A:Answer You need WIFI to update things on it, but you don't need WIFI to use anything you've downloaded. In fact, if you're not downloading something, you should turn off any "radios" (bluetooth or WIFI) to save battery life. I think an Airplane mode is probably the easiest way to do this, but I bought our Kindle as a gift to my wife so I haven't been able to play with it much. :)