Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Kindle Tips: Kindle E-Ink and Kindle Fire - most reliable Gmail mode



I've noticed that E-Ink-Ereader and Kindle Fire owners have reported problems accessing Gmail lately. One aspect is that few settle for "mobile" version on the larger mobile devices and choose 'desktop' mode. I'm one of them.

The one mode that always works for me on either the Kindle Touch or the Kindle Fire, though, is GMail's "Basic Html" mode, which is simpler and faster to load than the "Standard" mode, the latter being the default mode and causing problems for some larger mobile devices.

While GMail apps can work well for some, they are missing features that some depend on in GMail, and as a result some choose the browser version instead and, as I mentioned, Desktop mode.  If you prefer to use a browser version (I do), I have a shortcut that makes sure the Kindle Touch or the Kindle Fire get to the "Basic HTML" version of GMail.

That's http://bit.ly/gmailbasichtml.

The shortcut uses no dashes, so it's easier to type.  After you get to the GMail page in basic-html mode, then you can bookmark it so you don't have to type it again.

The Kindle Touch will show the listing of emails.  To get the folders, see the lined rectangle at top left of that page.  The rectangle represents these days a "Menu" option, and that'll bring up the folders.

Let me know if you have any problems with these.


KEYBOARD Kindles respond differently though.
For older models like Kindle 2, 3, DX, use:
    bit.ly/g_mail (That's an underscore there rather than a space, and the 'http://' is not needed with Kindles, as the Kindle adds it.)
  (Kindle 1 is just entirely too slow and has no direct-screen-link access for gmail.)

In the mobiweb.azw weblinks 'book' file that I've had for download for a long time for older E-Ink Kindles, you can just click on the links instead of going to Experimental browser where you type in links.  The "preferred" GMail shortcut in that mobiweb 'book' file for the older e-Ink devices is the bit.ly/g_mail one (with an underscore rather than a space) mentioned as an alternative.

The Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire models will be less problematical with the various GMail versions.   The mobiweb.azw file mentioned also uses good 'umbrella'-menu sites (such as Cantoni, Kinstant, ReadingTheNet, and Skweezer) which hold categories of links that are better to use when on a slow e-Ink device.

Hope that helps some !




Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links
US:
Kindle Fire  7" tablet - $199
Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $79/$109
Kindle Touch, WiFi
- $99/$139
Kindle Touch, 3G/WiFi - $149/$189
Kindle Keybd 3G - $189, Free, slow web
Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web
UK:
Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £89
Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109
Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi, UK - £169
Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149
  Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB
OTHER International
Kindle NoTouch Basic - $109
Kindle Touch WiFi - $139
Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi - $189
Kindle Keybd 3G - $189
  Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

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2 comments:

  1. Thank you for this post! I wanted to receive GMail for a long time on my kindle and now it works! Your´re a genius.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gerrit, I'm glad it worked for you :-) I was really pleased to see that this one mode works well for the two Kindles I use most. Thanks for taking the time to let me know.

    Bear in mind, Google is going to change the GMail software again soon, so I'll be on the lookout for a sure way to use that too but I wish they'd leave the layout alone.

    ReplyDelete

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