# THE DOTS ARE BACK - 5.8.1



## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

new updates with dots back. 

lemme find the links

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_left_v4_sib?ie=UTF8&nodeId=201630670



> This update includes performance improvements and the following new features:
> 
> Reading Progress Dots: We listened to feedback from our customers and brought reading progress dots back to your library. You can now see reading progress and relative book length for downloaded books in the library list view.
> More Ways to Share: Recommend books to friends from About This Book.
> ...


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## gaidinsgirl (Feb 1, 2011)

Oh wow! It took them long enough. Lol but I'm happy!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

It looks like there's a version for the Oasis, the latest PW and the current basic Kindle as well . . . . woo hoo! It's silly, but I _really_ missed the dots.  I might have to go download it manually rather than waiting for it to show up.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Yay for the people who wanted this!!!!!  Maybe I'll start paying attention to them now. 

So good that Amazon listens to its customers!

Betsy


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Hmm. Went to check on my Oasis. Wonder if mine was updating.  It seems to be stuck on "Waking Up."

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Took about a minute to download (Voyage version), and another couple minutes to copy to the Voyage. It's now updating.



eta: install took about 7 minutes.  The dots are definitely back.  The only weird thing is that, now, the check mark indicating the book is on the device shows whether your in 'all' or 'downloaded'. Still, I think I can live with that.


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## readingril (Oct 29, 2010)

YAY! 

Will update when I get home. 

from my Galaxy S6


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

WOOHOOOOOOOOO!!  I am happy and content.  Already sent "great" feedback to Amazon to let them know how pleased I am.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Restarted my Oasis.  No update.  Not in a hurry, will let it do it on itself, but great news.

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Manually updated the basic kindle I just bought -- timing was about the same for transfer, download, and install. My Oasis is currently on walkabout -- Ed borrowed it yesterday because he was expecting to be doing a lot of waiting -- he was a witness in a court case -- and then left it in his office at the church.  

The new basic kindle will be officially HIS.


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## TheLemontree (Sep 12, 2015)

Ooh, great news! I missed my dots 

I shall just toddle off and switch the kindle out of airplane mode. 

Thanks!


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

Thank you Amazon for doing this and thank you Atunah for letting us know so we don't have to wait.  This is the first time I've really cared much about an update.  My Voyage is updating as I type.

Barry


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Manually updated the basic kindle I just bought -- timing was about the same for transfer, download, and install. My Oasis is currently on walkabout -- Ed borrowed it yesterday because he was expecting to be doing a lot of waiting -- he was a witness in a court case -- and then left it in his office at the church.
> 
> The new basic kindle will be officially HIS.


Woohoo another convert!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Woohoo another convert!


Kinda sorta . . . . but he did actually _ask_ if he could use it . . . . and as the basic was on sale AND I had the $20 credit from trading in the PW I figured now was the time to get him one for his very own. I've set it up as simple as possibly -- turned off all the extra stuff -- all he has to do is look at the book covers and see which book he wants to read.


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## Koi (Apr 28, 2010)

So all that I've gathered so far, says that the dots are only in List view?  That's hardly giving them back, as I see it.  I like grid view, and the percentage on the 'covers' is so dinky in size, I can't quite be sure I'm reading it correctly even with my glasses on.  Sigh.  That's only partial-listening to customer feedback.  Feeling grumpy.


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## readingril (Oct 29, 2010)

I like having the dots back, the rest of the update isn't necessary to me, but why does every  book (downloaded, list view) have  a checkmark? 

from my Galaxy S6


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Koi said:


> So all that I've gathered so far, says that the dots are only in List view? That's hardly giving them back, as I see it. I like grid view, and the percentage on the 'covers' is so dinky in size, I can't quite be sure I'm reading it correctly even with my glasses on. Sigh. That's only partial-listening to customer feedback. Feeling grumpy.


Were the dots ever available in cover view?


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

crebel said:


> Were the dots ever available in cover view?


Apparently they were. I couldn't remember either. Someone posted a pic on mobile reads. I still can't remember though lol.

I guess I get used to stuff fast.


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## Koi (Apr 28, 2010)

Yeah, they were in Cover View-  I've never used any other view, and I miss the dots!


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## torishu (Nov 4, 2014)

Update #2: Scratch the last update. It may still be an Amazon server issue but I am still experiencing the thumbnails problem. A good number of thumbnails are missing and nothing will bring them to my device except a reset, which then seems to affect a different random batch of thumbnails.

And once, instead of the Kindle Oasis User Manual, it downloaded a "Kindle Solstice User Manual" congratulating me on my purchase of the "Kindle Placeholder." Every reference to the device inside the manual was as "Kindle Placeholder." 


