Kindle Google Photos Picture Frame

The idea is to turn a Kindle Paperwhite into an eInk digital picture frame displaying photos from a shared Google Photos folder.

Every 24h a new photo will be displayed. In the top left the battery percentage is displayed.

What's What

• get_gphoto.py: Downloads a random image from a shared album called kindle
• kindle-gphotos.sh: Main loop on kindle, handles kindle stuff, wifi, calls get_gphoto.py, suspend to RAM etc.
• wifi.sh: Wifi helper script
• sync2kindle.sh: Simple rsync helper for development

Kindle preparation:

• Get a Kindle Paperwhite 2 or 3 (other models may also work with modifications to this code)
• jailbreak the kindle (doh!) --> Mobileread Forum Thread
• Install KUAL and MRPI (MRPI includes fbink)
• Add USBnetworking and python (via MRPI)

Setup

• Google Photos: Create a shared album called kindle in Google Photos and add a couple of photos. I typically use black and white filtered copies of photos. The "Vista" Filter in Google Photos works fine for me for enhancing contrast. Also, I use the "Light" fader to slightly overexpose the photos. This makes them more suitable for using a 4-bit eInk display. Just using the original color images looked too dull on the eink display.

• Google API Client ID: You will need an OAuth2 Client ID from Google in order to use the Photos API. Obtain OAuth 2.0 client credentials from the Developers Console. Make sure to enable the Photos Library API and then select .../auth/photoslibrary.readonly from the scope list. Using a non-verified application (i.e. not letting the consent screen being verified from Google) is totally possible, you will just get a warning of an unverified app the first time you call the get_photo.py script, see below.

• Rename your OAuth credential file to client_secret.json and put it next to get_gphoto.py. Call get_gphoto.py to debug. On the very first call you will be asked to visit the Google Consent Screen and paste a confirmation code back to the terminal. This should result in a downloaded photo.jpg.

• Edit wifi.sh, add SSID and PW for your wifi.

• Edit FBROTATEand BACKLIGHT in kindle-gphotos.sh according to your hardware.

Credits

I am using code, especially for authorization and the REST api, from https://github.com/gilesknap/gphotos-sync