My Kindle Fire Read online

  2. Tap the header to display the address to which the mail was sent and the CC list.

  3. Tap the flag to flag the message.

  4. Tap Previous to view the previous message in your inbox.

  5. Tap Next to view the next message in your inbox.

  6. Tap the Trash icon to delete the message.

  7. Tap the Menu icon and tap Move to move the message to another folder.

  8. Tap the Menu icon and tap Mark as Spam to move the message to your junk mail folder.

  9. Tap the Menu icon and tap Mark as Unread to mark the message as unread.

  10. To reply to or forward the message, tap the Reply icon.

  11. Tap Reply to reply to the sender.

  12. Tap Reply All to reply to the sender and other recipients.

  13. Tap Forward to forward the message and any attachments to a new recipient.

  Choosing When Images Are Displayed

  Some emails might contain images that are embedded within the email text. You can control when these images are displayed from the Settings screen.

  1. From the Settings screen of the account you want to modify, tap Always Show Images.

  2. Tap to select when images should be displayed.

  * * *

  Why Not Display Images?

  Images that are added inline to an email message are sometimes not actually part of the message. Instead, they may reside on another computer on the Internet. When these images are displayed, your Kindle Fire initiates a connection with the other computer in order to download the images. Because you don’t control where that connection is going, it’s a good idea to prevent the display of images unless the sender of the email is someone you know.

  Another reason you might want to hide images is to prevent images from downloading to your Kindle Fire. If images aren’t displayed, they won’t be downloaded to your device where they will take up valuable storage space.

  * * *

  Viewing Attachments

  Some email messages have one or more files attached that you can view. Your Kindle Fire comes with apps that can view many file types, including images, some videos, PDF files, and Microsoft Office documents.

  1. Tap a mail message containing an attachment. (A paper clip is displayed on messages that contain an attachment.)

  2. Tap Open to open the attachment.

  3. Tap Save to save the attachment to your Kindle Fire. (Attachments are saved to the Download folder on your device.)

  * * *

  Opening Saved Attachments

  You can use an app such as ES File Explorer to view the contents of your Download folder and open saved attachments. For details on using ES File Explorer, see the “Indispensable Apps” section in Chapter 8.

  * * *

  Sending Messages

  You can send emails from your Kindle Fire. You can attach files to your emails so that you can share pictures or other files with others. You can also specify a signature that is added automatically to the emails that you send.

  Composing a New Email Message

  You can compose a new email message while viewing your inbox or while viewing an email message.

  1. Tap the New Mail icon.

  2. Enter an email address to which the message should be sent. Separate multiple emails with a comma.

  3. Tap + to select a contact.

  4. Tap a contact to add him or her to the recipient list. For more information on using contacts, see the “Working with Contacts” section later in this chapter.

  5. Tap CcBcc to display the Cc and Bcc fields.

  6. Enter an email address to Cc if desired.

  7. Enter an email address to Bcc if desired.

  8. Enter a subject for your message.

  9. Enter the text of the message.

  10. Tap Attach to attach a file to your message.

  11. Choose an app to use for browsing to the file you want to attach.

  12. Select the file you want to attach using the app you selected.

  13. Tap Send As to change the email address used to send the mail message.

  14. Tap the X to remove a previously attached file.

  15. Tap Save Draft to save a draft of your message that you can complete later. (Drafts are saved to the Drafts folder.)

  16. Tap Send to send your message.

  Sending Replies or Forwards

  You can reply to or forward an email message that you have received.

  1. While reading the email, tap the Reply icon.

  2. Tap Reply, Reply All, or Forward.

  3. Enter an email address if desired. (When replying, the sender’s email address is added automatically.)

  4. Tap + to add one of your contacts.

  5. Tap Cc/Bcc to copy or blind copy a recipient.

  6. Enter your message text.

  7. Tap X to remove the original message if it’s included.

  8. Tap Quote Message to add the original message to your message if desired.

  9. If a forwarded message contains an attachment, tap the X to remove the attachment if you prefer.

  10. Tap Send As and select the email address from which the email should be sent.

  11. Tap Attach to add an attachment.

  12. Tap Save Draft to save a draft of the message.

  13. Tap Send to send the message.

  Creating a Signature

  You can create a signature that is automatically added to all of your email messages. By default, the signature line reads “Sent from my Kindle Fire.” You can change that to whatever text you choose, or you can remove the signature entirely. It’s your choice.

  1. From the Settings screen for the desired account, tap Composition Defaults.

  2. Check the Use Signature box.

  3. Enter your signature.

  4. Choose where you would like the signature to appear.

  5. Tap the keyboard icon on the keyboard.

  6. Tap Back to return to your inbox.

  Sending Messages in Plain Text

  By default, messages are created in HTML format so that the formatting and inline images of the original message are preserved. You can choose to send messages in plain text instead. Some people prefer plain text email over HTML email because hidden code can’t be added to plain text email and it’s more secure.

  1. From the Settings screen for the desired account, tap Message Format.

  2. Tap Plain Text.

  Changing Whether Original Message Is Quoted

  By default, when you reply to or forward a message, the original message is quoted at the bottom of your message. You can turn off this feature if you don’t like it. If you do turn off this feature, you can still add a quote of the original message to individual emails.

  1. From the Settings screen for the desired account, tap Quote Original Message When Replying to clear the checkbox.

  2. Tap Back to return to your inbox.

  Working with Contacts

  Your Kindle Fire’s Contacts app makes it easy to maintain a list of contacts for email messages or for reference. You can easily import contacts from another source to your Kindle Fire. If you make changes to your contacts on the Kindle Fire and you want to apply those changes to your contact list in another email application, you can export your Kindle Fire contacts so that you can use them elsewhere.

