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You don't have to jailbreak your Kindle, or render images. You can just point its web browser at any webpage you design, and disable the Kindle's "screensaver"

You don't have to jailbreak your Kindle, or render images. You can just point its web browser at any webpage you design, and disable the Kindle's "screensaver" (its ads or sleep screen) with debug commands [1, 2]. You'll be stuck with a browser bar along some edge of the Kindle (you can rotate the device orientation to put it at the bottom or right edge), but it's a small price to pay for being able to write your weather/transit/news screen in easy HTML/CSS/JS and whatever backend language you want, and run it on a cheap DigitalOcean $4 instance or whatever. [1] https://blog.notfaqs.com/2018/06/kindle-e-reader-disable-screensaver.html https://blog.notfaqs.com/2018/06/kindle-e-reader-disable-scr... [2] https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198334 https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198334

cptcobalt 2y ago
It would be even cooler if Amazon also encouraged and built a "Kiosk mode" browser view of the kindle for this sort of display hacking.
- FrecklySunbeam 2y ago
  (author here) I've also been thinking about this - I've since built out a Rust library (https://github.com/lily-mara/kindling https://github.com/lily-mara/kindling) for scaffolding the server piece of this and I've been considering creating a Kindle client app that integrates with it. This is possible but would require using the Kindle Java SDK, which does not fill me with excitement.
  - stavros 2y ago
    That would be fantastic, although even just the way you've done this here is great. I've got a few old Kindles that would be good to convert to displays, and if I could just install a server and a client, it would take a lot of the work out of it.
    - FrecklySunbeam 2y ago
      No matter what, jailbreaking would be the most difficult step in the process, but the library I linked above takes a lot of the work out of it. It's entirely undocumented atm (I am surely the only one using it), but it comes with an install script you can run on the Kindle to do the setup once you have the jailbreak done.
- crazygringo 2y ago
  They really ought to, it's a fantastic reuse mechanism. Like I totally understand why they wouldn't for new Kindles, since I assume part of their ebook sales help subsidize the hardware, but if they enabled it once a device hit 5 years old or something, I don't see what they'd have to lose.
  - robocat 2y ago
    > I don't see what they'd have to lose. If there is a cost or liability, then most businesses will avoid doing it. There usually has to be a clear financial benefit: businesses should make profits - they are not social services or hobbies. Fortunately businesses contain people and people often do altruistic things for non-financial reasons.
philips 2y ago
I am almost certain disable screensaver was removed for later Kindles.
- crazygringo 2y ago
  I didn't seem to be last I checked -- the older Kindles require the sequence: ;debugOn ~disableScreensaver ;debugOff while newer ones only require: ~ds I know that for some ad-supported Kindles it doesn't work unless you pay to remove the ads (for obvious reasons), but if you pay then it will. But last I checked was a couple of years ago. I'd be very curious if anyone can report it not working. (Also note the command doesn't survive reboot, you have to re-disable after rebooting.)
  - laserlight 2y ago
    Unfortunately, ~ds was disabled by a firmware update a few years ago.
    - crazygringo 2y ago
      Ugh, that sucks. Any idea how to determine which ones are affected? I.e. what firmware version, or which models it started affecting? Older models still support ~disableScreensaver -- at some point Amazon just stopped issuing firmware updates for them, I have to assume.
      - laserlight 2y ago
        How ironic that not having firmware updates is good... I found the following April 2022 Reddit thread [0] that I remember visiting back in the day. [0] https://old.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/u8u7up/disable_auto_sleep_mode_with_ds_dont_work_after/ https://old.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/u8u7up/disable_auto...
        bambax 2y ago
        > How ironic that not having firmware updates is good That's often the case, things going from good to worse. Cf. the removal of Manifest 2 on Chrome for instance.
DannyPage 2y ago
I looked into this with my 4th generation Kindle; it seems like it won't be able to use any HTTPS website due to invalid certificate. However, setting it up to talk to a server on my local network would be the way to go. Thanks for the idea!
colanderman 2y ago
I did this with an inkBOOK, which just runs Android. Loaded on a Chrome APK and pointed it at a webpage I made. `document.documentElement.requestFullscreen()` enters true fullscreen, no status bars. And my local transit service's API is accessible directly from web pages, no backend needed.

cptcobalt 2y ago

It would be even cooler if Amazon also encouraged and built a "Kiosk mode" browser view of the kindle for this sort of display hacking.

FrecklySunbeam 2y ago
(author here) I've also been thinking about this - I've since built out a Rust library (https://github.com/lily-mara/kindling https://github.com/lily-mara/kindling) for scaffolding the server piece of this and I've been considering creating a Kindle client app that integrates with it. This is possible but would require using the Kindle Java SDK, which does not fill me with excitement.
- stavros 2y ago
  That would be fantastic, although even just the way you've done this here is great. I've got a few old Kindles that would be good to convert to displays, and if I could just install a server and a client, it would take a lot of the work out of it.
  - FrecklySunbeam 2y ago
    No matter what, jailbreaking would be the most difficult step in the process, but the library I linked above takes a lot of the work out of it. It's entirely undocumented atm (I am surely the only one using it), but it comes with an install script you can run on the Kindle to do the setup once you have the jailbreak done.
crazygringo 2y ago
They really ought to, it's a fantastic reuse mechanism. Like I totally understand why they wouldn't for new Kindles, since I assume part of their ebook sales help subsidize the hardware, but if they enabled it once a device hit 5 years old or something, I don't see what they'd have to lose.
- robocat 2y ago
  > I don't see what they'd have to lose. If there is a cost or liability, then most businesses will avoid doing it. There usually has to be a clear financial benefit: businesses should make profits - they are not social services or hobbies. Fortunately businesses contain people and people often do altruistic things for non-financial reasons.

philips 2y ago

I am almost certain disable screensaver was removed for later Kindles.

crazygringo 2y ago
I didn't seem to be last I checked -- the older Kindles require the sequence: ;debugOn ~disableScreensaver ;debugOff while newer ones only require: ~ds I know that for some ad-supported Kindles it doesn't work unless you pay to remove the ads (for obvious reasons), but if you pay then it will. But last I checked was a couple of years ago. I'd be very curious if anyone can report it not working. (Also note the command doesn't survive reboot, you have to re-disable after rebooting.)
- laserlight 2y ago
  Unfortunately, ~ds was disabled by a firmware update a few years ago.
  - crazygringo 2y ago
    Ugh, that sucks. Any idea how to determine which ones are affected? I.e. what firmware version, or which models it started affecting? Older models still support ~disableScreensaver -- at some point Amazon just stopped issuing firmware updates for them, I have to assume.
    - laserlight 2y ago
      How ironic that not having firmware updates is good... I found the following April 2022 Reddit thread [0] that I remember visiting back in the day. [0] https://old.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/u8u7up/disable_auto_sleep_mode_with_ds_dont_work_after/ https://old.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/u8u7up/disable_auto...
      - bambax 2y ago
        > How ironic that not having firmware updates is good That's often the case, things going from good to worse. Cf. the removal of Manifest 2 on Chrome for instance.

DannyPage 2y ago

I looked into this with my 4th generation Kindle; it seems like it won't be able to use any HTTPS website due to invalid certificate. However, setting it up to talk to a server on my local network would be the way to go. Thanks for the idea!

colanderman 2y ago

I did this with an inkBOOK, which just runs Android. Loaded on a Chrome APK and pointed it at a webpage I made. `document.documentElement.requestFullscreen()` enters true fullscreen, no status bars. And my local transit service's API is accessible directly from web pages, no backend needed.