The Kindle Paperwhite it’s great to just isolate and get lost in your favorite fiction, endlessly scrolling through each page and devouring one book at a time. But if you have a bit of time, there are plenty of lesser-known things to catch up on.
In the video at the top of this page – and written instructions below – we show you tips and tricks for the Kindle Paperwhite 11th Generation. It’s worth noting, the apps are pretty much the same for most Kindle models, so while not all features will work on every model, most will. So even if you are looking for advice Kindle Oasis or Basic Kindle model there are things here for you to try.
1 – Prepare a warm light
We had to start with this one, because it was the new version of the Kindle Paperwhite when it launched. A change in relationship is good, but for many, it’s probably something you want to come up with in the evening while reading before bed. And there are two ways to prepare for it to come.
You can drop the shadow settings by clicking or hovering near the top of the page, clicking the down arrow and selecting ‘Schedule’ above the Warmth slider. Or you can click on ‘All Settings’, then select ‘Device Options’ and then ‘Warm Mode’.
To activate the feature, turn on the switch and select ‘automatic’ to turn it on and off at sunset. Or choose a manual time to start. Now change the Temperature class at the bottom of the page to change it as you want.
2 – Use the cover of your book as a screen lock
One added feature many Kindle’ software and the ability to use the cover art of the book you are reading as a lock screen image. No more random drawings. It’s one of the easiest and best features of the Kindle Paperwhite. Just go to ‘All Settings’ then ‘Device Options’ and toggle the switch at the top next to ‘Display Cover’.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021)
The Kindle Paperwhite offers a large display, brightness, waterproofing and color temperature control – but no page-turning buttons.
3 – Page-turning videos
By default, when reading, clicking or swiping to go to the next page will automatically scroll without animation. However, you can enable one if you want. Open the book you are reading and then click near the top to bring up the tool. Click the ‘Aa’ icon, and select ‘more’ from the pop-up window that appears.
If you scroll through the menu you will see an option that says ‘Page Turn Animation’. Turn this on and now every time you open a page, you will see a great transition between pages.
4 – Show the clock while reading
Another hidden feature of the Kindle Paperwhite that isn’t there by default is having a clock that appears at the top of the page. If you often get lost in your book and lose track of time you may find it necessary to turn it on. We find it very helpful to make sure we don’t spend too much time reading. Open the pop-up menu again by tapping the ‘Aa’ icon in the toolbar and selecting ‘More’. Now toggle the option near the top that says ‘show clock while reading’.
5 – Change the font size and your style
Undoubtedly one of the most important things to understand about Kindle is to change its style, size and layout, to make it as easy as possible for you to read. Open the same tools as the previous two instructions and click on ‘Font’.
The Font Family option at the top lets you choose styles, with 9 to choose from including popular fonts such as Helvetica, Futura and Bookerly. When you choose the one you want you can change the weight by tapping the combination next to the solid controller, and below that you can change the size.
If you have trouble reading because the lines are too close together, you can change the settings by clicking on ‘Format’ and choose one of the options with larger spaces between the lines. You can also change the size of the margins if you don’t want the text to spread across the page.
6 – Read in form
One interesting method that you may find useful is to read in the form of a text. In the same Layout menu as the previous tip, click on the zoom option under ‘Text’ and now the text will rotate 90 degrees, and you will be able to read it horizontally, in the form.
7 – Show the meaning of words above long or difficult words
Kindle has a feature called Word Wise, which only shows the meanings of words rather than any that may be difficult, or long. To do this, bring the tool up, click ‘Aa’ and then ‘More’ on the start screen. Scroll until you see ‘Smart words’ and select it. Turn it on and wait for the data to download, and now you will see the description appear above the long text.
Now you will also see ‘Smart Word’ in the bottom corner. Click it, and you’ll see a dropdown menu that lets you change how many descriptions you see. There is also an option that allows you to ‘unhide’ everything whenever you want.
8 – Create your voice
While reading any book you can long press on a word you don’t know and the dictionary definition will appear on the screen above it. Now, every time you do this, it adds these words to what Kindle calls the ‘Vocabulary Builder’.
To access this list while reading, just click on the top of the page, then click on the three dots in the corner and select ‘Word Maker’ and you will see all the words you have learned or are learning.
Click on any word to see the dictionary definition. Click ‘work’ to see where the word appeared, and in which book. If you want you can easily remove the word from the list, or when you are comfortable with the word, click on ‘mastered’ and the word will be moved to the ‘mastered’ list.
9 – Quick Archive
If you’re feeling like your Kindle storage is getting close, there’s a quick saver that lets you quickly delete any books or content you haven’t read recently. Go to ‘All Settings’, then ‘Device Options’ and ‘Technology Options’.
Now select ‘Storage management’ and select ‘Quick Archive’. Here you will find four options, with the ability to delete anything you haven’t opened in 1, 3 or 6 months and anything that hasn’t been read for more than a year.
10 – Browse the Internet
Interestingly, there is an experimental browser built into the Kindle app. On your home screen click the three dots in the corner, and select ‘Web Browser’. It will open – unsurprisingly – a browser, and you can browse your favorite website. Image clarity is a little difficult, but for text-heavy pages it’s fine.