Alessandra Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 If you have more than one Kindle, what do you do? Kindles (the cheap $69 ones that I for on sale for $49) for dc will arrive tomorrow. On my Kindle, when I order a book, it arrives, with no password needed. I gather that the new Kindles have some kind of controls so that dc can't order books without my knowing it. My nightmare would be a Kindle lost at school and someone else ordering, not lol. But my real question is, can you give the Kindles different names or something, so that each kid only gets his/her content? Are there good/bad ways of keeping all this straight? Anyone with experience here, I would love to hear what works for your family. Thanks!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sun Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Yes, Amazon will automatically have assigned the two new Kindles names before you get them, and your original one will show up as whatever-your-amazon-user-name-is's Kindle. Then when you buy a book or download a library book, you'll select which one to send it to. There are parental controls on the newer Kindles, including the cheap one, I believe. I haven't bothered using them; my son has had a Kindle since he was 6 or 7, and he's always known to never go into the Kindle store on it or to buy anything. We've never had a problem. The only issue we have had is that any collections I have on my device show up on his automatically, and he can click on any of the titles to download them. I'm not thrilled about trashy romance novels or things like Game of Thrones being there, but I can't figure out how to get collections to not show up on all devices. What I ended up doing was taking all of my books out of collections. Other kindles on the account still have access, I think, but they have to go to archived items to see them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommybee Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 I just put all my books in Calibre and side load the kids nook/kindle. I just don't have internet access for theirs but do for mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busymama7 Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Be aware that they can see major filth if they search for free books or even just browse the bookstore. I wish there were parental controls for that :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sun Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 I just put all my books in Calibre and side load the kids nook/kindle. I just don't have internet access for theirs but do for mine. That is WAY too much work for me. I really hate it when I have to download a library book that way. Luckily, it doesn't seem to happen much anymore. I love the convenience of being able to just have it sent to a Kindle. All Kindles allow books to be sent that way using wireless; they just can't all get books using 3G. Be aware that they can see major filth if they search for free books or even just browse the bookstore. I wish there were parental controls for that :( That is what the parental controls are for. You can disallow access to the Kindle store and to the online browser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommybee Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 That is WAY too much work for me. I really hate it when I have to download a library book that way. Luckily, it doesn't seem to happen much anymore. I love the convenience of being able to just have it sent to a Kindle. All Kindles allow books to be sent that way using wireless; they just can't all get books using 3G. That is what the parental controls are for. You can disallow access to the Kindle store and to the online browser. I can see that. Unfortunately the kids have Nooks and I prefer to buy all my books on the Kindle so I have to convert them anyway. I have a Nook but I have always much preferred my Kindle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sun Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 I can see that. Unfortunately the kids have Nooks and I prefer to buy all my books on the Kindle so I have to convert them anyway. I have a Nook but I have always much preferred my Kindle. In that case, it's convenient to have Calibre! I've thought about getting and using Calibre for those occasional library books that only come in Adobe format, but I already find getting out the cord such a hassle that it hasn't yet seemed worth it. That is the very epitome of a first-world problem--is this library book worth having to convert and transfer via cord? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busymama7 Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 That is WAY too much work for me. I really hate it when I have to download a library book that way. Luckily, it doesn't seem to happen much anymore. I love the convenience of being able to just have it sent to a Kindle. All Kindles allow books to be sent that way using wireless; they just can't all get books using 3G. That is what the parental controls are for. You can disallow access to the Kindle store and to the online browser. Ok I do have the browser blocked but didn't realize I could block the store too. But that still annoys me. My teens are old enough to look around for books they are interested in but I don't wish them seeing porn to do it. Not only that, *I* don't wish to see it either and I do browse for books. I would totally use parental controls on mine if I could block all that from coming up in searches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sun Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Ok I do have the browser blocked but didn't realize I could block the store too. But that still annoys me. My teens are old enough to look around for books they are interested in but I don't wish them seeing porn to do it. Not only that, *I* don't wish to see it either and I do browse for books. I would totally use parental controls on mine if I could block all that from coming up in searches. I hear you on not wanting to see it! I've had the same issue when browsing overdrive via my library. I'm not a prude, but I also am not into reading 50 shades of smut and hate seeing covers pop up with a female rear covered with one 1-cm wide piece of leather! