Kindles are famously good at one thing: displaying e-books. But if you've upgraded to a new model, your old Kindle is actually a surprisingly versatile piece of hardware. Its E-Ink screen is low-power and easy on the eyes, making it perfect for a range of projects. Here are three clever hacks to give your old Kindle a second life.
1. Turn It Into a Spotify Remote
One of the easiest ways to repurpose an old Kindle is to turn it into a dedicated remote for your music. This hack relies on Spotify Connect, which allows you to control playback on one device from another.
All you need to do is open the Kindle's built-in web browser and go to the Spotify Connect website: spotify.com/connect. Log in with your credentials, and as long as your Kindle is on the same Wi-Fi network as your speaker, laptop, or phone, you'll be able to control the music. You can skip tracks, pause, and adjust the volume.
This is a great way to use an old tablet as a dedicated music controller for your home stereo, without the distraction of a phone. You're not storing any music on the Kindle itself, just using it as a touchscreen remote.
2. Build a Custom Smart Display
For a more involved project, you can turn your old Kindle into a sleek smart display for your home. This involves some coding and hardware work, but developer Matt Healy has created detailed guides that are surprisingly accessible.
The idea is to create a custom webpage that pulls data from your online services—like a weather forecast, your Google Calendar, or your to-do list—and displays it on the Kindle's screen. You can also build a custom frame to mount it on your wall.
It's an excellent way to learn more about hardware hacking, APIs, and how different apps and services talk to each other. Once you've set it up, you can have a dedicated dashboard showing you everything you need to know for the day, all powered by your old e-reader.
3. Create a Literary Clock
This project is a favorite among Kindle hackers. It turns your e-reader into a clock where each minute is represented by a quote from a book that mentions that specific time. For instance, at 3:15 PM, you might see a quote from A Wrinkle in Time.
The setup is more complex than the Spotify hack but simpler than the smart display. You have to install custom scripts and images. The good news is that all the images and scripts have already been prepared by the community, so you don't have to source them yourself. There are 1,440 images to cover every minute of the day.
A particularly charming feature is that the name of the book or author is hidden, making it a delightful literary quiz for guests. A tap on the screen reveals the answer. It's a unique piece of functional art that celebrates literature in a new way.