PW4 Custom screensaver for the PW4 latest firmware?

[Micael Jarniac]

Hi! I just got my first Kindle Paperwhite 4 last week (G000PP - Kindle PaperWhite 4 (2018) WiFi, 8GB - PW4) (no ADs), and it's running the latest firmware (Kindle 5.13.1 (3643170037)).

When it arrived, it was probably on a much earlier FW, but I connected it to WiFi and used it for a while, and on the same day it restarted on its own and updated to the latest FW.

I did buy it wishing to jailbreak it, but I didn't know if I wanted to jailbreak I was supposed to absolutely not let it update itself, so I was just using it normally, to then experiment with jailbreaking later.

It took a couple of days for me to get super annoyed with the screensavers, so I started doing my research, and I found many things.

Everything pointed me to jailbreaking as the only way to customize the screensaver, and everything about jailbreaking indicated that if the firmware is up-to-date, there's nothing I can do.

So I'm pretty sure jailbreaking won't be possible, but I decided to ask if there's any other way for configuring the screensaver without jailbreaking.

Just to clarify, I don't want to enable the ADs. I don't like the screensavers, but if the only options are those or ADs, I'm better with the screensavers.

And I know that I can hold the power button for like 9 seconds and hit "SCREEN OFF" to have a plain white screen instead of the screensavers, but holding the power button for 9ish seconds and clicking on that every time I want to lock the screen is not a valid option either.

I also don't want to buy a cover just to hide the screensaver. I like my Kindle without a cover, and since I'm not even going out at all, the cover would just be an annoyance. And I'm pretty sure the cover will just "cover" the screensavers, but they'll still be there, hiding under it.

I'd love to have my own custom screensaver on it, but I'd be happy with just purging the existing ones for now.

I'm considering to pop out the screen and connect _stuff_ to the serial port in order to do _stuff_, but not for now. Not only did there not seem to be a working serial jailbreak yet, I also don't want to risk my new device just now.

I've also heard of the `~ds` thingy, even tried it once, but I don't really like that option. From my testing, it seemed to not turn off the frontlight at all, basically, so I'd have to always make sure the light is disabled, or something like that, and it also undoes itself if I reboot, so that'd get annoying.

I'd love to jailbreak my Kindle, but what I want the most right now is to get rid of the screensavers. If there actually is a working way of jailbreaking on the latest FW, I couldn't find it, and would love to know it!

I did search quite a lot about it, so I'm posting here as sort of my last option.

And don't get me wrong, the screensavers do seem like quite well made images, but they're not the kind of images I want to be forced to look at all the time.

PS. If you didn't guess already, my goal is to have my logo (the profile picture I'm using here) as the screensaver! It's quite clean and simple, IMO, and I love it, so having it as my screensaver would be awesome!

[Gandulf]

Just flip the kindle over so you see the back

[hius07]

You can jailbreak it.

[Micael Jarniac]

Originally Posted by Gandulf

Just flip the kindle over so you see the back :rofl:

Clever trick xD

[Micael Jarniac]

Originally Posted by hius07

You can jailbreak it.

Can I?!

I searched quite a lot and couldn't find a way of jailbreaking it. The [Open Sesame!](https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=320564) topic says that the PW4 is only supported up to FW 5.10.1.3.

And as for serial jailbreaking (something I'd rather avoid for now), the [PW4 Serial Jailbreaking](https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=313438) topic doesn't seem to lead anywhere.

[Barbara1955]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Closes like a Book so you Never have to see the screen saver!

[Micael Jarniac]

Originally Posted by Barbara1955

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Closes like a Book so you Never have to see the screen saver!

I have a theory Amazon is delaying the addition of customizable screensavers because they fear people will finally have an alternative to buying covers, thus they'll sell less covers.

[hius07]

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...&postcount=782

[Micael Jarniac]

Originally Posted by hius07

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...&postcount=782

Thank you very much! I'll message them.

[Micael Jarniac]

[RandomGiraffe]

Yay!

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by Micael Jarniac

I have a theory Amazon is delaying the addition of customizable screensavers because they fear people will finally have an alternative to buying covers, thus they'll sell less covers.

A screen saver doesn't protect a Kindle. What shows on the screen has nothing to do with that. I never stare at the sleeping Kindle. I wake it up, swipe it, and read. I generally just leave the book open that I'm reading. I always use a cover on my Kindles.

I don't care what shows on screen, as long as it's not that skeletor Emily Dickinson pic that was on the K2. When the screen refreshed, she always tried to kill me.

[Micael Jarniac]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

A screen saver doesn't protect a Kindle. What shows on the screen has nothing to do with that. I never stare at the sleeping Kindle. I wake it up, swipe it, and read. I generally just leave the book open that I'm reading. I always use a cover on my Kindles.

I don't care what shows on screen, as long as it's not that skeletor Emily Dickinson pic that was on the K2. When the screen refreshed, she always tried to kill me.

I do want to eventually buy a cover for mine, preferably one of those with the magnetic lid that wakes the screen when I open it.

But as for now, my Kindle has never been outside my home anyways, so I don't need that much protection on it. And I really like the thickness and overall feel of my Kindle, so I do have a bit of concern that the cover might spoil that a tiny bit.

I do agree, however, that the screensaver has absolutely noting of a "saver", and is arguably even worse for the screen than if it was nonexistent, as it makes the screen go through a refresh cycle when it appears, and another one when it disappears, wasting power and potentially even shortening the lifespan of the screen.

[starcrys]

Originally Posted by Micael Jarniac

Oh! You got your PW4 jailbroke (that's your custom screensaver right)?

[Micael Jarniac]

Originally Posted by starcrys

Oh! You got your PW4 jailbroke (that's your custom screensaver right)?

I did! Wasn't easy - quite a trip, to be honest - but all went well, as far as I can see. I'm on the latest firmware, 5.13.1, with my custom screensaver, and am thinking about trying KoReader soon.