# Kindle Update 5.13.5 - Book Cover as Screensaver (UPDATE 4/15/21: Rolling out to the U.S., Canada, and the UK starting today.)



## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

*UPDATE 4/15/21:* According to this Reddit post, it's rolling out to the U.S., Canada, and the UK starting today.
___

This works for the book you're reading, but only users from India, New Zealand, and Mexico are seeing it so far - and not all of them. I am guessing Amazon is rolling this out slowly, or randomly selecting certain devices in certain countries.

Of course, this is only going to be for Kindles *without* Special Offers (ads).

From Reddit user *Janp8*:


__
https://www.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/mo3pqf


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I have LITERALLY been asking for this since July of 2008 when my very first Kindle was delivered. 


FWIW, both my Voyage and PW(10) have 5.13.5. I suspect my Oasis(9) does as well. None are exhibiting this behavior.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

I didn't even think of adding this to the thread about features we'd like to see in a new Kindle, because we've asked for it so long...


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

I too already have the 5.13.5 update but there is still nowhere in settings that I can see to choose this option and it's not specifically mentioned in the "what's new" section either.

I don't mind this update but I'm not sure how useful it will be - like many of us, I use a cover that auto opens my Kindle so I only get a one second glimpse of the screensaver before the text appears anyway.


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## jkingrph (Jun 10, 2012)

Linjeakel said:


> I too already have the 5.13.5 update but there is still nowhere in settings that I can see to choose this option and it's not specifically mentioned in the "what's new" section either.
> 
> I don't mind this update but I'm not sure how useful it will be - like many of us, I use a cover that auto opens my Kindle so I only get a one second glimpse of the screensaver before the text appears anyway.


Likewise!


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## Stephen O Connell (Jan 9, 2013)

To be honest, a cover that is only momentarily shown when you open your Kindle doesn't sound too much of an exciting update to me. But I know it's the small things that often add enjoyment for others so a toggle on/off option for the cover screensaver will keep everyone happy if [when] this option rolls out worldwide.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Linjeakel said:


> I too already have the 5.13.5 update but there is still nowhere in settings that I can see to choose this option and it's not specifically mentioned in the "what's new" section either.
> 
> I don't mind this update but I'm not sure how useful it will be - like many of us, I use a cover that auto opens my Kindle so I only get a one second glimpse of the screensaver before the text appears anyway.



You're right, Linda .... this was probably a much bigger deal before the auto-on/off covers. Still, I wouldn't mind it.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

A current book cover as a screen saver would likely make me rethink my use of auto-on-off covers.

One of the downsides of e-books (for me) that I have mentioned over the years is I don't remember covers, titles, and authors as well as I did with paper books. I think that is directly attributable to never seeing them again once I've opened a book to read - particularly individual titles!

With paper books, the title, author, and cover were reinforced every time I stopped reading, put my bookmark in place, and closed the cover. I'd love to have that reinforcement again. I suppose I could mitigate that somewhat by using cover views instead of list views on my home page and returning to the home page each time I stop reading, then re-opening from the home page each time I start again. That seems like too many extra steps now.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

crebel said:


> One of the downsides of e-books (for me) that I have mentioned over the years is I don't remember covers, titles, and authors as well as I did with paper books. I think that is directly attributable to never seeing them again once I've opened a book to read - particularly individual titles!
> 
> With paper books, the title, author, and cover were reinforced every time I stopped reading, put my bookmark in place, and closed the cover. I'd love to have that reinforcement again.


I'm the same. I have more than once had someone ask "what are you reading", only to realize I couldn't remember the title or author or sometimes both, especially when it was a new (to me) author. I just today finished reading a book in a series I really like and while I can tell you who the author is, I can't for the life of me remember what the book was called.

So yes, the reinforcement of seeing the cover every time you start and stop reading, as we had with paper books, would be great, but I don't think I want to lose the auto on/off cover. Yet another 'first world' problem!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

crebel said:


> A current book cover as a screen saver would likely make me rethink my use of auto-on-off covers.
> 
> One of the downsides of e-books (for me) that I have mentioned over the years is I don't remember covers, titles, and authors as well as I did with paper books. I think that is directly attributable to never seeing them again once I've opened a book to read - particularly individual titles!
> 
> With paper books, the title, author, and cover were reinforced every time I stopped reading, put my bookmark in place, and closed the cover. I'd love to have that reinforcement again. I suppose I could mitigate that somewhat by using cover views instead of list views on my home page and returning to the home page each time I stop reading, then re-opening from the home page each time I start again. That seems like too many extra steps now.