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 Yes, Amazon will automatically have assigned the two new Kindles names before you get them, and your original one will show up as whatever-your-amazon-user-name-is's Kindle. Then when you buy a book or download a library book, you'll select which one to send it to. There are parental controls on the newer Kindles, including the cheap one, I believe. I haven't bothered using them; my son has had a Kindle since he was 6 or 7, and he's always known to never go into the Kindle store on it or to buy anything. We've never had a problem. The only issue we have had is that any collections I have on my device show up on his automatically, and he can click on any of the titles to download them. I'm not thrilled about trashy romance novels or things like Game of Thrones being there, but I can't figure out how to get collections to not show up on all devices. What I ended up doing was taking all of my books out of collections. Other kindles on the account still have access, I think, but they have to go to archived items to see them. Oh, dear, I have a number of James Patterson books -- I have no excuse for this, but I was hoping to keep them from dc. But so far, they have used my Kindle and not read anything but their own stuff. I guess I can take some books out of collections -- thank you for that work around. Basically, I want them to have clean, uncluttered Kindles. I think they will be more likely to read if they don't have to wade through a lot of stuff. And maybe Amazon will update their software sometime... Be aware that they can see major filth if they search for free books or even just browse the bookstore. I wish there were parental controls for that :( Dc already have internet access and haven't gone to horrible sites. (I check what is visited.) But I want to keep slight iffy stuff that I have bought (James Patterson, nothing more than that) from landing squarely on their devices. That is WAY too much work for me. I really hate it when I have to download a library book that way. Luckily, it doesn't seem to happen much anymore. I love the convenience of being able to just have it sent to a Kindle. All Kindles allow books to be sent that way using wireless; they just can't all get books using 3G. That is what the parental controls are for. You can disallow access to the Kindle store and to the online browser. I've never heard of Calibre and don't like extra work, lol, but I'll keep it in mind as a backup idea. Good to know about! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 We only have one actual Kindle, but we have the Kindle app on four other devices, and yes, you can send the books to the one you want. DH wanted a book for his phone, so I sent it there, but I don't feel the need to have it on my device. I sent DD's WWS student book to the Kindle for her, but I also have it on my device. The Kindle is mainly for DD's use, so she doesn't need the books that I have downloaded for my own use. It's very easy to decide where a book or PDF goes. I also get a notification from amazon whenever something is purchased through my account, and all of the devices are registered to my account. I do have the internet turned off on the Kindle, because then I don't mind if DD takes it to her room to read at night, but I'm not up for kids having unsupervised internet access. Even on the cheap Kindle like we have, it's very easy to set parental controls. However, I also find that it's much easier to browse the amazon store through a different device than it is to do so from the Kindle itself anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sun Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Oh, dear, I have a number of James Patterson books -- I have no excuse for this, but I was hoping to keep them from dc. But so far, they have used my Kindle and not read anything but their own stuff. I guess I can take some books out of collections -- thank you for that work around. Basically, I want them to have clean, uncluttered Kindles. I think they will be more likely to read if they don't have to wade through a lot of stuff. And maybe Amazon will update their software sometime... I just grabbed DS's Kindle and checked the parental control options. You can turn off access to the Kindle store, the web browser, and to archived items, so your James Pattersons are safe! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 We only have one actual Kindle, but we have the Kindle app on four other devices, and yes, you can send the books to the one you want. DH wanted a book for his phone, so I sent it there, but I don't feel the need to have it on my device. I sent DD's WWS student book to the Kindle for her, but I also have it on my device. The Kindle is mainly for DD's use, so she doesn't need the books that I have downloaded for my own use. It's very easy to decide where a book or PDF goes. I also get a notification from amazon whenever something is purchased through my account, and all of the devices are registered to my account. I do have the internet turned off on the Kindle, because then I don't mind if DD takes it to her room to read at night, but I'm not up for kids having unsupervised internet access. Even on the cheap Kindle like we have, it's very easy to set parental controls. However, I also find that it's much easier to browse the amazon store through a different device than it is to do so from the Kindle itself anyway. I just grabbed DS's Kindle and checked the parental control options. You can turn off access to the Kindle store, the web browser, and to archived items, so your James Pattersons are safe! Thank you both! I'm so glad to hear that I can 'supervise' without having to hang over dc's Kindles in person. My little Kindle is old, so I wasn't familiar with the new controls. Ultimate goal is to have ds read more. Dd is a great reader, but I can't not get her a Kindle if ds gets one, kwim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 Update. I got the two new Kindles and everything worked out fine. -- I kept the new devices on my account so that we could all share books. -- I enabled parental