I have the fire, it's pretty cool. I got a few andriod apps on it working. They are a bit buggy but only when they are resumed from standby.
Anyway, I loaded up golauncher and it works however it keeps defaulting back to the ****ty amazon launcher.
Any idea how i can have it set perminitly?
Thanks
You can try towelroot to obtain root.
After that U can rename launcherxxxx.apk in system/app in launcherxxxx.apk_
But all this is potentially unsafe and you must have some experience.
Just as the forked versions of Gingerbread and Jelly Bean that have been the basis for all the other Kindle products, you should NOT expect any mainstream Android app to work on the Fire Phone without some Amazon-specific modification.
stevemw said:
Just as the forked versions of Gingerbread and Jelly Bean that have been the basis for all the other Kindle products, you should I expect any mainstream Android app to work on the Fire Phone without some Amazon-specific modification.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried to install Nova Launcher from apk, i was not able to set it as a default or put any widgets, each attempt ending with launcher crash. Google apps- Market and Maps- would not run, Music and Drive did run ok.
I just used apks, did not try to root the phone.
I use yahoo aviate, and it works very well. It has not crashed and doesnt consume much battery. Its very organized. Try it out.
Related
I'm curious if anyone has tried to load any of the Adobe tablet apps onto the Kindle Fire, and if so, did they work?
I picked up a Kindle Fire yesterday, but haven't opened it yet, mainly because I don't want to find out the hard way that it won't be able to use awesome tablet apps that are currently only available in Google's Android Market.
I've heard that you can sideload apps on the Kindle Fire, but I'm not sure if that would work in this situation since it is a paid app that requires the Android Market. I don't have any other tablets, and when I went to buy the Photoshop Touch app on the Android Market website, it told me it wasn't compatible with any of my devices (only have Android phones so far).
I am guessing it would work, but the resolution is going to cause some of the Gui elements to be cut off, just like the HTC Flyer.
Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda premium
I tried to install it. It responded with a parsing error. Probably because the Fire is 2.3 and the Photo Shop Touch is only compatable with HoneyComb/ICS
Thanks for the answer. Good to know; I'll just have to wait for a port of ICS to the KF before purchasing Photoshop Touch.
and also, why not just root it? it is really a rather good tablet for it's price once it is rooted.
then you CAN get the android market on it (without having to sideload etc)
The android market website does say that Photoshop Touch is incompatible with the Fire. It says that Photoshop Express is compatible (that one is in Amazon's appstore, but the Amazon appstore says it's not compatible!) but all those other 9.99 Adobe tablet apps say they're incompatible.
has anyone tried sideloading these? if so how did you download/pay for them?
I got it to run using a custom ICS rom. I don't know about side loading tho
It works pretty well on ICS, all gui elements fit thx to fit button in ICS. But you probably will have to sideload it since kf not officially supported
Fit button?
ZyxxeZ said:
It works pretty well on ICS, all gui elements fit thx to fit button in ICS. But you probably will have to sideload it since kf not officially supported
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What fit button? I am running jandycane, a custom jellybean ROM. Also what ROM?
omadhaun said:
I'm curious if anyone has tried to load any of the Adobe tablet apps onto the Kindle Fire, and if so, did they work?
I picked up a Kindle Fire yesterday, but haven't opened it yet, mainly because I don't want to find out the hard way that it won't be able to use awesome tablet apps that are currently only available in Google's Android Market.
I've heard that you can sideload apps on the Kindle Fire, but I'm not sure if that would work in this situation since it is a paid app that requires the Android Market. I don't have any other tablets, and when I went to buy the Photoshop Touch app on the Android Market website, it told me it wasn't compatible with any of my devices (only have Android phones so far).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I was curious as to see if this app worked on the KF. I don't know/care what you do, but to get anything done with a Kindle Fire, you MUST root it. If you have one of the old versions (where/when did you buy it) then it comes with a heavily modded android 2.3, which does no good for anything, so I suggest that you root it with the KFU, install TWRP, and load up Ice Cream Sandwich, or Jellybean on it. I have twa_priv's latest CM10 jellybean custom ROM with the leaked 4.2 Gapps installed, and it does wonders! If you think that you would prefer a more vanilla ROM, I would go with Hashcode's; it is really good too.
Anyway, back to your dilemma/question: can you run Adobe Photoshop mobile products? the answer is yes; however, (at least for me, as my KF is not cloaked as a Galaxy Nexus) the Play store says it is incompatible. So I decided to do a google search of the latest apk, and downloaded it. Once I moved it over to my KF, it took about a minute to install (quite long, so don't worry that it isn't doing anything). I opened it up, and it works just fine. No crashes or anything; and it is a very good app, I think, after just playing with it for about 10 minutes.
