5 Kindle Settings I Changed This Week
This week, I decided to change 5 settings on my Kindle that have been the same for months.
Some worked brilliantly, but others were a complete disaster.
From auto brightness to reading in landscape mode, I tested settings I'd either never tried or completely dismissed.
Today, I’ll talk about what actually worked and what I changed back at the end of the week.
💡Setting 1: Auto Brightness
Normally, I manually adjust my brightness levels during the day. I tend to hold this around level 12 on my Kindle, but I will alter this as needed.
But I wondered whether I was missing out on an optimal brightness level, so I turned on auto brightness for one week.
And honestly? I didn’t like it. The auto brightness works on a sensor to adjust based on ambient light. This sounds great in theory, but it never felt quite right for the brightness I wanted. It was always close, but never perfect.
Now, I am picky about this setting. I know exactly what brightness I like, so this feature felt like I was constantly fighting against the auto brightness.
After one week, I turned it back off. For me, manual control wins every time.
💤Setting 2: Sleep Timer
This is the setting that controls how long your Kindle stays on before entering sleep mode.
Since getting my Kindle Scribe, I realised that I would be writing something and might place the Scribe to one side to work on something else. By the time I returned to work on the Scribe, it had entered sleep mode.
So I increased the Sleep Timer to the maximum of one hour. This immediately solved the problem, so there was no longer any disruption to my workflow.
The downside was that the battery life tanked. The Scribe went from lasting 10 days on a full charge to only 5 days. This was because the Scribe was being asked to stay awake for longer than it needed to.
The solution: I’ve landed somewhere in the middle. I’ve set the sleep timer to 30 minutes, and I’m trying to be more intentional in putting the Scribe to sleep when I’m done.
🌤️Setting 3: Warmth Schedule
This feature allows you to automatically set the warmth of your Kindle based on the time of day.
I set my Kindle to go to the warmest light setting from 8pm until 7am, and then reduce the warmth during the daytime.
As someone who typically has my warmth level higher at all times, I didn’t like the cooler light during the daytime. Even though a cooler light setting is closer to the look of text on paper, I find a warmer light more gentle on my eyes.
So, at the end of the week, I turned the warmth schedule off, and I’m back to full warmth, 24/7.
📈Setting 4: Reading Progress
This is what shows at the bottom left of your Kindle while you’re reading, reflecting either the page number, time left in chapter, time left in book, or location number.
I have always preferred seeing the time left in the chapter of the book. But this week, I wanted to try only showing the page number, to see if this helped me feel more present with the book I was reading.
The good news is that it definitely worked. I felt more engaged by what I was reading, rather than constantly checking how long was left.
But there were moments when I really missed the time estimates. For example, before bed, I find it really useful to know whether I can squeeze in one more chapter before I go to sleep.
Moving forward, I have decided to show the page number when I have the opportunity for a longer reading session, or when reading isn’t time sensitive. Then, whenever it is useful to know how long is left to read, I allow myself to check the time estimates.
🏞️Setting 5: Reading in Landscape
I’ve always read in portrait mode, but with the Scribe, I felt the need to hold the device horizontally like a tablet.
This week, I enabled landscape orientation on my Scribe.
And it just didn’t work for me. The pages felt way too wide, so that my eyes had to scan across such a long line of text. This actually made it feel harder to read.
The only time I found landscape worked was creating a mind map in notebook mode (I find this great for brainstorming ideas). But for reading and general note-taking, I prefer portrait mode.
Despite this not working, it was worth trying. It's such an easy setting to change that if you're curious, test it yourself. It might work for you even if it didn't for me.
💭Closing Thoughts
The lesson I took away this week is that settings are personal. What works for me might not work for you, and vice versa. The good news is that these settings can easily be adjusted to test new options from time to time.
What settings have you tried recently? Did they work for you, or did you find yourself changing back? Let me know by contacting me at Hello@charliesamways.com.
I’d love to hear your experiences reading and using e-readers, so please reach out to share your thoughts.
You can check out the video all about this topic on my YouTube channel below:
If you’re passionate about self-improvement, reading or want to discuss the subject of e-ink technology, I’d love to hear from you. So please drop me a message.
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