FWIW, I more or less do this ... 'cause I'm often reading more than one thing at a time and on more than one device. I've found all the syncing works best when you go back home after every reading session. So that's become a sort of habit for me and I use cover view so I'm seeing 3 book covers each time I do.



Linjeakel said:


> I'm the same. I have more than once had someone ask "what are you reading", only to realize I couldn't remember the title or author or sometimes both, especially when it was a new (to me) author. I just today finished reading a book in a series I really like and while I can tell you who the author is, I can't for the life of me remember what the book was called.
> 
> So yes, the reinforcement of seeing the cover every time you start and stop reading, as we had with paper books, would be great, but I don't think I want to lose the auto on/off cover. Yet another 'first world' problem!


Yeah, me, too. But it does help to go 'home' every time I stop reading. 

I won't give up the auto on/off covers, I don't think, but if I want to check out the book cover it's nice to know I can just toggle the device off and back on to look at it any time.


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## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

According to this Reddit post, it's rolling out to the U.S., Canada, and the UK starting today.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

CS said:


> According to this Reddit post, it's rolling out to the U.S., Canada, and the UK starting today.



I will be looking out for it!


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

No sign of it yet on my updated Kindles.

I wonder if you will have to have a book open for it to work or if it will automatically display the last book accessed. If the former, and it's your habit to go to 'home' every time you finish reading in order to facilitate the occasionally glitchy syncing with other devices, then it won't work. I'm guessing it will be the last book opened.


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## nikkidog (Apr 8, 2016)

I have it. First check that you have the update and then do a restart. I plugged my in before I did a restart but not sure that is necessary. After restart you have to go into device info under settings and turn the option on. Hope this helps.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I have it on my PW .... not on my Voyage yet. It was a sort of pop up when I closed what I was just reading. If you don't see that, it's in settings under device options.

It shows the cover of the most recent thing you had open. Very cool!  If you went to home, it will still show the most recent thing opened -- the one that would show up as the largest cover if you use cover view.

I'm going to try the restart on my Voyage and see if it shows up.


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## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

I'm still waiting for it...

I'm on the latest firmware, and I've restarted multiple times with wi-fi on - still no sign of it in device options.


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

OK. That's pretty cool.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I did a restart on my Voyage and didn't get it .... It's probably pretty random .... no way to directly download it; you just have to wait for it. As noted you DO, apparently, need to be on 5.13.5.

Also .... If you have 'special offers' you won't see it. I'm not even sure you'll see the option via settings. I would guess not.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

I don't have it yet on either my Oasis or Voyage, both on 5.13.5, but will keep checking! No special offers on either. Does anyone know if list vs cover view setting matters?


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

I don't know if the view affects it. I use list view.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

crebel said:


> I don't have it yet on either my Oasis or Voyage, both on 5.13.5, but will keep checking! No special offers on either. Does anyone know if list vs cover view setting matters?



I suspect not. When you get it, there will be an on/off toggle in settings that is, as far as I can see, independent of the separate setting for home view (under advanced) and the toggle for grid or list when viewing the home screen. I just did some playing and nothing else I did seemed to affect it.

EXCEPT..... if what you're viewing doesn't have a cover -- like my WaPo subscription and, I suspect, personal documents -- the wake screen defaults to the usual images they've been using. It may even be that if you regularly manipulate the files, even of things you do buy from Amazon, that it will affect whether the cover shows.

FWIW, borrowed kindle books work just fine, it seems.


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

I wonder what finally pushed this feature over to the user as this is something people have been clamoring about for a dozen years. I've been jailbreaking for the past decade so it's nice to not have to do that anymore when I buy new Kindles (kind of a hassle). but any guesses on why this finally got pushed through?

Confirmed working great on my first Oasis 6" (which is the one that was never jailbroken). OTA update came four days ago). The screensaver doesn't pop up as fast as a jailbroken Kindle with screensaver (instantaneous when you press the button) but it's literally just about 1.5 seconds of a delay on the Oasis 6".

For those who are hard nitpickers, the software update of screensavers isn't completely aligned with the 6" margin to margin. There is about a 5mm black border on the L and R with most of the books. In contrast, the latest jailbroken version of screensavers (from about late 2019 are border to border (example below). Minor to nothing but mentioning it.

