Someone hacked their 13-year-old Kindle to make a perfect desk assistant
An enterprising developer has turned their 2013 Kindle Paperwhite into an all-purpose assistant gadget.
A resourceful individual has ingeniously transformed their 13-year-old Kindle into an efficient desk assistant. This hack, demonstrated on Reddit by user Witespace, adds a variety of new features to the device, despite its age. The device, a 2013 6th-gen Paperwhite, is now capable of functioning as a task manager, app launcher, and a Pomodoro timer. It's been positioned on the author's desk next to their laptop and has quickly become a favorite tool. The hack involves jailbreaking the device and installing custom software.
The Kindle syncs seamlessly with both a MacBook and a PC through a Cloudflare web account, with the option to switch between systems automatically or manually via a button. The developer has shared the source code, which will soon be available on GitHub, allowing other users to install the hack on their own outdated Kindles.
Among the impressive additions are automatic display of completed tasks, calendar alerts five minutes before scheduled meetings, and a button for joining calls with a single tap. The device also includes a weather app, dark mode, and a screensaver clock. Future improvements include custom shortcuts to Spotify playlists, Slack channels, and the potential to control lights.
The Reddit community has reacted positively, with comments such as "great," "cool," and "awesome." The developer is enthusiastic about sharing the source code, allowing others to customize and enhance the device's capabilities further.
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