  Viewing Contacts

  You can view your contacts from the Contacts app.

  1. Open the Contacts app.

  2. Tap All to view all of your contacts.

  3. Tap Favorites to view your favorite contacts.

  4. Tap a letter to jump to contacts that start with that letter.

  5. Scroll to see more contacts.

  6. Tap a contact to view contact details.

  * * *

  Favorite Contacts

  You can add a contact to your favorites list by tapping and holding on the contact and then tapping Add to Favorites.

  * * *

  Adding a Contact

  You can add a con
tact from the Contacts app.

  1. Open the Contacts app.

  2. Tap the Menu icon.

  3. Tap New Contact.

  * * *

  Adding Pictures for Contacts

  When I want to add a picture for a contact, I take a picture with my cell phone and email it to myself. I can then save the attachment on my Kindle Fire and add the picture to my contact.

  * * *

  4. Tap the picture icon to add a picture for the contact. (The picture must already be on your device.)

  5. Enter the name information for your contact.

  6. Tap Home and select a new type for the phone number if necessary.

  7. Enter a phone number.

  8. Tap + to add a new phone number for the contact.

  9. Tap Home to change the type of email address if necessary.

  10. Enter the email address.

  11. Tap + if you want to add an additional email address.

  12. Tap + if you want to add a mailing address.

  13. Tap + if you want to add organization information.

  14. Tap Save Changes.

  Editing a Contact

  You can edit an existing contact.

  1. Tap and hold a contact in your contact list.

  2. Tap Edit Contact.

  3. Edit the information as necessary and tap Save Changes.

  Changing Contact Sort Order and Name Display

  You can change how your contact names are displayed and the sort order of your contacts.

  1. From your contact list, tap the Menu icon.

  2. Tap Settings.

  3. Tap Sort List By to change sort order between first name and last name.

  4. Tap View Contact Names As to switch from first name first to last name first.

  Importing Contacts

  It’s likely that you already have a list of contacts either in the cloud or in another email application. You can import these contacts to your Kindle Fire.

  Contacts must be in vCard format in order to be imported. If your email application can’t export existing contacts in vCard format, there are numerous free utilities available that can convert common formats to vCard format.

  * * *

  Where are my vCards?

  If you use an email application on your computer that stores contacts in vCard format, you should be able to locate them by searching your computer. Their location varies based on where the application stores information.

  If you are converting existing contacts to vCard format, you specify where you want your vCards to be saved when you do the conversion. That’s the location you’ll want to use when importing your vCards into your Kindle Fire.

  * * *

  1. Connect your Kindle Fire to your computer and copy a folder containing your vCards to your Kindle Fire. It doesn’t matter where you put them on your Kindle Fire, but I prefer to put mine in a Contacts folder so that I can identify them later.

  2. Disconnect your Kindle Fire.

  3. From your contact list, tap the Menu icon.

  4. Tap Import/Export.

  5. Tap Import from Internal Storage.

  6. Select Import All vCard Files to import all vCards to your Kindle Fire.

  7. Select Import One vCard File or Import Multiple vCard Files to choose which vCards to import.

  8. Tap OK.

  9. Tap the contacts that you would like to import.

  10. Tap OK to import the selected contacts.

  Exporting Contacts

  You can export your contacts to a single vCard. If you export your contacts and save them somewhere other than on your Kindle Fire, you can import them to a new Kindle Fire device or after resetting your existing Kindle Fire.

  1. From your contact list, tap the Menu icon.

  2. Tap Import/Export.

  3. Tap Export to Internal Storage.

  4. Tap OK to confirm that you want to export your contacts. You’ll see a message telling you the name of the vCard file that contains your exported contacts. You’ll need to copy that file from your Kindle Fire to a computer.

  * * *

  Make Note of the vCard Filename

  Make note of the filename in the confirmation dialog when exporting contacts. That’s the file that you should back up to someplace safe.

  * * *

  * * *

  It’s Not All Good: Disconnected Contacts

  Contacts on your Kindle Fire are disconnected from the cloud. In other words, if you add a new contact on your Kindle Fire, that new contact will not automatically become available in the contact list you use for other devices. It would have been nice had Amazon included a contact app that accessed your online contacts from Gmail, Windows Live, or other email services. If you want that capability, you’ll need to download an app from the Appstore. There are several available.

  * * *

  10. Browsing the Web with Silk

  In this chapter, you’ll learn how to use Silk, the web browser that’s included with your Kindle Fire.

  • Browsing the Web

  • Working with Tabs

  • Using Bookmarks and History

  • Downloading Files

  • Configuring Silk Settings

  Your Kindle Fire includes a web browser called Silk. Silk is a full-featured browser with support for most of today’s modern web standards. Silk also supports Adobe Flash and incorporates cloud technology to speed browsing.

  You’ll likely find that browsing on a tablet device is a mixed bag. Some sites will look and work great while others might not work as well. It can often be difficult to tap on a specific link when hyperlinks on a page appear too close to each other. (You can solve that problem by zooming on the page.) Even with these drawbacks, having the ability to browse the Internet easily from your favorite chair is a great convenience.

  Browsing the Web

  Silk works similarly to the web browser you use on your computer. One major difference is that instead of using a mouse, you use touch to navigate with Silk.

  In this section, you’ll learn the basics of using Silk. In the sections that follow, you’ll learn about additional features such as using favorites and tabs.