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PiWrite – Kindle Paperwhite to Write
21–30 of 52 posts
Re: PiWrite – Kindle Paperwhite to Write
#22Probably a stupid question, but does Kindle have any "native" app support? I'm surprised the it even has a browser. I wonder what are the limitations?
I was wondering if Amazon, instead of wasting money and time on Fire phones/tablets, had poured a portion of that resource into making native Kindle apps a thing, maybe it could have a more compelling ecosystem by now.
It's unlikely that would have worked. 2 big ecosystems seems to be what the market will bear and choosing an Android base for the fire tablets makes a lot of sense.
Very few people are going to bother writing apps for another ecosystem. Also, more apps means less control by Amazon which won't fly
Re: PiWrite – Kindle Paperwhite to Write
#23Probably a stupid question, but does Kindle have any "native" app support? I'm surprised the it even has a browser. I wonder what are the limitations?
Nope, no app store, no way of installing apps (other than rooting a device). If you want to do anything other than read, I'd definitely recommend something running Android underneath.
way before the kindle fire you could in fact buy "active content" for kindles on the amazon storefront. I recall buying a crossword app this way. It was fine, especially since this was an original (or 2nd generation?) kindle, which still had a physical keyboard !
At some point they dumped support for this. I recall it as being around the time the Fire came out. There doesn't seem to be a lot of info left out there, e.g. it merits just an un-cited sentence in wikipedia's article on the kind. there may have been some remnants of it as late as 2020 though: https://the-digital-reader.com/amazon-removes-active-content...
Re: PiWrite – Kindle Paperwhite to Write
#24Want: Mechanical Keyboard with an OS powering a PaperWhite screen.
https://getfreewrite.com/
This has no OS (at least that you can access). I have one, have written a number of drafts with it, and regret both purchasing it and it not being a better machine. The software is really bad and there is no way to tinker with it, no way to write custom software. Indeed, in the last update before it became abandonware, they made updates cryptographically signed to make it more difficult for people to jailbreak it. The hardware is pretty and the keyboard is nice but the battery is really bad. It lasts only a few hours and takes forever to charge. And if the battery is depleted, it takes too long to get to the charge level necessary for using it even while plugged. Please don't buy this.
Re: PiWrite – Kindle Paperwhite to Write
#25About five years ago, I did it with a raspberry pi used as a host, with the Kindle connecting to an istance of screen running on the raspberry.
Not exactly what I did, but you get the idea. https://liliputing.com/kindleberry-wireless-using-a-raspberr...
This solution seems easier, and more portable.
Re: PiWrite – Kindle Paperwhite to Write
#26About five years ago, I did it with a raspberry pi used as a host, with the Kindle connecting to an istance of screen running on the raspberry. Not exactly what I did, but you get the idea. https://liliputing.com/kindleberry-wireless-using-a-raspberr... This solution seems easier, and more portable.
I have always eyed similar solutions, but getting root access to the Kindle has been getting more convoluted each time: I always chose to not try to avoid being a few days without reading if I bricked it. This is one of the reasons why I wrote this: should work as long as the Kindle has a decent-ish browser.
Re: PiWrite – Kindle Paperwhite to Write
#27Want: Mechanical Keyboard with an OS powering a PaperWhite screen.
Remarkable 2 with folio case gets close!
I don’t have the Folio case, but I have a Remarkable 2 and the screen refresh time is not as nice as the Paperwhite by quite a margin. I had actually managed to plug a USB keyboard to the RM2 (can be done, you need to tweak several things and power it) and the experience was quite “meh”. Also on a personal note, I prefer the form factor/size of the Kindle for this. The RM2 always feels flimsy!
Re: PiWrite – Kindle Paperwhite to Write
#28"The TL;DR is a webserver running somewhere a keyboard can be plugged, and a page opened in the Kindle's web browser."
I’m sure the input latency on that setup is just a joy to use
It’s not as bad as I expected before trying the project. You can try with SolarWriter (which is easier to set up than this weird thing I did) to get an idea. I consider it “mechanical typewriter” level. For me, good enough.
Re: PiWrite – Kindle Paperwhite to Write
#29This is perfect for my raspberry pi 400.
The keyboard form factor was just missing some kind of unique display and this is perfect to use my old kindle with a broken touchscreen.
What a perfect solution to my niche problem!
Re: PiWrite – Kindle Paperwhite to Write
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’m sure the input latency on that setup is just a joy to use
It’s not as bad as I expected before trying the project. You can try with SolarWriter (which is easier to set up than this weird thing I did) to get an idea. I consider it “mechanical typewriter” level. For me, good enough.
I wonder whether USB Network might be an option to reduce the latency a little. L
Plus then keeps the Pi WiFi free for regular use rather than as a private AP network.