Kindle Paperwhite for Dummies (9 page)

To find out which version of the firmware your Kindle is running, follow these steps:

1. Tap the Menu icon.

2. Tap Settings
⇒
Menu
⇒
Device Info.

The firmware version is listed, along with the serial number, and space available (in megabytes). The Kindle Paperwhite is included in the fifth generation of the devices that have been produced, so the firmware version begins with 5. At the time of this writing, the firmware is version 5.3.0.

If an update is available, your Kindle Paperwhite will download it when you turn on the wireless and connect to a network. If you notice a screen that says
Your Kindle Is Updating
, this is what’s happening.

If you’re curious as to whether a more current update is available, you can check at Amazon:

1. Go to your Amazon account by typing
www.amazon.com/myk
and log in.

2. On the taskbar near the top of the screen, click the Kindle Support link.

3. In the list of Popular Topics, choose Kindle Software Updates.

4. In the list of displayed devices, choose Kindle Paperwhite.

5. Follow the onscreen instructions.

If updates are available, you’ll see instructions for determining whether you need to upgrade the firmware and, if so, how to download and manually update your Kindle Paperwhite, if you want.

You don’t have to manually update your Kindle Paperwhite. Necessary updates happen automatically through the wireless connection. Just be aware that if the screen looks different or if you find new features, the device probably went through an automatic update.

Chapter 3

Getting to Know Your Kindle Paperwhite

In This Chapter

Tapping, swiping, and pinching

Becoming familiar with the icons

Touring the Home screen

P
rior versions of the Kindle e-reader had a variety of buttons on the device to navigate through e-books and other content. Even the Kindle Touch, which was the first Kindle with a touchscreen, had two buttons. The Kindle Paperwhite has just one, the power switch. All other navigation is done through the touchscreen, with finger gestures.

In this chapter, you begin by examining the different finger motions as well as where on the screen you use them. With just a few simple motions, you’ll be able to open books and other content and quickly navigate from place to place on your Kindle Paperwhite.

Interacting with the Touchscreen

In this section, you discover some new techniques for navigation. If you’re a seasoned Kindle Touch owner, the following information should be familiar. However, if you’re upgrading from a Kindle with buttons or are new to Kindle overall, the following primer will get you started.

Tapping, swiping, and pinching

All common uses of the Kindle Paperwhite — opening books, turning pages, placing bookmarks, and so on — involve a few simple touchscreen gestures, such as finger taps and swipes. For the most part, these gestures are consistent throughout your interaction with the Kindle Paperwhite. (We point out the few cases where the behavior is a bit different than you might expect.)

Unlike Amazon’s prior touchscreen device, the Kindle Paperwhite has a capacitive touchscreen, which means that it responds only to an ungloved finger or a capacitive stylus that mimics a finger’s touch.

Tapping

A simple
tap
is the most common gesture you use with the Kindle Paperwhite. See an onscreen button and want to activate it? Tap the button. Viewing the list of books on your device? Tap one to open it.

When you’re reading a book or other content, you tap to
page forward
(display the next page),
page backward
(display the previous page), or display a menu of commands. What happens when you tap a book’s page depends on which part of the screen you tap; we discuss the three
tap zones
of a displayed page later in this section.

Swiping

Swiping
— or sliding — your finger from right to left horizontally or diagonally on the screen causes it to page forward. The motion is akin to flipping a paper page in a printed book. To page backward, reverse the motion with a left-to-right swipe.

When reading a book or other content, you advance the page by swiping or tapping.

If you want to page forward or backward when viewing a list of books on the Home screen, you must swipe, not tap. A tap on the title of a book (or other content) on the Home screen opens the item for reading.

When swiping, you need to move your finger only a short distance. You can probably swipe (or tap) without moving your hands from their reading position.

Long-tapping

For a
long-tap,
also called a
tap and hold,
you touch and hold down on the screen for a few seconds before releasing. In general, a long-tap results in a special action, depending on what you’re viewing at the time.

For example, when viewing a book page, you can long-tap on a word to display its definition. When viewing a list of books on the Home screen, a long-tap on a particular book displays such options as adding the book to a collection and reading its description. If you tap and hold the title of an e-book sample listed on the Home screen, you can buy the book, read the description, or delete the sample from the device. (Sampling content is discussed in more detail in Chapter 6.)

Pinching and unpinching

When reading a book or other content, place two fingers (or a finger and a thumb) on the touchscreen and slide them closer together. This
pinch
motion decreases the font size. Move your fingers apart — called an
unpinch
— to increase the font size. You need to move your fingers only a small distance to change the font size.

You might see a lag between the pinching and unpinching motions and a change in the text size. Moving your fingers slowly helps.

Touchscreen zones

The Kindle Paperwhite screen is set up with
tap zones,
which are designed to let you turn pages effortlessly with one finger. To get an idea of the location of these zones, see Figure 3-1 (portrait mode) and Figure 3-2 (landscape mode).

Figure 3-1:
Tap zones in portrait mode.

Figure 3-2:
Tap zones in landscape mode.

The three zones shown in the figures work as follows:

Top zone:
This area covers the full width of the screen and is approximately 1.25” high. While reading a book, a tap in the top zone displays two toolbars. The top toolbar contains the Home, Back, Light, Store, Search, and Menu icons. The second toolbar contains the Font, Go to, X-ray, and Share icons. At the bottom of the screen, you can see your progress in the book. For details, see the next section, “Navigating with Icons.”