*Not all sideloaded books work, sadly, if you're one that converts your own epubs and mobis and azws through non Amazon sites. Vast majority seem to work.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

And .... it showed up on my Voyage this afternoon. 🙂


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Linjeakel said:


> I too already have the 5.13.5 update but there is still nowhere in settings that I can see to choose this option and it's not specifically mentioned in the "what's new" section either.
> 
> I don't mind this update but I'm not sure how useful it will be - like many of us, I use a cover that auto opens my Kindle so I only get a one second glimpse of the screensaver before the text appears anyway.


Had that too then restarted it, opened a book and let it sleep. Came back to it a half hour later, went to the home screen then settings then it was there in the display settings


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## northofdivision (Sep 7, 2010)

Great news for some who have been asking for years... For those of you (who kept your old Kindles) wanting symmetry with all your new Kindles with the awesome new update, it's a really perfect time to jailbreak your old K4 (and maybe to turn it into an article reader). It's before all the updates so an old jailbreak iteration but very very easy to install (drag and drop two files). Can walk anyone through it if interested DM me.


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## gdae23 (Apr 30, 2009)

Thanks for the heads up on this. I turned it on in settings and tried it with the book I’m currently reading. I got a message that said something like “The book you’re reading has no cover.“ It showed the prior type of screensaver instead.

I went to that book and brought up the cover page. It wasn’t much of a design but it was definitely listed under “Go to” as a cover. I tried the new screen saver again and this time it came up. I definitely prefer the book covers to the magnified pencil ends and such!

I do use an automatic cover, but sometimes I have the Kindle open on a little book stand that I have (made for cell phones) and it might sit there for a while with the screen saver so I get to see it that way.


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## fos (Aug 16, 2009)

It is on my Voyage now. There is a new on / off option at the top of the Device Settings page.

I wish I could enable the "Authors" screen save that is still on my original Kindle, the one with the keyboard. It is white and has a large border around the screen. It still works but is VERY slow and balky. I believe I have replaced the battery twice.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

fos said:


> I wish I could enable the "Authors" screen save that is still on my original Kindle, the one with the keyboard. It is white and has a large border around the screen. It still works but is VERY slow and balky. I believe I have replaced the battery twice.


I always kind of liked those as well ... but there were some that looked a bit creepy --- Oscar Wilde and Emily Dickinson come to mind.


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## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

fos said:


> It is on my Voyage now. There is a new on / off option at the top of the Device Settings page.


Did you have to restart or anything like that?

I've been trying in vain for over a week now.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

No luck here either on 2 different Voyages and an Oasis 2. 

We haven't had it as an option for 13 years, whenever it shows up I'll be happy. If it doesn't, oh well...


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Unfortunately, I don't think there's any way to 'trigger' it. Only thing to suggest is be sure you have the latest update and keep wireless on. It'll come eventually, I assume.

I got it almost right away on the Voyage and PW I use most often. OTOH, the other Voyage -- the one my husband mostly uses and not very often -- hasn't got it yet. I turned wireless on and did a 'sync' and 'restart'. Wait -- I lie -- I just checked the settings again and, sure enough, the 'display cover' option is there but it was defaulted to off. So do check that if you haven't. It's the first thing listed under 'device options' if it's there. I'd been assuming there would be a pop up notice like on my other two devices, but there wasn't.

As to my Oasis -- which is the other one I use pretty much daily -- it still has ads, so of course there's nothing there either.  The option doesn't seem to be available at all in settings. At this time, I'm not inclined to spend $30 to see what happens there.

I have no idea if contacting Amazon would help -- it might be the kindle support people can trigger it somehow. If it gets to be a month or more, that might be worth a try. As it is, it was announced here on April 15, so ...... give 'em time to get the whole country covered.  

One other thing about the auto-on covers. I've found that the image sits there for a second or two so there is time to register what book you had open. OR, if you'd had the device sleeping for long enough, it takes a little while to wake anyway, so you see the cover for a while.

It's kind of ridiculous how much I like this simple thing.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

I've had the 5.13.5 update for a while now on all my eligible devices - for the first time in forever it arrived automatically and I didn't have to download it manually - but still no sign of the cover update, despite restarting and syncing.

