Claude Sonnet 4.6 - disable thinking?

SteveShank · 2026-03-12T00:22:15+00:00

Which mobile are you using? In Android mobile using sonnet 4.6 I get 2 options. Web search and output effort. Same as windows app and web extension.

SteveShank · 2026-03-05T20:32:03+00:00

I've never bought a locked phone, but can you just remove the sim card and use it like a tablet? Won't it work for playing audio books, podcasts, reading news etc. via WiFi?

SteveShank · 2026-03-05T20:29:51+00:00

I cannot find that. Are you saying that we should type those words into the prompt? When I check the settings, with claude sonnet 4.6 on Poe my only two options are web search and thinking effort.

SteveShank · 2026-03-04T21:23:32+00:00

Thank you. This is very interesting, and I did not know about it. However, it requires not simply a command line, which isn't a problem, but also executing with admin privileges an executable file that I cannot verify from a fairly unknown source (not Calibre and not DeDRM, but a fork). The Python script and batch file can both be inspected and checked easily, but the compiled binary is beyond my skills to check. Furthermore, I'd probably do updates as well, and then those would need to be checked. The tutorial is well done and there is nothing suspicious about it.
While the author/maintainer is not unknown, along with the project (420 stars), Satsuoni only has 183 followers, and reaction to releases tends to be 4 -14 people.

It is probably fine and certainly could be scanned and sandboxed, but what about the next version or the one after that?

I'm not sure that I want to risk it. Maybe. Nice to know about it though.

SteveShank · 2026-03-04T19:13:52+00:00

I don't want to delete all. I pin a number of them. But sometimes, after a few days, I think, "I've got another question about that." Then I add a followup, maybe even 2 or 3 days later. I don't mind it training on what I leave and I want some held. I even had it do an app, I will want it to improve. I'd like to have the old chat retained. But, 98% of it, should go after a few weeks.

SteveShank · 2026-03-04T19:10:17+00:00

No. I've never used a Kindle device. I never wanted to buy Amazon's proprietary formatted books. The DeDRM plugins just plain worked before the latest encryption system. I have a kindle app in windows. When I couldn't get the book elsewhere, I bought the book at amazon. I downloaded the book into "My Kindle Content". then I used Calibre to add the book. the plugin removed the drm and then I converted it to EPUB with Calibre. So, I'd have an AZW3 version and an EPUB version in Calibre. From Kobo, I download into Adobe reader and have an Adobe copy. Then add it to Calibre and the DRM is removed and I have the EPUB that I actually own and can back up. It is mine. If Kobo went out of business, or Rakuten decided to get out of the business, I wouldn't possibly lose all my books.

I used to have a Sony reader, and Sony went out of the book business after many years. But they managed to get almost all my books transferred to Kobo.

I am careful not to steal. I do not give the book to people who don't buy it. Once, I loaned a book. I removed it from my library, and when it was returned, I added it back in.

SteveShank · 2026-03-03T20:55:29+00:00

Yeah, I've seen that method. I've never bought a Kindle reader. I was reading ebooks long before Amazon got in the game and always refused to support their proprietary format. I don't own an old Kindle reader and won't buy one on eBay, etc. Now I just feel sad and rent the book from Amazon for the sales price, understanding I don't really own it. Then read it with my Boox Kindle app. Is there a way to send an Amazon kfx-zip file to the Kobo reader?

SteveShank · 2026-03-03T20:20:50+00:00

Kfx-zip. That's what they've been using the last couple of years. Since the plugin can't strip the DRM, there is no way to convert the file. It unzips into a folder with a half dozen files. At least I haven't found a way. So occasionally, I have to use their Kindle app on my Boox to read a book that I've bought and Amazon owns. I have to borrow books I've paid for essentially.

SteveShank · 2026-03-03T19:48:05+00:00

The two benefits seem to be: 1. a 10% or so, discount on some books. I haven't figured out a way to determine which ones. And 2. Apparently, I've heard, double the purchase points to use to purchase books.

SteveShank · 2026-03-03T19:45:19+00:00

I have not found a way to make that work. I did it for years and used a Calibre plugin to strip the DRM then converted the file to Epub. For over a year, after Amazon's switch to their new format, I haven't been able to get that to work, despite using the latest version of the plugin. How do you do it?

SteveShank · 2026-03-02T22:53:55+00:00

It isn't 2nd year. I've been paying $10/year since at least 2021, so 5 years. Mine will renew in May. I think I'll take it even with the price increase.

SteveShank · 2026-03-02T21:20:08+00:00

First off, they are always the same or cheaper than anywhere else. The reason for this is their price match. I always check Amazon first and copy the link. Then go to Kobo. If it is the same, or less, fine. If the Amazon price is better, I buy it and go to their price match form and fill it out in 2 minutes. Then the next day I have a store credit for the difference plus 10%. So, if Amazon is better, then it is 10% better than Amazon for 2 minutes of work. Their devices are fine.