So your answer is yes: first root and ROM your KF, then google search the latest apk and install it.
So I got a kindle fire for my mom for mother's day...need some advice though. *Keep in mind that she used to use a touchpad running CM9, but recently broke her screen...
With that said, she also did occasionally need help with ICS. That *may* have simply been bc cm9 wasnt entirely stable on the touchpad at the time (wifi issues, occasional reboots, etc.)...do you suggest that I give her AOKP/CM9 on her Kindle Fire, or should I just leave it stock? She mainly used the touchpad for reading, simple gaming (puzzle games mainly, angry birds, etc), email, and web, basic news apps (last I know of was Google Currents).
I know most ppl suggest that stock is fine for basic users, but just wanted some other suggestions in my case, since she's coming from a CM9 touchpad...albeit she did not use ics to it's fullest IMO.
Thanks
PredZ said:
So I got a kindle fire for my mom for mother's day...need some advice though. *Keep in mind that she used to use a touchpad running CM9, but recently broke her screen...
With that said, she also did occasionally need help with ICS. That *may* have simply been bc cm9 wasnt entirely stable on the touchpad at the time (wifi issues, occasional reboots, etc.)...do you suggest that I give her AOKP/CM9 on her Kindle Fire, or should I just leave it stock? She mainly used the touchpad for reading, simple gaming (puzzle games mainly, angry birds, etc), email, and web, basic news apps (last I know of was Google Currents).
I know most ppl suggest that stock is fine for basic users, but just wanted some other suggestions in my case, since she's coming from a CM9 touchpad...albeit she did not use ics to it's fullest IMO.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If she's only going to be using it for that stuff then I say go with the MoDaCo Gr8 ROM. It's stable, fast, and has Google Play.
If you want ICS then go with Energy or gedeROM.
Thanks for the suggestion...I did see that, but I wonder how any of Amazon's auto-updates may affect it? I do not live nearby, so if somehow her firmware gets autoupdated, and it breaks things (mainly GAPPS I would assume), I wouldn't be able to fix it asap...I don't want to set false expectations
i would stay on stock with root,with most of the roms not being stable and you don't live close...then stock is best,i'm on stock 6.3.1 with root...if it does updated the only think is she looses root and that very easy to get back...i'm using go launcher and over clock to 1.2 ghz....all i think one would need for basic things...
PredZ said:
Thanks for the suggestion...I did see that, but I wonder how any of Amazon's auto-updates may affect it? I do not live nearby, so if somehow her firmware gets autoupdated, and it breaks things (mainly GAPPS I would assume), I wouldn't be able to fix it asap...I don't want to set false expectations
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can modify some file and it will prevent it from updating automatically.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=25648278
Here is the file that you need to rename.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=25648278
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
PredZ said:
So I got a kindle fire for my mom for mother's day...need some advice though. *Keep in mind that she used to use a touchpad running CM9, but recently broke her screen...
With that said, she also did occasionally need help with ICS. That *may* have simply been bc cm9 wasnt entirely stable on the touchpad at the time (wifi issues, occasional reboots, etc.)...do you suggest that I give her AOKP/CM9 on her Kindle Fire, or should I just leave it stock? She mainly used the touchpad for reading, simple gaming (puzzle games mainly, angry birds, etc), email, and web, basic news apps (last I know of was Google Currents).
I know most ppl suggest that stock is fine for basic users, but just wanted some other suggestions in my case, since she's coming from a CM9 touchpad...albeit she did not use ics to it's fullest IMO.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd recommend AOKP Milestone 5. Remember to remove the unicorns.
HOWEVER, the recovery is extremely easy to get to, and the last time my grandmother accidentally went into recovery she wiped the entire system. Flash stock recovery if possible.
PredZ said:
Thanks for the suggestion...I did see that, but I wonder how any of Amazon's auto-updates may affect it? I do not live nearby, so if somehow her firmware gets autoupdated, and it breaks things (mainly GAPPS I would assume), I wouldn't be able to fix it asap...I don't want to set false expectations
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just got my mother a kindle fire and put MoDaCo Gr8 on it because I figured it would be the best of both worlds: Play Store with no updates but stock Amazon functions intact (only way to still play Amazon Prime Video, which you get free for first month). She also lives to far away for me to maintain it for her, so I decided on MoDaCo because some folks said it is immune to updates. However after reading through the MoDaCo ROM thread, I see that previous versions were not immune to updates and nobody has talked about this version being immune to updates, but some are renaming the file etc/security.otacerts.zip to be doubly sure it will be immune to updates (you dont want updates because it breaks root and Play Store). A few folks who have MoDaCo Gr8 did NOT rename this file and report that they did not get the update.
