Someone hacked their 13-year-old Kindle to make a perfect desk assistant

The 2024 Amazon Kindle (Image credit: Amazon) This clever hack turns a Kindle into a handy desk assistantIt features to do lists, app shortcuts, timers, and moreThe developer says the source code will be made availableA few days ago, we were treated to some brand new Kindle models for 2026, but one clever Kindle owner has come up with a way of repurposing their 2013 6th-gen Paperwhite model — and the hack has added an impressive number of new features.As you can see over on Reddit (via XDA Developers), the hack was achieved by jailbreaking the 13-year-old device and adding some custom software on top. It now works as a to do list manager, a Stream Deck-like app launcher, and a Pomodoro timer."It stands sideways on my desk next to my laptop, and it's honestly become one of my favourite things on there," writes Redditor Witespace, under a demo video (below). "Just need a proper stand for it now instead of leaning it against something."One of the more impressive aspects of this bit of DIY engineering is that the Kindle syncs with both a MacBook and a PC, via a Cloudflare web account, and it can switch between the two systems automatically or via a manual button push.Source code coming soonI turned my 10+ old kindle into a calm desk assistant from r/einkCompleted to do tasks slide off screen automatically, and thanks to a calendar sync, the Kindle can provide alerts five minutes ahead of any scheduled meeting. It even provides a button for joining the call with a single tap.Also of note are a weather app, a dark mode, and a screensaver clock — though it seems the custom Paperwhite software can also disable the screensaver if needed and stay on indefinitely (with the occasional battery recharge where needed).There are improvements on the way as well: the Redditor has plans to create new shortcuts that link to specific Spotify playlists and Slack channels, while the ability to control lights is also in the pipeline.Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.The reactions on Reddit are all positive — "great", "cool", and "awesome" are the main superlatives used — and the developer has said they're planning to release the source code on GitHub so anyone can install it on their own ancient Kindle. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.