***


Update: This appears to have been an Amazon server issue (it was occurring with both 3G and wi-fi). After another reset of my Oasis, the device appears to be getting 99% of the thumbnails.

Unfortunately, I'll have to reset the other devices because they appear to not make another attempt at grabbing the thumbnails from the cloud otherwise. Is there a way to easily delete/reset the thumbnail cache?


***


I am experiencing a serious problem with cover view thumbnails with this update (5.8.1).

I perform a reset on my Kindle devices when a major version firmware update is released. I noticed that I now am missing a fourth to a third of my cover thumbnails. Also, when I download a new book from the cloud which was showing the thumbnail, the thumbnail often reverts to the generic cover thumbnail.

This isn't on just one device. I have a Kindle Oasis, two Kindle Voyages, two Kindle Paperwhite 3s, and one Kindle Paperwhite 2. I am seeing this behavior on ALL of them.

Resetting the devices again just results in different thumbnails going missing.

Is anybody else seeing this in cover view? Any ideas? Any fixes?


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Torishu,

Welcome to KBoards!

I haven't had the update yet, but I was having a problem with some thumbnails on my books a couple of days ago.  But I thought it was a problem on Amazon's end and it hasn't happened since.

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

crebel said:


> Were the dots ever available in cover view?


No, they weren't . . . . I guess it would be nice if they figured out a way to include something there . . . .



Atunah said:


> Apparently they were. I couldn't remember either. Someone posted a pic on mobile reads. I still can't remember though lol.
> 
> I guess I get used to stuff fast.


 I find this highly suspicious. Because, as I recall, the dots went away when the upgraded the overall interface.

Then again, I almost never used cover view so I could be remembering wrong. But what I'm thinking is that part of what I didn't like about cover view was the lack of any indicator of how long the book was -- in addition to being able to see only a few books on each 'page' of home and the ugly 'cover' for collections.



Koi said:


> Yeah, they were in Cover View- I've never used any other view, and I miss the dots!


Really? I must have totally missed it then.  Oh well . . . wouldn't be the first time. 

FWIW re: the update -- I did both my Voyage and the new Basic yesterday afternoon. Following the manually installed update, I haven't noticed any problem with either device -- and I was messing with the basic quite a bit getting it set up for my husband to use. I do have his on cover view because I think that'll be easier for him.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

crebel said:


> Were the dots ever available in cover view?





Ann in Arlington said:


> No, they weren't . . . . I guess it would be nice if they figured out a way to include something there . . . .





Koi said:


> Yeah, they were in Cover View- I've never used any other view, and I miss the dots!





Atunah said:


> Apparently they were. I couldn't remember either. Someone posted a pic on mobile reads. I still can't remember though lol.
> 
> I guess I get used to stuff fast.


I had no idea, as I never used cover view and never looked at the dots in list view or in books--never noticed they were gone  so thought I'd be useful:

An image from www.ebook-Reader.com that was posted on mobileread.com, picturing the dots before, I think, 5.7:
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=275207


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

For me, the thing that's weird about that image . . . is that it's been a LONG time since any active content worked on my kindles.  Mind you, I've not tried in a long time but I do remember trying to load one or two titles onto a PW and they didn't run. So I'm surprised to see the _Every Word_ game showing on that screen as I thought it was Well After the introduction of the Voyage before 'cover view' -- or as Amazon calls it 'grid view' -- was even a thing.

Found this on Wikipedia's Kindle page:



> In October 2014, Amazon announced that the Voyage and future e-readers would not support active content because most users prefer to use apps on their smartphones and tablets, but the Paperwhite first generation and earlier Kindles would continue to support active content.[157]


Can't find anything specific, but the 'grid view' is mentioned in conjunction with the PW, so it was at least available then -- that was 2012.

Given the above, I'm guessing the image is from a 1st Gen PaperWhite. The current software for it is 5.6.1 so the newer features in 5.8.x are not available on that model.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Still waiting for my "natural" update on my Oasis...    

Betsy


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## larryb52 (Nov 18, 2009)

I downloaded the update last night and put on the Oasis and no issues, the front page shows the covers and % read and the dots show up in my library list section...


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## loonlover (Jul 4, 2009)

Don't know if it is pertinent to the conversation, but I still play Every Word on my generation 2 PW which is the main reason I carry both the PW and Voyage to work. Much prefer reading on the Voyage.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

loonlover said:


> Don't know if it is pertinent to the conversation, but I still play Every Word on my generation 2 PW which is the main reason I carry both the PW and Voyage to work. Much prefer reading on the Voyage.


