Creating categories on a KPW3?

[1voyager2]

I bought my KPW3 [S/N G090 G105; FW 5.11.1.1] Nov. 2018 during the Holiday closeout sale.
I thought I was lucky because I got one with out the ads without thew extra cost.
I registered it and then disconnected it from the I-net.
I had not used it much until recently when I have read a few books on it, trying to break away from using audiobooks.

Somehow or another it was reconnected, and a rash of garbage has begun to show up on my KPW, books I do not want, previews of book I do not want, and so on.
So, I disconnected it again.

As long as I was messing around with it, I decided to try creating some categories.
All category options are greyed out.
Going on line, I find that all workarounds I can find are quite old and do not seem to apply to this model or firmware version.
Is there any way to create categories without leaving my KPW open to invasion by Amazon?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by 1voyager2

I bought my KPW3 [S/N G090 G105; FW 5.11.1.1] Nov. 2018 during the Holiday closeout sale.
I thought I was lucky because I got one with out the ads without thew extra cost.
I registered it and then disconnected it from the I-net.
I had not used it much until recently when I have read a few books on it, trying to break away from using audiobooks.

Somehow or another it was reconnected, and a rash of garbage has begun to show up on my KPW, books I do not want, previews of book I do not want, and so on.
So, I disconnected it again.

As long as I was messing around with it, I decided to try creating some categories.
All category options are greyed out.
Going on line, I find that all workarounds I can find are quite old and do not seem to apply to this model or firmware version.
Is there any way to create categories without leaving my KPW open to invasion by Amazon?

If the Kindle is registered, then you can create collections without the internet connection. If you deregistered it, then it won't work. And you can disable the homescreen view with recommendations, in the settings. All my Kindles just show the list of books actually on the devices, nothing else (you must choose the option "Downloaded", not "All", on the homescreen).

[1voyager2]

I'm glad it works for you.
Since disconnecting, the All selection is no longer available, only Downloaded books are shown.
As I understand, that is because the All option includes the cloud stored books and is not available if not connected to the i-net.
Anyway, my Kindle is registered and is shown as being so online.
I registered it for warranty concerns.

Both of the 2 Collections links I can find are greyed out.
They're not accessible.
Am I missing something that needs to be done to be able to create collections?
Or, has Amazon changed the rules since you got yours?

[Sirtel]

I have the latest firmware on my Oasis. Both the All and Downloaded options work even in the airplane mode. When you tap the three dots in the upper right corner of the home screen, do you see the option "Create New Collection"?

[Barbara1955]

Looks like you got ads
On internet thru Wifi... go make sure its registered to the account your e-books are. Go to Settings ... Device Options... Advance Options.... Update Your Kindle.

[1voyager2]

It does seem that I have learned something here.
After going back online and digging around in Amazon and other areas, I'm beginning to understand what's going on.

When I "registered" my KPW it was not for warranty confirmation.
It was signing up for their cloud service and all that goes with it, want it or not.
When I disengaged from the cloud I "unregistered" my reader.
Creating categories is done in the cloud, not in the reader.
At some point [a firmware update] the ability to set up categories was removed from the reader.
A later firmware update made "jailbreaking" too difficult to do.
At least no one has again figured out how to do it.

By using their cloud "service" you do more than just use it.
You also allow them access to your reader.
Apparently, in any way they want to.
Remember the incidents where they were caught deleting books, that people had bought, from their e-readers, and I believe making other modifications too, at least a couple of times.
Nothing to indicate they have removed that ability, only promised they won't do it again.
Yeah, sure.

It seems that I will not be able to create categories unless I re-register my reader and give Amazon full access to it again.
Not going to happen.
I was just curious as to how to set them up.
I'll continue to store my e-books on my PC and only upload a few at a time to the reader.
Don't really need more than that.
Thanks folks for your input.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by 1voyager2

It does seem that I have learned something here.
After going back online and digging around in Amazon and other areas, I'm beginning to understand what's going on.

