Kindle Scribe

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by astirling

I’m thinking about buying the scribe. My note taking requirements are pretty basic. What I really need to know is whether or not there’s any way of viewing the handwritten notes on my Mac. I essentially want them on screen so that I can then type them up into something I can use for work.

Does the mac kindle app let me view my handwritten notes. Or is there a kindle web app which can show them?

Also…I understand the device sleeps pretty quickly. Is there any way of continuing to show the current note on screen when it sleeps? Or at the very least, does waking the device take you back to where you were before the device went into sleep mode?

Not at present, unless you have an Apple Silicon Mac and the beta version of the Kindle app. Not sure they are still looking for testers:

https://twitter.com/AmazonKindle/sta...12923262009347

And you can Share a Notebook (sends a link to a PDF download to your email).

It sleeps like any other Kindle, no adjustment. It will wake to whatever you were doing before.

[astirling]

Thanks for that. I do have an apple silicon Mac but not in the US so I can't sign up. Send to pdf will do the trick though.

[LDB]

Just got an email about new features for the Scribe starting today including two pages side by side in landscape mode plus notebook navigation improvements and other bits.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by LDB

Just got an email about new features for the Scribe starting today including two pages side by side in landscape mode plus notebook navigation improvements and other bits.

See the Update for Kindle Scribe (5.16.1.3) thread in this forum.

[HLS]

Originally Posted by LDB

Just got an email about new features for the Scribe starting today including two pages side by side in landscape mode plus notebook navigation improvements and other bits.

I took the update today and then of that shows on my scribe

[shaunconn]

Still no way to browse your notebooks from the MacBook though - I opened a support ticket, the menu item "show notebooks" in the Mac kindle app is greyed out. I was told today that:

the Kindle for Mac does not support Kindle Scribe notes. Only Kindle for iOS and Kindle for Android can display notes from Kindle Scribe. The "Show notebook" only allow the customers to show notes from books and not notes written from Kindle Scribe.

I've asked if its a future plan, as not syncing with the laptop seems to fundamentally miss something.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by shaunconn

Still no way to browse your notebooks from the MacBook though - I opened a support ticket, the menu item "show notebooks" in the Mac kindle app is greyed out.

Recent releases of the Kindle for Mac app have the following message built in:

Support for this app is ending on May 31, 2023

Get the new Kindle for Mac from the App Store to read with the latest Kindle features for Mac, explore millions of Kindle books, and receive regular app updates.

The message includes a link to the Kindle for iOS app in the app store.

As far as I know this message isn't actually being shown to customers so it is possible that this plan has either been rejected or delayed.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Recent releases of the Kindle for Mac app have the following message built in:



The message includes a link to the Kindle for iOS app in the app store.

As far as I know this message isn't actually being shown to customers so it is possible that this plan has either been rejected or delayed.

I've been playing with the Kindle for Mac beta. It's virtually identical to the iPad app (via Mac Catalyst, I assume). Last updated 19 April, and the app 'expires in 71 days'.

I would assume it is on track for release at some point. Probably only for Ventura, and maybe only Apple Silicon to start with (beta version will not run on Intel).

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by tomsem

I've been playing with the Kindle for Mac beta. It's virtually identical to the iPad app (via Mac Catalyst, I assume).

Are Scribe notebooks viewable in the beta app?

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Are Scribe notebooks viewable in the beta app?

Yes, they are. Just like the apps, notebooks cannot display 'full screen' (without the home/library/thumbnail/discover/more at bottom, with the thumbnail intruding a bit).

But like the current Mac app, does not have a storefront in it, so no Home or Discover.

[tomsem]

I see someone on Reddit is claiming they have the Send to Kindle Share option in Word for Windows (but without any details). I'm on Microsoft 365 Insider Release channel, and just got an update, but still don't see it. Not clear how they are rolling this thing out.

As far as I can tell from the screenshots Amazon has posted, it's just an additional option from just sending a DOCX file: select fixed or reflow able. And I'm going to assume the return product is a PDF with flat images of the pages (fixed layout) or the text + sticky notes you've created (reflow able), just as we already have.