controls. I turned web browsing off, shopping in the Kindle store off and accessing archived books off. (Actually you have to set it as 'turn ON,' as in turn on controls.) I went to Your Account -> Manage My Kindle on the computer and clicked the 'Action' button to the right of each book to deliver a copy of a book to a kids account. (It also works to double click on download and then drag the title into the Kindle finder window.) I bought some new books using the computer and had them delivered to one or more of us through Manage My Kindle. My other books-- the ones that I did not deliver -- showed up in the 'archived books' list on dc's Kindles and could be opened. But when I put in parental controls, the entire Archived collection disappeared. It was MUCH less troublesome than I though it would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I have been really pleased with how seamless the whole Kindle thing has been. On my Kindle app on my iPad, I can select "cloud" or "device;" cloud shows me all the Kindle books we have. Very easy. And checking them out through our library has been completely seamless and easy. Fwiw, my daughter reads a lot more since we got the Kindle. She LOVES that she can control how many words are on a page, and she also likes that it is harder for her to sneak through the book and peek at the ending. Also, since it's the same size thing you're holding, I think she likes that she doesn't have that obviousness of how long she still has, if that makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 So if I am understanding everyone correctly there is a way to keep my books separate from ds's? We are a one kindle family but I'm considering a second kindle for ds to control the river of books that keeps flowing into our house and overflowing from room to room. However I don't want my books accessible by him. It sounds like there is an option for that in parental controls? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 So if I am understanding everyone correctly there is a way to keep my books separate from ds's? We are a one kindle family but I'm considering a second kindle for ds to control the river of books that keeps flowing into our house and overflowing from room to room. However I don't want my books accessible by him. It sounds like there is an option for that in parental controls? Yes. You set the parental controls to turn off access to the Kindle store and the archived items, on your son's Kindle, and you use amazon to put his books on his Kindle and your books on yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Yes. You set the parental controls to turn off access to the Kindle store and the archived items, on your son's Kindle, and you use amazon to put his books on his Kindle and your books on yours. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 Yes. You set the parental controls to turn off access to the Kindle store and the archived items, on your son's Kindle, and you use amazon to put his books on his Kindle and your books on yours. That is what I did and so far the books have stayed where I want them, some shared, some not shared. I hope there is not a sync control somewhere that I have missed. Ds and I were reading the same book and, when I opened my copy, the Kindle asked if I wanted to sync to where he had read. (No.) So my Kindle family is chatting up there in the cloud, but I hope they keep their own books to themselves, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Update. I got the two new Kindles and everything worked out fine. -- I kept the new devices on my account so that we could all share books. -- I enabled parental controls. I turned web browsing off, shopping in the Kindle store off and accessing archived books off. (Actually you have to set it as 'turn ON,' as in turn on controls.) I went to Your Account -> Manage My Kindle on the computer and clicked the 'Action' button to the right of each book to deliver a copy of a book to a kids account. (It also works to double click on download and then drag the title into the Kindle finder window.) I bought some new books using the computer and had them delivered to one or more of us through Manage My Kindle. My other books-- the ones that I did not deliver -- showed up in the 'archived books' list on dc's Kindles and could be opened. But when I put in parental controls, the entire Archived collection disappeared. It was MUCH less troublesome than I though it would be. So this is not working for me. I enabled parental controls turned off (or 'on' as you actually need to do) web browsing, shopping etc pretty much everything but my books are all still showing up on dc's kindle and the 'shop' feature at the top of the home page allows instant online access to the kindle store as does the amazon icon on the bottom of the page to amazon. I don't see any option to turn off access archived books anywhere. I've googled and can't find anything specific to my question. Can anyone help out here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Have you tried a chat or call with Amazon? I found them very helpful when mine was having trouble with wi fi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Yes, I spent a good 20 minutes chatting with them for this issue. So the situation appears to be fixed but not quite in the way the pps have mentioned. Basically when the kindle is turned on it goes directly to the Free Time page and only there. Dc's content is there and he can't see anything else but that page. There is no way for him to exit the Free Time app without entering the parental control password. If I enter the parental control password then all my cloud and device content is right there along with access to the Amazon store and my GR account etc. My understanding from the pps was that I could remove my content entirely from the device but the rep said that's not possible. Are y'all able to click a button to do that? Anyway it's working the way I need it to with the Free Time app. I just have to remember to make sure it's on the Free Time page after I use it. That's kind of a hassle but a small one I guess since I don't expect to using it much as I have a PW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Yes, I