To be honest though, it's nothing new here in the UK to have to wait for stuff a bit longer - new things are normally rolled out in the US first.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Okay, I lied when I said, "If it doesn't come, oh well..."

*I WANT THIS UPDATE NOW*

Carry on...


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## amyberta (Dec 14, 2009)

My oasis kindle is upto date but I don’t have the option for the book cover. I tried turning my kindle off and back on, still no book cover.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I feel for y'all.  Be sure wireless is on and then just give it time. Maybe do a daily (at least) sync and restart*. I'm not sure that'll trigger it, but it seems reasonable.

And, again, realize this is a feature that will NOT work if you currently have ads. 


*I think doing a restart triggers things just powering off and then back on may not, which is why I suggest it. And I suspect you have to keep wireless on so that the signal can be sent to the device to turn on the feature.


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> It's kind of ridiculous how much I like this simple thing.


I agree.
But I also found out this morning that you should go to a page with text on it when you first open a book. It took me 4-5 tries to get my kindle to start up and advance the page since I couldn't tell if it was the cover for the book or the actual cover inside of the book. User error at 5am...


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## amyberta (Dec 14, 2009)

I keep my wifi on, but so far I don’t have it.


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## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

Am I the only one who still hasn't gotten this feature?!


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

CS said:


> Am I the only one who still hasn't gotten this feature?!


NO


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I got mine a while back. 3 kindles at different times. Oasis3, Oasis1 and Voyage. I think my Oasis1 is getting dead. Even putting on the charged cover, it thinks after a few minutes there is no battery. But I only read on my big Oasis anyway, or the Voyage at times. 
I like the cover thing. It wasn't something I was missing, but now that I have it, I really like it. Suprised how much I actually like it.  I don't use a cover on it so I can always see it as it sits on my side table.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

** pouting **


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## jkingrph (Jun 10, 2012)

Well, I have been trying to get this. I now see an option in go to for cover, but that does not set it for a screen saver or opening screen.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Cover has always been a Go To option as far as I know. That's where I reset every book when I'm done reading before I delete it from the device.

According to previous posts, the cover for screensaver will be an option in Settings>Device Options whenever it comes through to an individual device. At least that's where I keep checking, I'm sure someone who already has it will correct me if I have misunderstood.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Still waiting. I've tried restarting and syncing a couple of times on both my Voyages and my PW4 but nothing yet. 

It's not that I'm desperate to get it, I think it's just a fear of missing out! I want to try it and see if it is actually useful to me or not.

Where exactly in the settings does the option appear?


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Linjeakel said:


> Still waiting. I've tried restarting and syncing a couple of times on both my Voyages and my PW4 but nothing yet.
> 
> It's not that I'm desperate to get it, I think it's just a fear of missing out! I want to try it and see if it is actually useful to me or not.
> 
> Where exactly in the settings does the option appear?


It will be in Settings-Device options. First item above device info. Mine just appeared one day. Restarting and such things didn't work. I just kept wifi on and I picked it up one day for reading, woke up and I got a popup on the screen telling me I have a new feature. The other kindles there was no popup, but it was in the settings when I checked.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Atunah said:


> It will be in Settings-Device options. First item above device info. Mine just appeared one day. Restarting and such things didn't work. I just kept wifi on and I picked it up one day for reading, woke up and I got a popup on the screen telling me I have a new feature. The other kindles there was no popup, but it was in the settings when I checked.



Same for me. The first device there was a pop up. The other ones I did some restarts and syncing (keeping wireless turned on) but no pop up. Then I checked settings and there it was.

Note: you won't get this if you have ads as sleep pictures.  I'm trying to decide if it's worth $30 to buy out on my Oasis -- so far leaning not. I don't use that one but at night before bed anyway, so it's not as big a deal for me. And every now and then, I do see an ad for a book that looks promising.


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## amyberta (Dec 14, 2009)

CS said:


> Am I the only one who still hasn't gotten this feature?!


No, I still haven’t gotten it.


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## jkingrph (Jun 10, 2012)

I go to settings-device options and there is nothing above device info but the standard menu bar home, back settiings, goodreads, store, and search


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## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

*I finally have it!!!*

No reboot needed. I just charged up my Kindle (it was at 10% anyway) with WiFi on, and it appeared in Device Options after the Kindle was finished charging.

