Kindle Fire Tips, Tricks and How to's

cerebus said:
So Linh...impressions? Like/don't like?
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Just busy downloading the latest software upate =) Slow connection today..registration seamless as the device had already been added to my Amazon account.

Will provide feedback later.
 
At this point I have no post purchase dissonance. The Fire has met my expectations as the best priced Android tablet that I have come across that is able to fulfill my current requirements (light browsing, checking email, reading, Facebook, Twitter, Skype etc.) to a greater or lesser extent.

Gmail was pretty straight forward to setup. Silk is quite unstable so will most probably be using another browser like Opera - though I should qualify that by saying my experience was fine but it played up when my partner was using it. At the moment I’ve only been focusing on the applications I use related to reading like Aldiko, Dropbox etc. and have had no problem installing anything thus far.

I am really missing the more standard Android launch page that I am accustomed to so will be changing that. This will also give me the opportunity to test out the side loading of apps. I have also copied across books from PC to Fire.

I haven't done nearly the amount of testing I had wanted to amongst others finding and installing all the Android applications that I currently use, installing a larger selection of Android apps and markets, magazine, newspaper and comic reading, audio amongst others.

Otherwise no major complaints yet. I would be most interested to hear from anybody else who has been using the Fire?

Some tips/info:

1) When setting up gmail make sure that you have POP as well as IMAP enabled.
2) It takes a micro USB and not the standard USB.

Some observations:
1) The icons from newly installed apps appear pixelated

One thing I am pretty sure about and that is I doubt there are going to be many iPad Fire converts..
 
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My clearing costs at DHL (VAT and duties) amounted to R487.47 for Cape Town. My other costs were similar to that of LinH.
 
So can you use the thing as an Amazon device? Everyone is very quiet...

Sent from my U20i using Tapatalk
 
I'm a member of the xda-developers forum and came across the most awesome thread explaining how to install Google apps without rooting at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1348738

So far I have successfully managed to install Gmail, Gbooks and Gtalk.

The following paragraph is an edit from the post I made last night. I was continuing on my merry way to install Google market when I realised I was just about to root my kindle - that's how easy it is...So basically you can get most (haven't installed all) Google apps to work without having to root the device. You do however have to install Google Services Framework. .

Otherwise I have installed the following applications all of which are working:

DropBox
Google maps with streetview (not reliant on Google Services Framework)
Opera Mini
Dolphin
Astro file explorer
Skype
Aldiko
Facebook
SlideMe
Cool Reader

I've also changed the launcher as I am definitely not a fan of the carousal..using Ice Cream Sandwhich which is a very slick interface.

So I am liking my android tablet very much at the moment and it can only get better..

I was getting worried there for a time as I felt rather restricted in the beginning.

I should just mention that a lot of it was trial an error but more because of my lack of experience around the innards of android..nothing I couldn't work out though as the forum is the best source of info I've come across.
 
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BigAl-sa said:
So can you use the thing as an Amazon device? Everyone is very quiet...

Sent from my U20i using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Very quite.....I have yet to come into contact with somebody who has actually used it and come back with some feedback.

You can only download e-books but not as far as I know any other form of media like video etc. You can however copy content across and watch/listen this way. I still need to do a little playing in that area though. At the mo I've just been looking at getting all the applications working the way I want them too. That and getting my library setup.

I would hope that non-US people knew they wouldn't be able to use these services before buying the device...it has been extensively discussed online.
 
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Another way to install apps from Google market is to download to your android phone(I have an HTC) and side load to the Fire. I also download apps to my laptop and do the same thing. For others I have downloaded directly onto the device.

If you use Calibre to convert to MOBI make sure you add the serial number of your Kindle to the custom plug in. If you run into further problems make sure the "personal doc tag" field under MOBI output is clear. It was only after doing both that I was able to open up the books without getting a DRM error as well as getting them to display properly in the carousal and library.

Related to this is when side loading non-Amazon MOBI books make sure you put them into the Fire's Documents folder. Only then will they show up in the carousal and your bookshelf.

I have noticed that the Amazon Kindle App unfortunately does not work properly when using an alternate launch screen. It only allows you to open up the book last read.
 
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For those who are interested I have copied the instructions on how to get Google apps on your Kindle from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1349902
which I did to install most of the apps except Google Market which you would have to root your device to do. I have never used Market extensively and can get all the apps I need from alternate sources so won't be rooting at this point.

I also didn't use File Explorer but Astro file manager to get too my APK's which is just my personal preference.

---Google Apps on Kindle Fire---

I've had a couple requests to post step by step directions for how I got my Google apps working. Be forewarned, you're going to have to restart your kindle a few times. If you don't restart it this won't work.

Also, as is sadly necessary in today's world, I am not responsible for any thing bad that happens to your kindle fire, its warrantee, or its sudden combustion due to your following (or attempt to follow) my directions here. You do this at your own risk.

This download includes:

Google Services Framework
Android Market
Books
Voice
Maps
Google+
Reader
Gmail
Street View
Youtube
Talk
As well as some goodies that everyone needs:

Netflix
Pandora
Dolphin Browser
Go Launcher
Without further ado: The Instructions.

1. Download http://www.multiupload.com/DGMBZZNOXM onto your computer. This includes all of the Google Apps, as well as a few other free apps from the android market that you might like to have on your device. (GO launcher is required to access Android Market at this time because the launcher included with your fire doesn't show it with your other apps)

2. Connect your Kindle Fire to your computer via a micro-usb cord.

3. Create a unzip the contents of the downloaded link onto your Kindle Fire (You will need WinRAR, sorry I was too lazy to zip it. If you don't have WinRAR yet, get it. It's amazing. )

4. From the Amazon App store, download "ES File Explorer"

5. Open ES File Explorer and navigate to where you unzipped those .apk files.

6. Select "GoogleServicesFramework.apk" and install it.

7. Restart your Kindle Fire

8. Re-Open ES File Explorer and install each of the apps.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS for ANDROID MARKET

Before you install the Android Market you need to copy the app into /system/app and set the correct permissions after it is in /system/app.