When I "registered" my KPW it was not for warranty confirmation.
It was signing up for their cloud service and all that goes with it, want it or not.
When I disengaged from the cloud I "unregistered" my reader.
Creating categories is done in the cloud, not in the reader.
At some point [a firmware update] the ability to set up categories was removed from the reader.
A later firmware update made "jailbreaking" too difficult to do.
At least no one has again figured out how to do it.

By using their cloud "service" you do more than just use it.
You also allow them access to your reader.
Apparently, in any way they want to.
Remember the incidents where they were caught deleting books, that people had bought, from their e-readers, and I believe making other modifications too, at least a couple of times.
Nothing to indicate they have removed that ability, only promised they won't do it again.
Yeah, sure.

It seems that I will not be able to create categories unless I re-register my reader and give Amazon full access to it again.
Not going to happen.
I was just curious as to how to set them up.
I'll continue to store my e-books on my PC and only upload a few at a time to the reader.
Don't really need more than that.
Thanks folks for your input.

If you re-register, you can then disconnect from wi-fi and you will be able to create collections ("categories"). As long as you don't connect to wi-fi, Amazon can't see what's on your Kindle, and definitely can't remove anything.

Shari

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by 1voyager2

Somehow or another it was reconnected, and a rash of garbage has begun to show up on my KPW, books I do not want, previews of book I do not want, and so on.

Amazon do not send anything “unasked” in the way of content to your Kindle, unless you have the ad-supported model, when you’ll get ads on the lock-screen and at the bottom of the home page. You’ll certainly never get either books or previews of books unless you specifically send them there.

I’m wondering if you’re perhaps referring to the “reading recommendations” area of the home page? This can be turned off in the settings if you prefer not to see recommendations.

[BookCat]

As most people on this site know, I don't have wifi, not at all, not in the least. Therefore, my kindle cannot contact the internet. I sideload all books.

For several years I used my PW2 unregistered, but wanted to: use Collections and update the firmware so that I could use custom fonts. So I went to a friend's, borrowed his wifi, and registered my kindle. I then updated the firmware.

Hey, I had access to Collections!

But, I also had a horrid home screen with 'recommended' books, even though the kindle was NOT in contact with the internet (no wifi). Through mobileread peeps, I learned that those three dots in the upper right of the home screen are your friends. They're responsible for so many things.
For example:

To switch off that horrid Home Screen, touch the dots and choose Settings. Then go to Device Options. Next go to Advanced Options; here you'll find Home Screen View, just change it to Off and that horrid screen is gone!

For Collections, provided your device is registered (even if it never looks at the internet again, like mine), touch the three dots and you'll see an option for Create New Collection. Create ahead!

To repeat, apart from registration, my kindle is in permanent airplane mode. Amazon can't spy on it, take anything away, nor add anything. I have to put books on it from the computer, which is connected via ethernet.

Don't worry, they're not out to get you.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by BookCat

Don't worry, they're not out to get you.

Oh they are. Absolutely out to totally exploit your reading habits and monetise your information.

I no longer post what I've read to Social Media or Goodreads (Amazon owned). Why should I help exploitive companies to update their marketing profiles?

If you add books a few at a time via USB there is no difficulty in adding them to Collections/Categories and creating those as long as the Kindle is registered. ONCE.

Amazon ought to be:
1) Allowing people to create collections without registering.
2) Allowing people to switch off sync collections with Cloud.
Their present methods might be illegal in EU unless there is adequate auditing of privacy.
Ignore warning messages and only connect WiFi to look up WiKipedia info in a book. Pick Download to PC and transfer via USB when purchasing from Amazon.

Buying an ebook reader or ebooks does not give Amazon any legal right to collect the information that they collect (in EU anyway and morally elsewhere), even if they have T&C that claim they have the right. It's exploitive and immoral.