The 17th was the "official" launch date, according to Reddit (via an Amazon CSR), so hopefully everyone has it now.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

CS said:


> *I finally have it!!!*
> 
> No reboot needed. I just charged up my Kindle (it was at 10% anyway) with WiFi on, and it appeared in Device Options after the Kindle was finished charging.
> 
> The 17th was the "official" launch date, according to Reddit (via an Amazon CSR), so hopefully everyone has it now.


ME TOO!!! I checked again last night and it still wasn't there. Checked again this morning after seeing your post and there was the option on both my Oasis and Voyage (still not on DH's paperwhite). I am so excited it's here at last!!

Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised since the download is still from Amazon, but it even worked immediately with the library borrow I am currently reading!


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## amyberta (Dec 14, 2009)

I just got it too.


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## Arid (Aug 21, 2011)

It appeared on my PW3 yesterday as well.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Still waiting .......


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## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

Now that most of us have this feature (and hopefully all of us will soon), are there any *clear* Kindle cases/covers with automatic wake/sleep that can show off what we're currently reading?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

CS said:


> Now that most of us have this feature (and hopefully all of us will soon), are there any *clear* Kindle cases/covers with automatic wake/sleep that can show off what we're currently reading?



Well .... there's an idea! Gotta say, though, it's not something I've seen.

Of course if you use the old standby of a plastic zipper bag, you're in luck.  (No auto-wake though.  )


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

And finally ... it's arrived. 

It does flash off rather quickly when you open the cover though! The suggestion from CS about a clear fronted cover is a good one - I wonder how long it will take some enterprising person to catch on and make it happen?

For the first time I can see a reason for a colour Kindle, though I definitely wouldn't upgrade before I needed to - or pay extra - to get it.

P.S. Why do I have a _Canadian_ flag over there 👈 by my name?
P.P.S. It's now back to the Union Jack.


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## etexlady (May 27, 2009)

I still don't have it. I did read somewhere that if you have a Kindle with "special offers" you have to pay to have those ads removed before one can get the cover feature. True?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

etexlady said:


> I still don't have it. I did read somewhere that if you have a Kindle with "special offers" you have to pay to have those ads removed before one can get the cover feature. True?



Well, yes. The 'curent book cover' will only show on a kindle without ads. So if you have ads -- aka 'special offers' -- that's what you'll see. 

If you want to be able to see book covers, you'll need to 'buy out' of the ads -- which is pretty easily done via the Devices and Content area on Amazon, as I recall. I think it's $30. At that point the option to show covers should become available. But -- as we've noted, not everyone is getting it turned on at the same time. 

ALSO ... book covers only seem to show for books acquired through amazon, and some things don't work. Like my WaPo subscription doesn't have a 'cover'. I suspect sideloaded content may not work. In those cases the default would be the regular sleep pictures.


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## jkingrph (Jun 10, 2012)

It finally showed up on my older Voyage, a second generation Oasis and newer paperwhite, no.


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## alarsen77 (May 28, 2016)

I got this on Friday night when I plugged my Kindle in to charge and it was hooked up to wifi. 

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk


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## Elk (Oct 4, 2010)

I have had 5.13.5 (and now 5.13.6) on my Oasis for weeks, but only now did the cover as screensaver option appear. 

I am currently reading a book transferred directly from a computer so at least for me the bok need not be downloaded from Amazon.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

I am really enjoying the book cover as screen saver option. Even though I still have a magnetic cover on my Kindles (Voyage and Oasis 2), I don't close them anymore unless they are going in my purse. I just hit the off button and it's like have the book laying there on my side tables.

The only miniscule drawback I find is _because_ they are screensavers, it means the lighting is off and some of them are very dark - almost too dark to make out unless it's under a table lamp. I still prefer having it to not, it was a looooooonnnnnngggg time coming.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

My current book doesn't display the cover correctly. 

When you use the 'go to' option to go to the cover page at the beginning of the book it has the same pictorial cover as shown on Amazon, so the Kindle clearly knows what the 'cover' is supposed to be.

But when I switch off my Kindle it displays a plain page with just text on it giving the title and author. I can't find that page anywhere in the book. Strange.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Yeah. I've had one or two books do that as well. And it doesn't work at all if the last thing I read was the newspaper. But most books seem to work o.k.

I think I'll start paying attention and see if I can find a pattern to figure out whether it's more often independent books, big name books, KU books, etc .... or if it's just random!


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