# Why Hack Your Kindle



## greyoldchief (Nov 4, 2010)

I've searched the site but cannot find anything that explains the advantages to hacking a kindle.  Can anyone help?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Some people prefer to use custom sleep pictures.  Some prefer alternate typefaces.  Both require modification to the Kindle firmware.


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## greyoldchief (Nov 4, 2010)

I am using the screen saver hack.  Just wanted to know what I can gain by installing the other hack.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

greyoldchief said:


> I am using the screen saver hack. Just wanted to know what I can gain by installing the other hack.


There's really only the screensaver and the font hack.. If you install the font hack you can change the fonts...


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

There are a couple other "hacks" out there, but they're really for technical things the vast majority of us should not be messing with (e.g. creating other hacks). As far as I know, the font hack and screen-saver hack are the only ones most of us mere mortals would probably want -- well, along with the "jailbreak" hack which is needed to install either of those.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I'm not techie at all, so doubt I would attempt a hack.  There are a few Amazon screensavers I would like to dump and others I love, especially the Kindle logo -- boy on a hill under a tree reading.  I love it!


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Sandpiper said:


> I'm not techie at all, so doubt I would attempt a hack. There are a few Amazon screensavers I would like to dump and others I love, especially the Kindle logo -- boy on a hill under a tree reading. I love it!


The term hack in this instance makes it sound far more difficult than it really is. If you can do the manual update process on the Kindle, you can do the hack... It used to be much more involved, but has evolved into something very, very simple. And once it's on, you can pretty much forget about it.


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Five minutes to drag a file into your kindle and then reset it is worth its weight in gold if only to get ride of that crazy emily dickinson wallpaper...new font and banksy wallpaper makes it well worth it. hacks unlock a hardware's potential. like rockbox makes your mp3 player awesome. cdhk makes you digital camera fully manual with all kinds of tricks, rooting your android phone gives it all kinds of free functionality you'd have to pay for. its just people out there making products reach their full potential in my opinion.


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## charonme (Nov 29, 2010)

other things that some people find useful on a hacked kindle:
- disable sending personal info to amazon
- epub support
- enabling collections on a non-registered kindle
- wireless file transfer


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## MulliganAl (Nov 11, 2010)

I did the screensaver hack and I really like it.  I loaded some B&W photos from my trips to Greece, Venice and Turkey, plus some nice photos of my wife, and it's really nice to see these when it goes to sleep instead of some old dead authors (no disrespect intended).  I'll be adding some photos from our trip to Korea next summer which will be nice also.  Photography has been my hobby for over 40 years so it's only natural for me to want my photos on my Kindle.

I tried the font hack but can't get it to work; I'm sure it's something minor that I'm missing.


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## chilady1 (Jun 9, 2009)

When I had my K2, I did both the screensaver and font hack.  Specifically the font hack, which provided better and darker fonts for reading.  I did not like the font that came standard with the Kindle.  Since upgrading to my K3, I no longer use the font hack.  I have the san serif font provided as an alternative by Amazon and find that suitable for reading.  I did however, use the screensaver hack and install a screensaver that matches my skin.  There is no real reason to use any hacks if you are perfectly satisfied, however, a lot of people "hate" (that is a relative term) the dead authors that come standard with the Kindle and therefore, to add personalization, choose to use the screensaver hack.  It is a personal choice!  I will say that it is not as hard to do as it may seem.  Good luck!


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## r1chard (Oct 25, 2010)

charonme said:


> other things that some people find useful on a hacked kindle:
> - disable sending personal info to amazon
> - epub support
> - enabling collections on a non-registered kindle
> - wireless file transfer


can you please direct me to a website where i could find more about these, specially epub support and wireless file transfer. thanks.


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## kindlek (Nov 12, 2008)

r1chard said:


> can you please direct me to a website where i could find more about these, specially epub support and wireless file transfer. thanks.


And directions for the oh.so.NON-techie to add their own pics for screensavers? Please? I need the kindergarten version lol.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

kindlek said:


> And directions for the oh.so.NON-techie to add their own pics for screensavers? Please? I need the kindergarten version lol.


Have you read the Wiki article?


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