Interesting!

I didn't have a LOT of active content, maybe 20 titles, but I didn't use them all that often. The main one I liked was the notepad one because even when I didn't have pencil and paper with me, I probably had my kindle. When that stopped working -- PW era, but not sure what generation -- I decided at that point to cull my Amazon library of all such titles.

On topic: here's the feedback I'm sending to Amazon regarding this update
_______
Thanks for the update to 5.8.1 -- SOOO glad to have the dots back under the book titles in list view, as it gives a feel for how long a book is, which is important, sometimes, when deciding what to read next.

It would be even better if there was a similar system that works in 'grid view'.

I do wonder, however, why there are now check marks next to everything? Used to be, in list view, you saw check marks when showing 'all' as that indicated that it was downloaded to the device. Now, those check marks show even when only viewing books that have been 'downloaded'. That seems redundant to me, though I like that the 'new' tag has been moved over to the right side. It would be more visible, though, if the big check mark wasn't there as well. 
_______

Feel free to copy off my homework.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

I haven't got the update yet - my Voyage appears to have gone to that big e-reader store in the sky this morning. It was charging and it's frozen on the USB connect screen - won't switch on, won't switch off, dead as the proverbial dodo.  

So I guess those pinholes may be academic now and I'll be taking advantage of the 20% off summer sale after all.    (If I can manage to recover it, I'll keep it as a backup).

I never missed the dots, can't say I ever took much notice of them. Don't like the sound of the checkmarks on screen all the time - all just more clutter. I will reserve judgement till I see it all for myself - my new Voyage should be here tomorrow.  Yay! Kindlewatch!


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

Great news.  I missed the dots also - they were really helpful when deciding if I should start reading a new book later in the day.
Now if they's just bring them back inside of the book - I liked that progress indicator much better than just a percentage.  I must be more visual in some ways than I thought.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Linjeakel said:


> I haven't got the update yet - my Voyage appears to have gone to that big e-reader store in the sky this morning. It was charging and it's frozen on the USB connect screen - won't switch on, won't switch off, dead as the proverbial dodo.
> 
> So I guess those pinholes may be academic now and I'll be taking advantage of the 20% off summer sale after all.  (If I can manage to recover it, I'll keep it as a backup).
> 
> I never missed the dots, can't say I ever took much notice of them. Don't like the sound of the checkmarks on screen all the time - all just more clutter. I will reserve judgement till I see it all for myself - my new Voyage should be here tomorrow. Yay! Kindlewatch!


Oh no! But . . . . yay for a new kindle . . . . .

In terms of trying to resurrect the other one, do I take it you charge from the computer? Can you try charging from the wall? I'm sure you've done the press and hold for a long time thing to try to force it to restart. 

Re the checkmarks, yeah, they are a bit of clutter . . . but not something I can't get used to. Mostly, for me, it's just "why did you do this, it doesn't _add_ anything?" I actually wonder if it might be a bug that creeped in when they programmed the new update because it is akin to the early 'cloud collections' FUBAR where it showed the same thing whether you had the device set to show 'all' or only 'downloaded'. Though you'd think someone would have noticed and said, "yeah, we don't need those there." Anyway, I've said my piece to them, now just waiting for 5.4.2. 



Andra said:


> Great news. I missed the dots also - they were really helpful when deciding if I should start reading a new book later in the day.
> Now if they's just bring them back inside of the book - I liked that progress indicator much better than just a percentage. I must be more visual in some ways than I thought.


For me the percentage works in a book . . . the value of the dots on the home page, for me, is to gauge the length, but you couldn't do that visually IN a book anyway -- the bar of dots always went all the way from left to right. 'Bout all you could do was judge how fast you were filling them up, but, for me, the percentage works just as well.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Oh no! But . . . . yay for a new kindle . . . . .
> 
> In terms of trying to resurrect the other one, do I take it you charge from the computer? Can you try charging from the wall? I'm sure you've done the press and hold for a long time thing to try to force it to restart.


It was charging from the PC this morning at work but I'll have to wait till I get home to use the wall charger. That may well resurrect it - but as I was leaning towards replacing it anyway, this just tipped me over the edge!

I doubt the new one will come with 5.8.1 but I guess I can update it manually if it doesn't update when I first connect. Are there any other noticeable changes, apart from the the dots and the somewhat redundant 'on device' check marks?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Linjeakel said:


> I doubt the new one will come with 5.8.1 but I guess I can update it manually if it doesn't update when I first connect. Are there any other noticeable changes, apart from the the dots and the somewhat redundant 'on device' check marks?


Not that I've noticed . . . a new User Guide does get installed -- 4th Edition.