I would highly suggest the MoDaCo Gr8 ROM because it is really nice, stable, optimized, stock, has location services, rooted with Play Store and other Google services, and possibly immune to updates, but do what I failed to do when I sent mine off to my mother and rename that etc/security/otacerts.zip file. Then I think you can be reasonably sure it will be immune from updates.
You can install GO Launcher, make it the default launcher, configure a wallpaper and lock it (with KFU), and add a shortcut back to "Launcher" (kindle fire launcher) which will launch the stock looking kindle fire interface like an app... home button always brings you back to GO... this way it feels like a fully unlocked android tablet.... VERY SLICK!
So, without really knowing what I was getting into, I ended up with the Go Launcher. I like it, gonna see how I like using it instead of the stock GUI.
I had some questions though:
- both this and the kindle launcher are just graphical front-ends for the android OS on here right? They more or less do the same thing?
- Can I safely kill the kindle Launcher process? What else can I stop running if I want better battery life? Also a lot of apps like FB, amazon mp3, etc. seem to keep coming back after I kill them... any fix for this?
- Why's the go launcher built-in wallpaper feature trying to crop the wallpapers to a tiny size instead of allowing the full KF resolution? It was only intended for phones?
I really like the look of GoLauncher EX and some of the widgets. I had it on my phone for a while, but I started realizing it was a huge resource hog. It would routinely eat up 30+MB of ROM and I would get quite a few “not responding” messages, so I went back to ADW. For that very reason, I resisted the urge to run it on the Kindle. I do think the Kindle does a much better job handling the resources than my CM7 Triumph does, so it may be better on it. Yet I can get the look I want with the stock launcher through downloaded wallpapers, icons and ADW themes. The result is that my Kindle is running really smooth on CM7 now.
As to your questions, I think you’re correct on #1. I don’t think you can kill the launcher without causing trouble, and I think that is why it eats up so much Rom and battery. Facebook is like herpes, you won’t be able to kill it without uninstalling it. But that is an app I can live with running in the background.
No idea about the wallpaper problem.
cheers for the reply. So far resources are no issue, and I killed the launcher without any problem (or maybe it quietly comes back)... Now I just need to figure out a book reader I can use within Go... right now I just use the launcher.
Had a weird little issue with my books disappearing, fixed it by moving them from the document folder to the kindle folder.
I dled WallChanger, set it to use a specific folder, works like a charm.
Now I just need a vnc app that moves the mouse to where I touch the screen, vnc ciewer and pocketcloud are tarded about this.
Hey guys, I just grabbed a KF HD 8.9 off ebay for my wife for $225. I tried to convince her to go with a Nexus7, but she wanted the larger screen. Our previous phones were Android, so she'd be familiar with the Fire if the answers to my questions are positive. Here's a few questions I have if someone can please help me out:
1) From what I've seen reading on here, we can root the device and add the Google Play store. Is this correct? Are there any caveats to this (i.e., you must to do X or Y to be able to download apps after adding it)?
2) If I can install a customer launcher for her (I don't know what the current options are, but there was Nova, Launcher Pro, GoLauncher, etc when we had Android devices), would this largely cause the device to actually LOOK like normal Android? I don't see why there would be any issues, but I just want to clarify.
3) It appears (again, from reading on here), that you can sideload apps (I used the "allow unknown sources" box on my phone). Is that correct?
4) Is the HDMI out reliable?
I would install CM10 and call it a day, but it sounds like there are currently audio and HDMI issues on it, and those are two things we'll use a good bit.
I apologize if this is in the wrong forum, but it was the only one I saw devoted to the 8.9" version. These questions may not really matter for the differences in model, but I wanted to be sure I targeted the right audience,
Thanks for any help provided.
I've done much of what you are asking about using the following thread:-http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2096888
It's a long read, but worth it.
I'm using GoLauncher HD, and have live wallpapers up and running too - it looks just like any other android device.
The caveats are that some apps will not install/update from Google play - but will probably work if sideloaded. Added to that, Amazon will update your tablet and remove all your hard work if they get the chance - the thread provides tools to minimise this threat as well.
PS I've got a Nexus 7 too - much better tablet in all respects except screen size - that's why I got the KF8.9 as well.