spent a good 20 minutes chatting with them for this issue. So the situation appears to be fixed but not quite in the way the pps have mentioned. Basically when the kindle is turned on it goes directly to the Free Time page and only there. Dc's content is there and he can't see anything else but that page. There is no way for him to exit the Free Time app without entering the parental control password. If I enter the parental control password then all my cloud and device content is right there along with access to the Amazon store and my GR account etc. My understanding from the pps was that I could remove my content entirely from the device but the rep said that's not possible. Are y'all able to click a button to do that? Anyway it's working the way I need it to with the Free Time app. I just have to remember to make sure it's on the Free Time page after I use it. That's kind of a hassle but a small one I guess since I don't expect to using it much as I have a PW. Are we talking about the same kind of Kindle? Free time is for Fires, right? We all have the very cheapest $69 kindles. Our kindles don't have apps, reading only. Would that be why what works for me doesn't work for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 It's a Kindle Fire HD, the least expensive of the Kindle Fires which start at $139. It sounds like you've got the Paperwhite so just an ereader and nothing else? Those start at $69. If that's the case I wish I'd known that before buying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 It's a Kindle Fire HD, the least expensive of the Kindle Fires which start at $139. It sounds like you've got the Paperwhite so just an ereader and nothing else? Those start at $69. If that's the case I wish I'd known that before buying. I have the Kindle that is cheaper than the Paperwhite, got two on sale recently for dc for $49 each, plus I have one of the same model. When I first got mine, there were no parental controls. Amazon added parental controls within the last year or two; my old Kindle updated automatically, without my being aware of it. Yes, mine is just an ereader, nothing else. Black and white only. There is one setting that seems to be an experimental browser -- haven't tried it. I like the basic Kindle because it is a few ounces lighter than the Paperwhite and do easy to carry around. If I had little kids, I think I would probably get a Fire, just for the Free Play. They sound great. As my dc are teens, they use IPads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 I have the Kindle that is cheaper than the Paperwhite, got two on sale recently for dc for $49 each, plus I have one of the same model. When I first got mine, there were no parental controls. Amazon added parental controls within the last year or two; my old Kindle updated automatically, without my being aware of it. Yes, mine is just an ereader, nothing else. Black and white only. There is one setting that seems to be an experimental browser -- haven't tried it. I like the basic Kindle because it is a few ounces lighter than the Paperwhite and do easy to carry around. If I had little kids, I think I would probably get a Fire, just for the Free Play. They sound great. As my dc are teens, they use IPads. Thanks for the clarification. I have a paperwhite myself and love it. I got the Fire for ds because some of the books require color and there are some educational games that he can play. But I'm having a lot of hassles with the set up. I know what I'm doing that's not the issue it's that the Fire isn't saving content and it's not showing up on his profile and the controls I have in for place for no games/vids until reading time is completed aren't working so I may have a dud which means sending it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Thanks for the clarification. I have a paperwhite myself and love it. I go the Fire for ds because some of the books require color and there are some educational games that he can play. But I'm having a lot of hassles with the set up. I know what I'm doing that's not the issue it's that the Fire isn't saving content and it's not showing up on his profile and the controls I have in for place for no games/vids until reading time is completed aren't working so I may have a dud which means sending it back. What a headache! Perhaps you could start a thread here about your specific model? Someone might be able to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Actually I think another chat with Amazon is in order. Thanks for all your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 FWIW, I only have a Paperwhite, but you can't make all your content disappear from the cloud - so unless he is in the freetime mode he will be able to access your stuff (if you have it all on one account, which of course you do to share the content). I'm 99.9% sure that is true for everything with Amazon. That is why the FreeTime thing is there. I did turn off the Amazon store with my paperwhite, so I can't buy on it either. I think it saves me money and protects from child purchases. :) If it isn't saving content, are you not somewhere with wifi? I know if my paperwhite can't connect to the cloud somewhere it will sometimes forget things. If it connects then it all stays. I don't know about the games/videos stuff because I don't have a fire, but have you tried a hard reset? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Spent 30 mins on the phone with Amazon and still haven't resolved the issue so clearly there is something wrong with either the device or the way it's interfacing with the apps etc. Hard reset has been done twice so it appears that the FreeTime app is the issue. WiFi is all in good order. Another call to Amazon later today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Ugh - sounds like a nightmare! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Yet another call to Amazon (that makes 3) determined that yes, there was something wrong with the FreeTime app. Everything else worked fine. So it's going back. New one on the way. Hoping it doesn't have the same issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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