Firmware update 5.12.4

[Dee Q]

One restart a day and it finally shows up on my PaperWhite (10th Gen). Still don't understand why they play this "over the next couple of weeks" game though.

[John Hopper]

Originally Posted by Dee Q

One restart a day and it finally shows up on my PaperWhite (10th Gen). Still don't understand why they play this "over the next couple of weeks" game though.

I now have it on both my Voyage and Oasis 3.

Sent from my SM-N976B using Tapatalk

[anca2604]

I am still waiting for the updated look to show up on my Oasis. I don't like the new font section, however. Is it now just one drop menu where all fonts are listed? And are custom fonts still supported?

[93terp]

Finally got the updated Aa menu on all 3 of my Kindles. Not sure why they bothered...completely useless update as there's no new capability (that I can see), just a rearrangement of the menu items. And what happened to the screensaver part of the update?

[Pjama]

Originally Posted by 93terp

Finally got the updated Aa menu on all 3 of my Kindles. Not sure why they bothered...completely useless update as there's no new capability (that I can see), just a rearrangement of the menu items. And what happened to the screensaver part of the update?

That was never an official part of the update. Someone on here dug around in the code and found something relating to changing screensavers to book covers. So it might happen in the future, but nothing has been announced by amazon.

Yeah, it’s a very 'so what' update, but I think the new menus look nice. I hate how the custom fonts and official fonts are all jumbled up though.

[fogice]

Originally Posted by Pjama

Yeah, it’s a very 'so what' update, but I think the new menus look nice. I hate how the custom fonts and official fonts are all jumbled up though.

Can you rename your custom fonts with a special leading symbol to group them?

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Pjama

That was never an official part of the update. Someone on here dug around in the code and found something relating to changing screensavers to book covers. So it might happen in the future, but nothing has been announced by amazon.

The Kindle firmware contains a number of features that are not enabled for regular users and may never be. They are labeled as "experiments" in the software.

The option to use the book cover as a screensaver is one of those. I suspect that it is still under development but will come eventually in a future firmware release.

Originally Posted by Pjama

I hate how the custom fonts and official fonts are all jumbled up though.

Personally, I like how side-loaded fonts are now on equal footing with the built-in ones.

[Richwood]

Al my units updated Monday. Once updated the Aa choice from within a book is in a larger font size and the "Page Display" message after the Aa is gone. Mini menu after choosing Aa is also gone. From a photo posted above the font choices get a scroll bar if enough custom fonts added. Three of the four AA menu choices basically unchanged other than page layout and names for two of them.

New "More" menu greatly expanded compared to the old "Reading" menu. Now includes the following, with scroll bar and some secondary page menus.

Reading Progress (has secondary menu)
Show clock while reading *
Book Mentions *
About This Book *
Popular Highlights *
Highlight Menu *
"Word Wise" with secondary menu for English and Chinese choices as well as a "Hints" choice on/off toggle.
Pinyin * Show pronunciation guides above Chinese characters.

* Indicates a on/off choice toggle only.

Looks like an attempt to centralize some settings with some new ones including Chinese language support enhancements. I presume this means that China has become a very worthwhile reader market.

BTW one Oasis updated itself without a restart so no choice in the matter other than leaving the unit in Airplane mode apparently.

[Quoth]

Can someone tell the current crop of GUI so called "designers" that an image of a slide switch for a check box/button that has to be clicked or tapped is STUPID?
It's bad on Desktop GUIs.
It's poor on touch screens (Kobo, Kindle, Android)
Really stupid on eink.

[John Hopper]

Originally Posted by jhowell

The Kindle firmware contains a number of features that are not enabled for regular users and may never be. They are labeled as "experiments" in the software.



The option to use the book cover as a screensaver is one of those. I suspect that it is still under development but will come eventually in a future firmware release.









Personally, I like how side-loaded fonts are now on equal footing with the built-in ones.

Out of interest, can you say what the other experimental features you found are?

Sent from my SM-N976B using Tapatalk

[shamanNS]

FONT_RAMP thing is "experimental" 5+ years

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Can someone tell the current crop of GUI so called "designers" that an image of a slide switch for a check box/button that has to be clicked or tapped is STUPID?
It's bad on Desktop GUIs.
It's poor on touch screens (Kobo, Kindle, Android)
Really stupid on eink.

You can slide the switch if you want, you don't have to just tap it. It is nice that you have the choice of sliding or tapping, though.

[Richwood]

It looks to me like with the Aa update implemented that my Kindle readers have returned to the lower battery drain when off mode. One Oasis, fully charged, stayed at 100% battery power all night it appears. I also note that both the 10th generation PW and the current Kindle Basic enter a full sleep mode if off long enough as they both show a waking up sign, like the Oasis 2 and 3, when the cover is opened and time till the menu or book being shown is delayed a bit. Both are no advertising units so no swiping required. Will this increase battery charge life compared to older Kindle readers?

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by shamanNS

FONT_RAMP thing is "experimental" 5+ years

I think it is more likely that FONT_RAMP is an internal use tool rather than an experimental feature.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Richwood

It looks to me like with the Aa update implemented that my Kindle readers have returned to the lower battery drain when off mode. One Oasis, fully charged, stayed at 100% battery power all night it appears. I also note that both the 10th generation PW and the current Kindle Basic enter a full sleep mode if off long enough as they both show a waking up sign, like the Oasis 2 and 3, when the cover is opened and time till the menu or book being shown is delayed a bit. Both are no advertising units so no swiping required. Will this increase battery charge life compared to older Kindle readers?

The battery saving of deep sleep is dramatic if the kindle is left off for days at a time. The saving depends on how frequently it is used and how long it is off between uses. Extra battery is used to go to deep sleep and to wake up from deep sleep. Worst case would be to read for 15 minutes once per hour, which would likely use way more battery than not having deep sleep at all. It would be interesting to know how many deep sleep sessions per day are enough to cross over to battery wasting. From all the complaints about the 2017 Oasis battery charge life, I'm guessing that it might be as low as 2 or 3.