Interface · mod

A dead Kindle becomes a wall-mounted to-do board

A jailbroken Kindle Paperwhite pulls a dashboard of to-dos, vocab words and notes from a Python server, then sleeps between refreshes for weeks on a charge.

Build sheet

Device page: Kindle →
Device: Kindle Paperwhite 3/4/5 (jailbroken)
Server: Python + Pillow, Docker
Display: 1072x1448 e-ink, 300 PPI
Battery: 2–3 weeks per the author

Can I build this?Beginner · AI 5/5 · $0

Difficulty: Beginner
AI-buildability: 5/5
Time: A weekend
Cost: $0

Parts

Kindle Paperwhite

Tools

USB cableSSH or terminal access to the serverDocker

Starter prompt

Based on "A dead Kindle becomes a wall-mounted to-do board" on Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/a-dead-kindle-becomes-a-wall-mounted-to-do-board

Build a Python Flask server that renders a 1072x1448 black-and-white PNG at /screen.png using Pillow, showing a to-do list, a word-of-the-day and a sticky note from a JSON file. Add a simple mobile web page to edit the items. Then write a shell script for a jailbroken Kindle that downloads the PNG over Wi-Fi, checks the file is over 10KB, and draws it with eips, then turns Wi-Fi off.

Estimates based on the original write-up. How AI-buildability is scored. Building with an AI assistant? Connect it to Afterware (free MCP server).

Story

The server is plain Python with Pillow, rendering a 1072x1448 black-only image at /screen.png. The Kindle wakes its Wi-Fi, downloads the image, checks it's bigger than 10KB, then pushes it to the screen with eips or FBInk. The text is pure #000000 with big 56px English and 34px Chinese type, sized for reading from a bathroom mirror or desk across the room.

The power trick is the good part. After each refresh the Kindle cuts Wi-Fi and drops into suspend through a Linux RTC alarm (echo mem > /sys/power/state). E-ink holds the image with no power, so the author claims 2 to 3 weeks on a charge. The phone-side web panel lets you tick off tasks, add to-dos and look up dictionary definitions for new words.

Worth stealing: the no-jailbreak fallback. Plug the Kindle in, open its experimental browser, go to /view, and the page refreshes itself every 60 seconds. The jailbroken KUAL route is the one for real battery life.

Resources · 1

Repository

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