I broke my Kindle Paperwhite on objective to eliminate adverts, and it largely labored

Somebody simply discovered a brand-new gap in Amazon’s digital backyard wall. Final week, a Reddit person flagged a bug on their Kindle Colorsoft that broke the house display, successfully eliminating adverts and proposals on their principal web page — all as a result of they added a easy emoji to their machine’s identify. Huzzah!

Earlier than, the one approach to eliminate adverts in your Kindle was both to pay for it, or jailbreak it. As my colleague breaks down in his article, this bug does precisely that — no sophisticated jailbreaks required. Nevertheless, like all good issues, there is a catch: it additionally renders the Kindle Retailer, Ship to Kindle, and registration options ineffective, so you possibly can’t entry any new content material past what’s already downloaded.

Kindles are recognized for being minimalist, single-use gadgets that eradicate distractions. But, right here they’re including distractions of their very own. Whereas the drawbacks in all probability earned a collective groan from most Kindle house owners, I noticed it as a chance; I have already got my TBR (to be learn) listing downloaded to my machine, so why not ‘brick’ my Kindle (so to talk) for a bit reprieve from bombarding options throughout my residence display?

As a part of my quest to cut back each display time and distractions, I used this bug to interrupt my Kindle’s residence display — on objective.

How I broke my Kindle Paperwhite on objective

Usefulness might range

As somebody who’s usually content material with being walled into software program (so long as it really works for me), deliberately breaking my beloved machine felt fairly rebellious. Whereas I did not take a hammer to the machine itself — don’t fret, the picture above was only for enjoyable — I swung a software program sword proper at its coronary heart from Amazon’s web site. This is what I did:

1. Go to Amazon’s web site and be sure to’re logged in.
2. Go to Manage Your Devices.
3. Choose Kindle.
4. From the dropdown menu, choose the Kindle you need to break.
5. Click on Edit subsequent to your machine’s identify.
6. Change the identify, and add an emoji — I added a four-leaf clover. Click on Save while you’re achieved.
7. Head to your Kindle and restart it by urgent and holding the ability button till it prompts you to restart.

After I restarted my Kindle, I used to be greeted by an uncannily clean residence display, similar to the bug promised. After a couple of seconds, the Welcome to Kindle web page populated with a immediate to register my Kindle. Nevertheless, that button does not work in any respect — in reality, once I tried, I used to be met with a loading display that by no means loaded, so I restarted my Kindle once more to get off that web page.

Pivoting away from the house display, I reentered the Library tab. There, I discovered all the things (and the one factor) I used to be in search of: my books. Even the articles and PDFs I beforehand sideloaded to my machine have been there. My Kindle felt quieter than ever.

I hoped that the adverts on the lock display would disappear, too. Some customers skilled this, however I nonetheless acquired generic promotions from Amazon for comically normal ideas like discovering ‘books that ‘learn nice on Kindle’ or ‘get to know award-winning books.’ I did chuckle at among the strains, however I want even the tree from the damaged ‘register your Kindle’ residence display web page was made the default lock display.

What is the large deal?

It obtained me pondering…

It isn’t like there are adverts between chapters in my e-books, so what do adverts and proposals matter on the house display? This was once my thought course of, too. I really did not thoughts Amazon’s walled backyard and selected to only ignore the corporate’s suggestions, follow my private TBR listing, and go about my studying enterprise.

However now, after my little rebellious act, it has made me spiteful of the adverts I have been content material with for therefore lengthy. I am tempted to stray farther from the backyard in an try and eliminate adverts totally (at any time when the chance strikes), and even contemplate one other e-reader that does not bombard me with them.

Whereas the downsides are inconvenient, I plan on having fun with this bug for so long as it lasts. Nevertheless, it’ll in all probability be patched faster than I can end my present learn, not to mention that complete digital TBR pile.