Here's what it says on the software update page on Amazon:



> This update includes performance improvements and the following new features:
> 
> Reading Progress Dots: We listened to feedback from our customers and brought reading progress dots back to your library. You can now see reading progress and relative book length for downloaded books in the library list view.
> More Ways to Share: Recommend books to friends from About This Book.
> ...


Regarding the saving passwords, I guess that's automatic now -- in the settings there is a way to to delete those saved passwords but I don't see that you can elect to NOT have them saved in the future.

Not seeing any evidence of a change in 'about this book' or KU recommendations. . . . I do see KU recs but I feel like I've seen them before as part of a rotating set of recs.

I feel like, when in list view, they've darkened/boldened the book titles -- closer to what they were before. So that's good, I think.


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## lindnet (Jan 25, 2009)

I'm glad the dots are back!  But when I first saw the thread I got really really excited, thinking it was the progress bar in the book that was back.  I guess it's time to give up on that one, huh?


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

lindnet said:


> I'm glad the dots are back! But when I first saw the thread I got really really excited, thinking it was the progress bar in the book that was back. I guess it's time to give up on that one, huh?


Yeah, I am afraid so. I still cling to a sliver of hope, but it gets smaller and smaller each year. I have send feedback, but it won't do much unless they get a lot of feedback on the same issues. Just like they got on the dots in question here. Lots must have emailed them. I guess a lot of newer users of kindles don't even know what they are missing as they never had the progress bar. I wish they put that in rotation for the time left, page and all that. Then it would be optional and I would be so happy. Oh well.


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I have a Paperwhite one still and I just put it in cover view and sure enough it has dots.  I never use cover view so I didn't really know they were there but sure enough.

My PW1 has the latest PW1 update, although it lacks the features of the later models.  I think the last update came out 3 or 4 months ago at the same time the new features were added to the PW2, etc.  It didn't add those features but I do think I remember there being an update at that time.

Barry


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## tsemple (Apr 27, 2009)

I guess dots are somewhat useful, but they don't scale very well: a 500 page book is about the same number of dots as a 5000 page one. I don't see how you can represent it graphically, without some reference/ruler with numbers to compare it with. Number ratios would be better, I think (locations, pages, reading time), but wouldn't make everybody happy either.


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## ShinyTop (Apr 25, 2016)

Too often there are previews of other books are a short story at the end of the book.  Both the dots and the percentage are of the combined total.  I would prefer they reflect only the book's length, not the combined size.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

ShinyTop said:


> Too often there are previews of other books are a short story at the end of the book. Both the dots and the percentage are of the combined total. I would prefer they reflect only the book's length, not the combined size.


The same issue exists with the time left in book/% done while reading the book. Hate, hate, hate when the back matter pads that. I recently read some cozy mysteries that had a dozen or more pages of recipes in the back--even though I didn't really think they were "cooking" cozies. Very annoying! The books all finished at 89-92%.

Betsy


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I find dots useful for comparing the lengths of books I'm thinking of reading.  Sometimes I'm in the mood for a short book and sometimes a long one.  Sometimes I don't care but a lot of the time I do.

I read novels and I don't care for combined books so 1000 pages is a very long book for me so the dots work pretty well for comparing in my case.

Barry


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

tsemple said:


> I guess dots are somewhat useful, but they don't scale very well: a 500 page book is about the same number of dots as a 5000 page one. I don't see how you can represent it graphically, without some reference/ruler with numbers to compare it with. Number ratios would be better, I think (locations, pages, reading time), but wouldn't make everybody happy either.


Well, you can already see the percentage finished you are -- even in grid mode it shows in the corner of the cover image. And in a book you can see both location/page and ratio if you want so can figure it out that way.

It is true that the dots aren't exactly to scale, but they give an idea of whether the book you're considering is fairly short, or fairly long. And that's good enough for me.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

I updated my PW2 while I await my new Voyage and I have to say, for a major update (going from the 5.7s to the 5.8s) it's pretty disappointing.

I didn't realise how many people wanted the dots back - it leaves me as puzzled as the need for page turn buttons! As always I wish they would make these things optional, like how you can decide what you have in the lower left of the screen when you're in a book. Choices make so many more people happy than fixed options.

The marks to show your book is downloaded when in the 'downloaded' view, has to be an error - it's totally redundant. Maybe it'll get fixed later? 

As for the other thing, about them saving your wi-fi passwords in the cloud - I've told it to forget mine. For no particular reason I'd rather not do that - I'm happy to manually input my password into new devices as before - it's only required the once after all.

