I’ve written about Kindle settings so many times that I thought I’d exhausted the subject. I keep looking past the obvious menus to find features that make our reading experience better on the Kindle. It matters a great deal for someone like me who reads both physical and digital books. Some of these options hide in the Kindle app. I find the Kindle app for iOS, iPadOS, and Android more sophisticated than my old Kindle Paperwhite. None of them will make a boring book interesting, but each just might make it a bit easier to get into your next great read.
Shift away from justifying Kindle text
Ragged edges fixed my word-spacing problem
Text alignment has a little bit to do with how you immerse yourself in a story. Justified text forces every line to reach the right margin, so the app stretches the spaces between words to make it fit. On some books (like sideloaded ones) and font sizes, those gaps get distractingly wide. Switch to left alignment and the right edge turns ragged, but word spacing stays even. Open a book, tap the top of the screen, then go to Aa -> Layout -> Text Alignment -> Left.
Left alignment might not work for everyone. But it keeps text fixed and predictable, which I feel lessens eye fatigue during long sessions. Of course, this is anecdotal, but it’s worth a try.
Font size is the trigger here. At small font sizes (1–3), justified text looks clean; once you scale up to font size 6 or higher for comfortable night reading, justification breaks down entirely. Sopick the alignment and font, and tweak the Margins options too.
Two columns turn an iPad into a book
Landscape mode fixes overly long lines
Turn your iPad sideways to Landscape mode, then open Aa -> Layout -> Columns -> Two Columns. Instead of one wide column stretching across the screen, you get two narrow ones side by side. Shorter lines are easier for your eyes to track, and the page suddenly resembles an open paperback with side-by-side “pages”.
On larger screens like the 11-inch or 12.9-inch iPad, a single landscape column creates lines so wide your eyes struggle to track back to the next line without losing place. Two-column mode displays shorter line lengths, making side-by-side reading or scanning feel better and speedier.
The feature isn’t available for the smaller iPhone or Android Kindle app screen. You can use it on the Kindle Scribe, which has a larger screen. Do note that two-column mode won’t work while Continuous Scrolling is on, so you’ll need to disable that first. Also, if you are reading a non-fiction book with wide embedded tables, code blocks, or sidebars, then the two-column mode could cause text overflows.
Kindle pages don’t have to be white
Sepia isn’t the only alternative
Page Color is the setting I play around with the most. Open Aa -> Layout -> Page Color and, depending on your device and app version, you can pick White, Sepia, Light Green, or Black. Sepia is the obvious warm alternative and the one most readers land on by default. I think “Light Green” is the least favored one.
I can’t imagine reading a whole novel on a pale green background instead of something neutral. But I did try it out on topics related to permaculture and gardening. The softer, low-contrast color was definitely kinder on the eyes compared to the glare of white and even black. Adjusting the brightness slider also helped.
The Kindle Paperwhite cannot display Green or Sepia due to its grayscale E-ink screen. Instead, Paperwhite users rely on physical Warm Light LEDs and the Dark Mode toggle.
Assistive Reader reads alongside you
Text-to-speech that’s pseudo-Audible
Assistive Reader uses text-to-speech to narrate a book while you follow along on screen. Open a supported book and go to Aa -> More -> Assistive Reader. You can adjust playback speed, rewind, and start narration from a specific word.
I don’t use it always. Compared to a professionally narrated Audible book, the voice is too synthetic. But I turn to it when I am walking or my mental energy dips in the afternoon. It’s a neat way to speed through “boring” sections in non-fiction books. Try it by cranking the playback speed to 1.25x or 1.5x. Using a setting slightly faster than your natural reading speed can help with focus.
Read normally while you’re fresh, then switch on narration when your attention drifts. You can move between the two without losing your place, which turns a difficult book into something you can approach two different ways.
Publishers can disable Text-to-Speech rights on specific titles due to licensing conflicts with audiobooks.
Highlighting gives your eyes a guide
A moving cue that follows the narration
Real-time text highlighting works well with the setting above. Find it under Aa -> More, and Kindle will highlight each word as the Assistive Reader plays back the text with a robotic audio narration.
It takes a bit of getting used to. A block sliding across the page sounds like the opposite of an immersive reading experience. But it’s meant to give your eyes a visual guide… sort of like sliding your fingers across the lines of text.
This feature isn’t for me because I don’t regress to re-reading the same sentences. I also find it distracting enough to switch off. But I see its value as an assistive feature on the Kindle. Combine real-time highlighting with a slightly larger font size. Limit the screen to 2–3 paragraphs at a time. And turn reading into a hands-free exercise.
Run a reading experiment with one feature
We have talked about five settings. Pick one setting and use it for an entire book. Try pairing settings with specific types of books. For instance, ragged edges with Warm Light on Paperwhite for fiction; Two Columns + Sage Green on iPad for non-fiction. Reading on a digital screen has its quirks, and hopefully the combination of options offered by the Kindle ecosystem will make your reading experience better.