Good luck
Thanks for the quick reply. If I remember correctly, you could disable updates on previous Android devices, is this not the case with the KFHD? The software wouldn't be the newest, but data wouldn't be wiped, either.
Amazon are pushing un-notified updates through various channels - you won't know until you suddenly lose root and all your google apps.
Very friendly user facing company NOT !!!
praed0r said:
Amazon are pushing un-notified updates through various channels - you won't know until you suddenly lose root and all your google apps.
Very friendly user facing company NOT !!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. In that case, I might just sideload a launcher. Didn't know it was all going to be this much trouble
I have the kindle fire hd 8.9 and it rooted fine and I have a launcher on it which makes it look like a normal android tablet with Google apps. Have had no issues yet with Amazon forcing updates but if it happens it can't be that hard to block it.... some apps in play store won't install due to compatibility issues....but market helper app solves that.. or you can install the apk manually
CyCaboose said:
I have the kindle fire hd 8.9 and it rooted fine and I have a launcher on it which makes it look like a normal android tablet with Google apps. Have had no issues yet with Amazon forcing updates but if it happens it can't be that hard to block it.... some apps in play store won't install due to compatibility issues....but market helper app solves that.. or you can install the apk manually
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. I doubt my wife would require many apps that are unavailable on Amazon anyways (if any).
I confirm that the HDMI works very well on my TV
I have been using xbmc for a while but I am new to using it on top of android. I recently sold me AppleTv and made the swtich to the Fire and I am very happy with my decision so far. That said launching the apps is a real pain. If I could get them in the actual fireTv menu this would be much more ideal as I am sure everyone agrees. To my knowledge that is still not possible at this point. So I am curious how everyone is running their apps. I have read some about launchers in XBMC is this the way to go? What is the best way to set this up?
Thanks
mcsephoenix said:
I have been using xbmc for a while but I am new to using it on top of android. I recently sold me AppleTv and made the swtich to the Fire and I am very happy with my decision so far. That said launching the apps is a real pain. If I could get them in the actual fireTv menu this would be much more ideal as I am sure everyone agrees. To my knowledge that is still not possible at this point. So I am curious how everyone is running their apps. I have read some about launchers in XBMC is this the way to go? What is the best way to set this up?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sideload firedtv its the best option i've found for myself
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2782307
I use XBMC as my launcher. You can add apps to your favourites to launch them easily or even integrate them into your skin if your skin permits it. Works very well so far. Only thing I use the Amazon launcher for is to force stop an App if it is stuck, still looking for a suitable app manager for this so I can ditch the Amazon launcher all together.
Is there any way to get the best of both worlds and use the fired launcher as the stock launcher but still be able to load apps from within XBMC. I am trying to keep this as user friendly as possible for the family who is a little overwhelmed by xbmc still.
mcsephoenix said:
Is there any way to get the best of both worlds and use the fired launcher as the stock launcher but still be able to load apps from within XBMC. I am trying to keep this as user friendly as possible for the family who is a little overwhelmed by xbmc still.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This XBMC Launcher gives the best of both worlds and works great. There is a bit of a learning curve, as the Fire TV must be rooted for it to work. But well worth the effort when completed.
mjbxx said:
This XBMC Launcher gives the best of both worlds and works great. There is a bit of a learning curve, as the Fire TV must be rooted for it to work. But well worth the effort when completed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I saw that but I wasn't thrilled about having to uninstall my current revision of xbmc. I am rooted but I am thinking I might just give FiredTV a shot for now and wait until someone figures out how to unlock the bootloader.
mcsephoenix said:
Thanks, I saw that but I wasn't thrilled about having to uninstall my current revision of xbmc. I am rooted but I am thinking I might just give FiredTV a shot for now and wait until someone figures out how to unlock the bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just backup your XBMC User Data, uninstall current version, install the XBMC Launcher and finally restore XBMC User Data. Believe me, it is absolutely worth the trouble as this launcher is the best option out there at this time. FiredTV is OK but nowhere near as functional and allowing for many features. This launcher literally morphs the Fire TV into an XBMC box.
mjbxx said:
Just backup your XBMC User Data, uninstall current version, install the XBMC Launcher and finally restore XBMC User Data. Believe me, it is absolutely worth the trouble as this launcher is the best option out there at this time. FiredTV is OK but nowhere near as functional and allowing for many features. This launcher literally morphs the Fire TV into an XBMC box.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I took your advice and bit the bullet made the leap last night. For the most part things went smoothly and I am very happy I took your advice. I was a little bummed to lose all my skin settings IE my shortcuts but it will be worth the effort to set them back up.
Thanks