Didn't like the Oasis, not impressed with the new updates. Goodness me, I'm turning into a complete grump. Too much work and not enough chocolate!   Sounds like a reasonable explanation to me.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Linjeakel

You're making me glad that my Oasis and Voyage haven't updated yet.  

[email protected] 

I'm puzzled by what sounds like checkmarks, too.  I'm trying to remember--didn't the so-called "STOOPID" update do that?  And they've brought it back?  Why, Amazon, why?  

Betsy


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Linjeakel
> 
> You're making me glad that my Oasis and Voyage haven't updated yet.
> 
> ...


You could be right, maybe that was in the "STOOPID" update. Let's hope they get rid of it again.

I will definitely leave some feedback, but here's the thing. I think it's only mostly the people who are dissatisfied with something who leave feedback, so that's what they respond to. People who weren't happy with the original buttons told them they wanted touch screens and less buttons, so they did that. Then the people who felt differently complained, so they brought back buttons. How long before they go the other way again? It's the same thing with the dots. I was OK when they went away, but I didn't write to Amazon and say "hey, well done, you took away those untidy dots!" The only people they heard from were those who were unhappy about it.

People have more motivation to leave feedback about things they don't like, which means Amazon don't always get a balanced view of customers likes and dislikes. I'm not sure there's a solution, but it's frustrating when they put things right (according to your own viewpoint) and then change them back again.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Linjeakel said:


> People have more motivation to leave feedback about things they don't like, which means Amazon don't always get a balanced view of customers likes and dislikes. I'm not sure there's a solution, but it's frustrating when they put things right (according to your own viewpoint) and then change them back again.


Agree. I didn't miss the dots. I don't think I minded them, and I probably won't mind them if they are there, but I was glad they came back because a lot of people seemed to miss them.

I can't really imagine there have been people clamoring for the checkmarks in "download" view so that one mystifies me.

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Linjeakel
> 
> You're making me glad that my Oasis and Voyage haven't updated yet.
> 
> ...


Yeah . . . I think it's an oversight as well, as I observed earlier in the thread:



Ann in Arlington said:


> Re the check marks, yeah, they are a bit of clutter . . . but not something I can't get used to. Mostly, for me, it's just "why did you do this, it doesn't _add_ anything?" I actually wonder if it might be a bug that creeped in when they programmed the new update because it is akin to the early 'cloud collections' FUBAR where it showed the same thing whether you had the device set to show 'all' or only 'downloaded'. Though you'd think someone would have noticed and said, "yeah, we don't need those there." Anyway, I've said my piece to them, now just waiting for 5.4.2.


There is a difference between this and the STOOPID update though.

With the STOOPID update, everything you owned showed on the home screen whether you had selected 'all' or 'downloaded' (or 'cloud' vs 'on device' depending on what model you have). The only difference was how it indicated that a book was on the device or not. To me, that was the really STOOPID bit. If I want to see all of what I have or what's in the cloud, it's useful to have a mark to indicate if that book is one that's downloaded on this device. But if I only want to see what's on the device, then I don't need a mark to show it's been downloaded because OF COURSE it's been downloaded. EXCEPT, with the STOOPID update, even when that was the option you chose, you still saw books that were NOT downloaded to the device.

NOW . . . that's not the issue -- you see everything you own when you choose 'all' and when you choose 'downloaded', you only see what's on the device. So that's the same as it's been. And there always WAS a check mark to show if a book was downloaded when you were looking at 'all'. But, NOW, in both cases there's a check mark indicating whether the book is downloaded -- a completely redundant check mark if you've chosen to only show those 'downloaded' in the first place. 

As I say, I can see how it could have happened -- the bit of code that puts them in in 'all' view just didn't get adjusted so that they wouldn't show in 'download' view. And if anyone even noticed, they might not have realized it hadn't always been that way. But it is weird. They should totally hire a bunch of us to beta-test these things for 'em! 

And, yes, I've pointed all this out to them via [email protected]  (well, not about the beta testing, but that's not a bad idea!  )


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> And, yes, I've pointed all this out to them via [email protected]  (well, not about the beta testing, but that's not a bad idea!  )


If I ever get the update, I'll complain. 

Betsy


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## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

I updated my voyage, i sent my oasis back for refund. My viyage has dots, and the check marks people are talking about. I like the check marks. When i look at the all books in my library there are checkmarks by the books slready on my device. No marks by ones downloaded. I find that handy. There are checkmarks by the books under downloaded, seems redundant but doesnt really bother me.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

LauraB said:


> I updated my voyage, i sent my oasis back for refund. My viyage has dots, and the check marks people are talking about. I like the check marks. When i look at the all books in my library there are checkmarks by the books slready on my device. No marks by ones downloaded. I find that handy. There are checkmarks by the books under downloaded, seems redundant but doesnt really bother me.