In the meantime, I'm curious about what Notebook format is, in particular what is in the nbk and nbk-journal files. The .PNG thumbnails I assume are just the latest visual state, but 'nbk' may be sort of (sqlite?) database with a vector representation, and 'nbk-journal' might be strokes for a given notebook session, which have not yet been synced to cloud. I'll start a separate thread if get anywhere with this.

I just got a second Scribe (the Mother's Day sale was awesome and I upgraded to 32gb + PP and got $80 trade in my 9 year old Echo, which was collecting dust), and $25 book credit. I am going to see if mom wants my 'old' one, but in meantime I can see how sync works (or doesn't).

Some people on Reddit are still complaining about 'lost notebooks' even after the latest update; it seems like you should just be able to copy off .notebooks folder now and then to recover from this by restoring from that backup (seems like re-register or reset should work as well).

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by tomsem

I see someone on Reddit is claiming they have the Send to Kindle Share option in Word for Windows (but without any details). I'm on Microsoft 365 Insider Release channel, and just got an update, but still don't see it. Not clear how they are rolling this thing out.

I am a Microsoft 365 subscriber and I received the update awhile ago. It is accessed using File, Export, Send documents to Kindle. See attached screenshots.

Originally Posted by tomsem

In the meantime, I'm curious about what Notebook format is, in particular what is in the nbk and nbk-journal files. The .PNG thumbnails I assume are just the latest visual state, but 'nbk' may be sort of (sqlite?) database with a vector representation, and 'nbk-journal' might be strokes for a given notebook session, which have not yet been synced to cloud. I'll start a separate thread if get anywhere with this.

A separate file with a name ending in "-journal" is a normal part of an SQLite database. It is a Rollback Journal, a temporary file used to implement atomic commit and rollback capabilities in SQLite.

Originally Posted by tomsem

Some people on Reddit are still complaining about 'lost notebooks' even after the latest update; it seems like you should just be able to copy off .notebooks folder now and then to recover from this by restoring from that backup (seems like re-register or reset should work as well).

That might work or it might cause new problems. Amazon is trying to keep the contents of notebooks in sync with their servers by delivering incremental updates when something changes. Replacing the file with one in a different state might screw that up.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I am a Microsoft 365 subscriber and I received the update awhile ago. It is accessed using File, Export, Send documents to Kindle. See attached screenshots.

Thanks, for some reason I was looking in Sharing options in Word.

A separate file with a name ending in "-journal" is a normal part of an SQLite database. It is a Rollback Journal, a temporary file used to implement atomic commit and rollback capabilities in SQLite.

Thanks for the clues.

That might work or it might cause new problems. Amazon is trying to keep the contents of notebooks in sync with their servers by delivering incremental updates when something changes. Replacing the file with one in a different state might screw that up.

I have not had any issues myself, and the few accounts aren't detailed enough to isolate what might be going on. Usually they involve being offline for some reason (either to save battery or because they're using somewhere without WiFi), and after sync one or more of their notebooks 'disappears' ('58 pages of journal'). Yet the thumbnails still show in iOS/Android apps. I'm guessing sync was incomplete (might have hit some limit on number of offline changes?), notebook database is corrupted or something and Scribe fails to list it.

So restoring an older version of the specific notebook database might allow sync to succeed by applying later changes that were recorded in cloud. But it might not, as you suggest.

But it seems unregister and re-register would let you start fresh with whatever made it to the cloud successfully.

It seems advisable to create smaller notebooks to minimize loss potential, especially now that there are folders you can organize things with, the "don't put all your eggs in one basket principal".

[LDB]

On my PC I've looked at a few Word docs/files and when I go to File, Export all I get is Create PDF or Change File Type. No send to Kindle.

[tomsem]

Hmm, pretty sure I tried to post this before but yes: I'm seeing the Send to Kindle Export option now (could have been there before but I was looking at Share).

But now that it is here for me, I find it sort of underwhelming. Not something I can see myself using for any reason. I barely use Word for anything.