with PW3 as well. I have the version 5.7.4.1, so can it run somehow azw2 apps or should I be satisfied with Keyboard compatibility? Otherwise I usually read interactive fictions on Keyboard so I wondered if there is a way to use dictionaries for the texts of azw2 apps? Thanks for your replies.

05-18-2016, 12:11 PM	#2
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	No clue on the first one. On the other two, it means the apps have been pulled from Amazon and are no longer available. The reason you still see them is because there has to be a copy for those that already own it. My guess would be either they didn't sell like the developer thought they should or they violated someone else's copyright or trademark. Has nothing to do with adult content. On the fluid one, it was designed for your keyboard but has been pulled from the store. Little hint, Anytime you see not available for purchase, it means that it is no longer in the store. Brb. I want to look something up. Just learned something. If the developer pulls it, Amazon keeps a copy. If Amazon pulls it, you get page not found. Last edited by Cinisajoy; 05-18-2016 at 12:21 PM.

05-18-2016, 12:57 PM	#3
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,477 Karma: 26012492 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	Active Content has been deprecated by Amazon, but is (as of current FW) still supported on all the Kindle eInk line (provided FW >= 2.5). It is known to be broken on a number of select combinations of devices/FW versions, but should be working fine on current (as of now) FW versions. As for the compatibility issues, yes, perfectly normal. There are two major versions of the framework, one for touch devices (KDK 2), one for non-touch devices (KDK 1). Stuff built for KDK1 won't run on KDK2, and vice-versa. A number of the official apps were never updated for KDK2. Last edited by NiLuJe; 05-18-2016 at 01:00 PM.

05-18-2016, 03:05 PM	#8
knc1 Going Viral Posts: 17,212 Karma: 18210809 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Central Texas Device: No K1, PW2, KV, KOA	Because, as stated above, all Kindles with firmware more recent than 2.5.<something> support active content documents. Which is why KUAL works on all devices except K1 and K2/DX with non-current firmware. It is an active content document - try it - it works just fine on your PW-3. = = = = When Amazon writes: "Active Content not supported by Amazon" It means exactly what it says. Note that it makes no mention of the support present on Amazon Devices - it is only a statement of company policy, not a technical review of the device capability. Same when Amazon writes: "Custom, after-market add-ons are not supported by Amazon". It means exactly what it says. Note that it does not make any statement about Mobileread supporting after-market add-ons, nor on the Kindle devices ability to run such additions. = = = = There are thousands of members, and an unknown number of non-members that would be very surprised to be told the things they download from this site don't actually work. Last edited by knc1; 05-18-2016 at 03:20 PM.

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05-18-2016, 03:34 PM	#10
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	I see the active content book for Fluid is not available but the other book is. Question though, what makes you think Fluid is adult content? Nothing in the description or categories fits with adult content. Of course he did place it in logic puzzles. That description read young adult to me. Now it may be our different countries but here adult content means for 18 years and over. Typically involves graphic sex.

05-18-2016, 05:39 PM	#11
ntamas Zealot Posts: 106 Karma: 875040 Join Date: May 2016 Location: Hungary Device: Kindle paperwhite 3 + Kindle keyboard	Well, thanks for the answers. Now I understand how to interpret active content support. So PW3 also can run azw2 apps via KUAL but I suppose azw2 apps downloaded from Kindle store won't work, will they? And I suppose there is no way to use dictionaries for the texts of azw2 apps, is there? It only says this: Please note: Fluid contains content that may be inappropriate for children. However you must be right because this doesn't imply to sexual content.

05-18-2016, 05:42 PM	#12
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,477 Karma: 26012492 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	No. KUAL is an an Active Content. It launches stuff, not other Active Content, the system does that just fine on its own.

05-18-2016, 06:27 PM	#13
ntamas Zealot Posts: 106 Karma: 875040 Join Date: May 2016 Location: Hungary Device: Kindle paperwhite 3 + Kindle keyboard	So that means I can't run my downloaded apps from Kindle Store. I just wanted to somehow mix the two features: the multi dictionary support from PW3 and the active content from Keyboard. So I would understand the unknown words in interactive stories. Cinisajoy: I found other titles for you: http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Dumped...608928&sr=1-34 http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Dumped...608928&sr=1-43 https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Dumpe...l-text&sr=1-15 http://www.amazon.com/Witchs-Brew-Sp...608928&sr=1-36 https://www.amazon.com/Witchs-Brew-S...al-text&sr=1-2 http://www.amazon.com/Arcania-Trial-...608928&sr=1-40 http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Fuel-Tria...608971&sr=1-49 http://www.amazon.com/Unbound-The-En...608928&sr=1-42 http://www.amazon.com/King-Solomons-...608928&sr=1-45 https://www.amazon.com/King-Solomons...al-text&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.com/Post-Mortem-Pa...608928&sr=1-47 https://www.amazon.com/Post-Mortem-P...al-text&sr=1-3 http://www.amazon.com/Totlandia-The-...608928&sr=1-48 http://www.amazon.com/Totlandia-The-...608971&sr=1-51 http://www.amazon.com/Totlandia-The-...609896&sr=1-36 https://www.amazon.com/Totlandia-Boo...al-text&sr=1-3 https://www.amazon.com/Totlandia-Con...l-text&sr=1-18 https://www.amazon.com/Totlandia-Con...f_=pd_cp_298_1 http://www.amazon.com/King-Solomons-...608971&sr=1-52 https://www.amazon.com/King-Solomons...al-text&sr=1-6 http://www.amazon.com/Georgetown-Aca...608971&sr=1-50 https://www.amazon.com/Georgetown-Ac...al-text&sr=1-5 http://www.amazon.com/Georgetown-Aca...3610124&sr=1-3 https://www.amazon.com/Georgetown-Ac...al-text&sr=1-8 http://www.amazon.com/Georgetown-Aca...3610124&sr=1-1 https://www.amazon.com/Georgetown-Ac...al-text&sr=1-4 Not all of them can be downloaded as active content and ebook. But some of them can have adult content.

05-18-2016, 06:31 PM	#14
ntamas Zealot Posts: 106 Karma: 875040 Join Date: May 2016 Location: Hungary Device: Kindle paperwhite 3 + Kindle keyboard	Otherwise, you don't really have to search for active contents. All of them can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html...011&pldnSite=1

05-18-2016, 06:46 PM	#15
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	Relooked at Fluid. The one not available says may not be suitable for children. The ebook for sale does not say that. Now just from the covers of those you linked, I would agree they are not suitable for children but do not really fall into what is considered adult content in the US. Gray area. Oh and none of those active fiction books were available here either. I know a couple of years back, people were trying that idea but from what I heard the sales were not good.

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