 You mean, maybe, that there ARE marks by ones that are downloaded/on the device and NO MARKS by the ones that are not -- when you are showing All.

But, yeah, the marks when showing "downloaded" are mostly just redundant . . . I do find I'm getting used to them, even if I think they're not necessary.


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## GBear (Apr 23, 2009)

I did miss the dots because, as others have said, I use them when choosing a book to get an idea of how big a book I might be getting into. I generally read one book at a time, and put it in the Finished collection when through, so I'm less likely to use the list-view dots for reading progress or to see if I've read a book already. I don't miss the reading progress dots in the book as much for some reason, even though I sometimes have a tough time reading the tiny progress % indicator and so would probably enjoy their return, too.

Anyway, I was thrilled to see Atunah's headline and installed the updated right away. My first thought was, "Dots Vontastic!"


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## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> You mean, maybe, that there ARE marks by ones that are downloaded/on the device and NO MARKS by the ones that are not -- when you are showing All.


Yes, that is what I mean, thanks for clarifying.


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## johnny_boy (Jan 7, 2015)

lindnet said:


> I'm glad the dots are back! But when I first saw the thread I got really really excited, thinking it was the progress bar in the book that was back. I guess it's time to give up on that one, huh?


Sorry, what is progress bar in the book?


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

johnny_boy said:


> Sorry, what is progress bar in the book?


It runs across the bottom of older kindles, like my black basic with no touch and the K3 and so on. I don't have my own pic handy, but if you look at the customer pics on this page you can see a little what it is
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HCCNJU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Unfortunately the amazon pics don't show it on that page

It was so great for me at least, as a visual guide where I was in a book. And it would have dots where you picked it up again and kept reading, you could see where the chapters were. I still love it every time I pick up my basic, but I need the light now so there is that.


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## readingril (Oct 29, 2010)

Like this:



Hadn't used my Kindle Keyboard in so long I was trying to figure out why it wouldn't do anything if I swiped the screen.


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## Muddypawz (Jan 13, 2009)

readingril said:


> Like this:
> 
> Hadn't used my Kindle Keyboard in so long I was trying to figure out why it wouldn't do anything if I swiped the screen.


I've had the same "problem" when I've pulled out my KK.


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## tsemple (Apr 27, 2009)

I actually prefer the more minimalist reading interface of current kindles to KK. You can always see a progress bar by tapping at top or swiping from bottom.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

tsemple said:


> I actually prefer the more minimalist reading interface of current kindles to KK. You can always see a progress bar by tapping at top or swiping from bottom.


?

Maybe it's the books I'm reading...I don't see a progress bar? I see Page xx | 36 mins left in book | 1%. I think the progress bar being discussed was actually a linear bar as shown in readingril's image?

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> ?
> 
> Maybe it's the books I'm reading...I don't see a progress bar? I see Page xx | 36 mins left in book | 1%. I think the progress bar being discussed was actually a linear bar as shown in readingril's image?
> 
> Betsy


When you're in a book, if you tap near the top you get the menu bar at top and a bar at the bottom that says what chapter you're in. It gives you the location, your progress and the percentage. If you tap the bar icon, you see a progress bar -- but it doesn't have chapter breaks like on the keyboard kindle.

If you swipe up from the bottom you get directly to the progress bar, and skip the menu bar at the top as well.

This is also how you can page through --- on the pop up page -- or flip through chapters using the |< and >| icons in the bottom bar.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> If you tap the bar icon, you see a progress bar -- but it doesn't have chapter breaks like on the keyboard kindle.


Thanks, I knew the rest of the stuff that appears when tapping the top menu (even said so in my post) but I had no idea tapping on that thingy gave you the progress bar.

And I knew about the swipe up to move through the book, but never thought of it as a progress bar--probably because I never used the progress bar. 

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Thanks, I knew the rest of the stuff that appears when tapping the top menu (even said so in my post) but I had no idea tapping on that thingy gave you the progress bar.
> 
> And I knew about the swipe up to move through the book, but never thought of it as a progress bar--probably because I never used the progress bar.
> 
> Betsy


 I was just being thorough in my answer.

I liked the progress bar, with the chapter marks, as it was on the Keyboard. But the progress notice (time in chapter, etc.) coupled with the percentage that always shows is good enough for me with the current models.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I was just being thorough in my answer.


The one syllable words helped, too.   

I did learn something about that bar thingy....


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I think it's more correct to call that a scrubber bar than a progress bar.  You can judge your progress with it but not very accurately.  The percentage gives you more precise information.