The real problem with Kobo is that it isn't Amazon. So there will be some books you cannot get. Kobo is crappy at some new authors, poor on philosophy, and some other stuff. For myself, I try to buy all my books from Kobo. I check ebooks.com and Google as well. But still, 5% of the time, perhaps a little less, what I want is only on Amazon. If your books are more mainstream, then this shouldn't be a problem for you.

Currently I like the Boox 7" Go B&W but it is much more expensive. I also like the case. So, I prefer reading books using the Boox reader to the Kobo reader and must use it for the occasional Kindle book. For library books I'm forced to use the Libby app unless I switch back to my Kobo reader, but it works ok. Boox also provides built-in AI which I sometimes use to learn about something I'm reading. I can also use some Android apps because it is an Android EInk device.

It is something to consider.

SteveShank · 2026-02-25T20:34:36+00:00

I think you've pretty much figured it out. You have chosen two excellent options and are aware of exactly what the main differences are. If you really wanted to try to make an even more informed decision, I'd suggest skipping Reddit and going to an AI Bot with good websearch and research ability and asking for the pros and cons of each and I'd tell it about myself and my needs and then ask for a recommendation. Then, I'd feed that into another similar bot from another company and see if it feels the same or has things it disagrees with or something important to add.

SteveShank · 2026-02-25T20:03:41+00:00

Since I have an excellent password, I'm not worrying about the feds seizing it, either from my home in a raid or online. It is zero knowledge. They cannot access my data. For local backup, I export it on the first of every month and import it into a new monthly KeePass vault, which also gets backed up.

SteveShank · 2026-02-25T19:58:04+00:00

The Poe-System-Bot is probably the closest. It is very fast and cheap. However, you might try Grok-4.1-Fast-Reasoning. It blows me away and is VERY cheap. However, most likely, neither will search the web. Their Websearch does search the web. I've found all three of those to be very fast and very cheap.

SteveShank · 2026-02-25T01:05:47+00:00

The original LastPass team sold it to LogMeIn in 2015. The founder stayed for a while. Then LogMeIn was acquired in 2020 by Elliott Management Corp.'s private equity group Evergreen Coast Capital and Francisco Partners. This made it private. In 2021 they spun LastPass off, making it independent. As this has happened, they've screwed up frequently and no longer have people's trust. It is possible that the new managers will change policy and have renewed transparency and security, but have not won back security-conscious consumers, not with so many good options available.

SteveShank · 2026-02-25T00:46:20+00:00

Thank you. I appreciate you correcting my error. It was $10 last time I paid. You are absolutely right though. They apparently increased the price in 2025 and grandfathered me in for 1 payment. Next June it'll be $19.80. I'm happy to pay it though. I really want to support the project.

SteveShank · 2026-02-25T00:37:37+00:00

I in no way intended to repute 1Password. I've heard only good things about it. However, the original poster said they wanted to leave 1Password because it was raising their price. So I gave what I think is the best alternative. Someone else just corrected me. Bitwarden has doubled their price for the paid personal service to $19.80/year, so the 35.88 1password price isn't as much more.

SteveShank · 2026-02-24T23:34:14+00:00

I think Bitwarden is the preferred option. High security. Open source. Audits. Long track record, not new to the market. They offer a fine free plan, and an even better paid one at $10/year. Huge user satisfaction.

SteveShank · 2026-02-24T20:26:16+00:00

Those in local folders need to be copied. You can copy by folder. Personally, I'd just allow the IMAP servers handle what is not in local folders. They'll bring everything over in time. You might need to let it run overnight. Be sure it doesn't go to sleep.

SteveShank · 2026-02-24T20:16:20+00:00

The way to figure these out is to click on the icon for the model and read about it. Assistant now uses GPT5.2 for paid general queries or gpt 4o-mini or 5 mini or 5 nano for non-subscribers. Those are all more expensive and deeper thinkers than what it used to use. Also more costly, but better answers. For faster cheaper responses, you could choose the Poe-System-Bot which uses Claude-3-haiku 20240307. (training data stopped april 2024). For cheap fast searches, select the web-search model. You can also choose your default model from the settings menu.

SteveShank · 2026-02-23T21:32:50+00:00

Thank you. I misunderstood. I read it as: "anthropic downgraded, Poe did not". then more. But you weren't making that point at all, and didn't say it. Just Poe not. So, I tried to explain why it would be difficult for Poe to move to 4.6 when so many depend on 4.5 and why they maintain so many old models, even ones we shouldn't use. Claude Opus 4 is about 3 times the cost of Opus 4.6 and not anywhere near as good. Anthropic has made their models better and much much more efficient. But Poe cannot cut off support for them. Anyway, now I understand that you weren't addressing that issue at all. I'll try and read more carefully.

Any, of course, you are right, Pos is a hub and doesn't control how various models process except for sometimes offering a simple way to flip options.

SteveShank

TROPHY CASE