The progress bar on the older Kindles was pretty different.

Barry


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## H7Py49 (Mar 17, 2016)

One thing I miss are page numbers. I know it depends on the book, and I am used to the location / percentage display, which I always opt for (when there's no page numbers). I'm going to hold off on this update as it does not seem essential and could affect battery performance, as most added bells and whistles tend to do.

Right now I'm reading a 766 page brick because the library does not have the Kindle ebook.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

barryem said:


> I think it's more correct to call that a scrubber bar than a progress bar. You can judge your progress with it but not very accurately. The percentage gives you more precise information.
> 
> The progress bar on the older Kindles was pretty different.
> 
> Barry


What the heck is a 'scrubber' bar?   

Call it what you like -- it shows the progress you've made in the book graphically, based on where the big dot is on the bar. "Progress bar" seems to describe that pretty accurately. 

Though, as I've already noted, the one previously used -- on the keyboard model, for instance -- did give a bit more information as it showed you where chapters were (assuming they're marked in the file).


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## readingril (Oct 29, 2010)

Wellll I've heard the term scrub bar used in terms of editing audio files, the bar usually below the file you're editing that allows you to make selections, move around in the file, to "clean" the file (hence the term scrub). I can see how the progress bar while reading a book on the Kindle might be somewhat similar, since I can't edit it, I personally wouldn't consider it a scrub bar.

My 2 cents


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## readingril (Oct 29, 2010)

Oh btw...



> Hello Julie,
> 
> Thanks so much for your feedback! Your comments are greatly appreciated, and I thank you for choosing Amazon.com.
> 
> ...


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Well . . . there are a lot of words there that are not used completely correctly  but it does sound like they grasped the issue with the check marks in download view and that, perhaps, it's something they're working on and will fix in a later update.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Well . . . there are a lot of words there that are not used completely correctly


    

*marvels at Ann's ability to be understated.*



Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> *marvels at Ann's ability to be understated.*
> 
> 
> 
> Betsy


Well . . . I did live in the UK for three years -- it's an art form there.


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I should have said "scrub bar" and not "scrubber bar".  Scrub bar is the correct term and scrubber is fairly common slang referring to it.

It's true that the word grew out of cleaning and editing video and audio but most audio and video playing apps and programs have them today, as do some ereader apps, Moon+ Reader, for example.  They can be used to gauge your progress as well so I promise not to get mad if you call the scrub bar a progress bar, but I may tease a little. 

The meaning of words is always evolving and that's especially true when a specialty word such as this enters more general use.  A fun example is the word "hacker", which, for years, referred to a computer programmer who was good at inventing clever new ways of doing things.  This was a valuable talent in the early days of computers when most things you did were done for the first time.  The guy on the development team who was good at figuring out new quick ways of hacking together a piece of code to solve a problem, the hacker, was a valuable asset.

Decades later reporters, reaching for a term to describe people who did illegal things on computers, heard the word and misunderstood it's context and incorrectly used it to describe bad guys and now it has an entirely new meaning.

Another, even more fun example is the word "fast", which can mean either moving very rapdly, such as a fast moving car, or not moving at all, as in tied fast.  I had to write a paper about how that happened in college and it did evolve in a fairly natural way.

Language is fun stuff.  It's sometimes even used to write books.  

Barry


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Since this is a Kindle forum, to avoid confusion, we do try to be consistent and use the terms Amazon uses for things (and, apparently, "scrubber bar" is not quite as common as you might think since a few of us, anyway, weren't familiar with the term )....

The term Amazon uses is "progress bar." See, for example, here and here (one is for eInk Kindles, one is for a Fire tablet):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201733740 http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201589580

Just sayin'. It's kind of like the differences between British English and American English--you try to use the correct one for your market. But I learn something every day.

EDIT: Interesting article about the evolution of the word "hack:"
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/a-short-history-of-hack

Betsy


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Well . . . I did live in the UK for three years -- it's an art form there.


I'm still trying to work out if I just got insulted or not .......  

Seriously, I don't care which side of the 'pond' you come from, the language in that reply only bore a passing resemblance to English!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Linjeakel said:


> I'm still trying to work out if I just got insulted or not .......
> 
> Seriously, I don't care which side of the 'pond' you come from, the language in that reply only bore a passing resemblance to English!


Definitely NOT an insult . . . . the British understatement is, as I said, practically an art form. And totally BRILLIANT. 

But, you're right . . . . parts of it were clearly not crafted by a human with intimate knowledge of the language.


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## readingril (Oct 29, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> there are a lot of words there that are not used completely correctly


Well hopefully that means I got a response from a real person instead of a canned response.

And if that's a canned response... OY!


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

Linjeakel said:


> I'm still trying to work out if I just got insulted or not .......
> 
> Seriously, I don't care which side of the 'pond' you come from, the language in that reply only bore a passing resemblance to English!


I watched Melvyn Bragg's "The Adventure of English" a few years ago, produced in the UK, by the way, and he pointed out that none of the various English dialects spoken in England today are much like that spoken a couple hundred years ago when the USA was still a colony, and that, in fact, the closest you can get to the English of that day is found in the southern dialects in the USA. So by those lights, we in Arkansas get it right and the rest of you guys, well, you do your best so we try not to laugh too hard. 

Of course he also mentioned that over half the English speakers in the world live in India, so I think the democratic view is that they're speaking correct English and the rest of us sound funny.

Barry


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I think some of my intent in mentioning "scrubber bar" might have been misinterpreted.  I wasn't being critical.  I thought it was interesting and worth mentioning.  Use of language has always fascinated me.

I'm not often critical in my posts.  I like interesting discussion and I try to make positive contributions.

Barry


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I don't think anyone thought you were, Barry.  It's just, from my standpoint of answering questions on this forum for the last eight years (almost), I think it's best to use consistent terms--and "scrubber bar" isn't something anyone is going to find in any of Amazon's help guides for their devices. Not everyone has your background, and certainly not most of the people who ask questions here.  Interesting to learn--but you'll have to forgive the rest of us if we continue to say "progress bar."  

Betsy


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

Nothing to forgive.  We Texans are used to forgiving other people for the funny ways they talk. 

Barry


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

barryem said:


> Nothing to forgive.


Fixed that for you.


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## Gone 9/21/18 (Dec 11, 2008)

Well, I managed to scare myself with this update on the Oasis. In a fit of something or other, I took my laptop to town yesterday and downloaded the update for both the Voyage and the Oasis. No problem with the Voyage update.

However, after updating the Oasis (yes, I got dots), when I hit the settings icon on the menu, I got the light adjustment bar and the 3 icons over that, but nothing about the batteries in the cover and device. Tried every menu and submenu on the thing. Worried that I put the Voyage update on it, but was sure it wouldn't work, and it still knew it was an Oasis because the option to revere the buttons was still there.

Finally I thought to reseat the device in the cover. That did it, but it's too bad there's no warning message on it telling you that you need to do that.


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I don't have an Oasis so I may be wrong but I think I remember reading that you only get the battery indications when the device is in the cover.

Barry


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

ellenoc said:


> Well, I managed to scare myself with this update on the Oasis. In a fit of something or other, I took my laptop to town yesterday and downloaded the update for both the Voyage and the Oasis. No problem with the Voyage update.
> 
> However, after updating the Oasis (yes, I got dots), when I hit the settings icon on the menu, I got the light adjustment bar and the 3 icons over that, but nothing about the batteries in the cover and device. Tried every menu and submenu on the thing. Worried that I put the Voyage update on it, but was sure it wouldn't work, and it still knew it was an Oasis because the option to revere the buttons was still there.
> 
> Finally I thought to reseat the device in the cover. That did it, but it's too bad there's no warning message on it telling you that you need to do that.


Ellen, sorry you got that scare!

Sometimes you'll get the message that the cover needs to be reseated; sometimes you don't. Sometimes I've just checked the battery percentages, and they're there, I get the reseat cover warning. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason.

Betsy


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## cloudyvisions (May 21, 2009)

Yaaaaaay!!

I just had to come post how happy I was to see the dots tonight! I've been gone since the 10th and left my oasis at home, so this was a wonderful surprise when I turned it on tonight!

Now, to just get rid of the check marks haha


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## AsinaMuse (Jun 20, 2016)

Hiya~!

I still do not see these dots which, coming from the KK, I was really used to and liked.

Is there a setting I need to adjust?


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## Koi (Apr 28, 2010)

AsinaMuse, set your kindle view to 'list' and see if you've got them there.  Amazon didn't see fit to give the dots back to all views.  If you're in cover view, you're out of luck.  Me too.


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## AsinaMuse (Jun 20, 2016)

Koi said:


> AsinaMuse, set your kindle view to 'list' and see if you've got them there. Amazon didn't see fit to give the dots back to all views. If you're in cover view, you're out of luck. Me too.


Yup.
Set it to list and it was there.
I love the dots as a graphical representation of progress.
I wish they had it in cover view (my preferred view as well).
Thanks for the response.


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## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

My oasis did a minor update, it is 5.8.1.0.1. I can't see a difference otherwise. Anyone else?


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