You will need to chmod your android market apk to set your permissions. Your permissions should be rw-r--r--, the same as the other system apps. http://androidforums.com/behold-2-al...rmissions.html has a good post explaining what these mean and how to set them up using chmod. Rather than going into detail here I will refer you to this link.

Props to Bandage for identifying this

If this whole process is too complicated for you, instead you should sideload Titanium Backup which can convert the market apk to a system app. This method should work as well.

Props to Bongostl for figuring this one out.

9. Restart your Kindle Fire

10. Open Books or Gmail and log into your google account

11. If you have any errors past this point Restart your Kindle Fire and everything should work out fine.

If at first you have difficulty getting the Android Market not to force close (after restarting) go to settings -> applications -> third party and find Market on the list. On the market's setting screen clear data and try again.

I hope this helps you in your quest to get Google Apps on your Kindle Fire. If you need any more help post a comment and I will help you as quickly as I can.

UPDATE: If you still have problems with your android market use this file instead http://forum.xda-developers.com/atta...2&d=1321476329

Update: http://munday.ws/kindlefire/MarketOpener.apk is an app made by Munday that puts a market Icon in the kindle ui and opens market after you have it installed. This saves you from using another launcher and is very helpful. Props Munday!
 
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Another tip:

To save space on your kindle delete the APK's of the apps you have already installed. I keep a backup on my laptop so they will be quick to access if I need to do a reinstall.
 
Kindle Fire Amazon Appstore not available in my region

Hi LinH Thanks for the instructions.

I am trying to download explorer app from Amazon but it tells me that my region is not supported. Any ideas? Thanks.

Johan
P.S. I have searched on this forum but will now search Google. And here's a possible method. This idea also did not work http://www.abtevrythng.com/2011/03/how-to-use-amazon-app-store-outside-us.html
 
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Johan Amazon's app store doesn't work for international users. You will need to use other app stores like slideme.com although to be honest I just try and find the most reputable source of the apps via Google. That or root your tablet.

I do suggest however that you use either Operal or Dolphin as your default browsers. They are generally the most widely used.
 
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Oh hell are you referring to file explorer?

If so I downloaded the apps (both Astro, my preference, and Explorer) from android market via my HTC and then copied from my PC to my Fire. I'm sure you'll be able to find a reputable source online as well though.

Alternatively I can mail you both APK's if you like.

PS. No all apps from the usual app sites always work. Also make sure of their source. Some I've come across are dodgy.
 
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You gotta push the explorer app via adb. Once thats installed you can sideload your apps with the Explorer. But best is to get android market installed and then ADW Launcher or Go Loauncher. Works like a dream. Mines arrived on friday and got it running perfectly now. Love the size. Only thing is gotta sell it now. Thought i would keep this and sell my Ipad 2. But the wife likes the Ipad more. If you guys interested make me a offer. Its like 4 days old.
 
As Kindle Fire Faces Critics, Remedies Are Promised

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/t...say-may-become-the-edsel-of-tablets.html?_r=1

The Kindle Fire, Amazon’s heavily promoted tablet, is less than a blazing success with many of its early users. The most disgruntled are packing the device up and firing it back to the retailer.

A few of their many complaints: there is no external volume control. The off switch is easy to hit by accident. Web pages take a long time to load. There is no privacy on the device; a spouse or child who picks it up will instantly know everything you have been doing. The touch screen is frequently hesitant and sometimes downright balky.

All the individual grievances — recorded on Amazon’s own Web site — received a measure of confirmation last week when Jakob Nielsen, a usability expert, denounced the Fire, saying it offered “a disappointingly poor” experience. For users whose fingers are not as slender as toothpicks, he warned, the screen could be particularly frustrating to manipulate.

“I feel the Fire is going to be a failure,” Mr. Nielsen, of the Nielsen Norman Group, a Silicon Valley consulting firm, said in an interview. “I can’t recommend buying it.”

All this would be enough to send some products directly to the graveyard where the Apple Newton, the Edsel, New Coke and McDonald’s Arch Deluxe languish. But as a range of retailers and tech firms could tell you, it would be foolish to underestimate Amazon.

Amazon sees the Kindle line of devices as critical for its future as a virtual store, and is willing to lose money on the sale of each one for the sake of market share. Once dominance is achieved, it plans to make money on the movies, books and music that users download directly from Amazon.

First, however, it needs to make the devices ubiquitous. Promoting them every day to its tens of millions of customers at the cheapest possible price will surely help. If Apple brought the notion of the tablet into the mainstream, Amazon is making it affordable.

The retailer says the Kindle Fire is the most successful product it has ever introduced, a measure of enthusiasm that reveals nothing; it has not specified how many Fires it has sold, nor how many Kindles it has ever sold. It also says it is building even more Fires to meet the strong demand. But, at the same time, it acknowledges that it is working on improvements.

“In less than two weeks, we’re rolling out an over-the-air update to Kindle Fire,” said Drew Herdener, a company spokesman.

There will be improvements in performance and multitouch navigation, and customers will have the option of editing the list of items that show what they have recently been doing. No more will wives wonder why their husbands were looking at a dating site when they said they were playing Angry Birds.

Amazon declines to say, but soon — probably in the spring — there will be an improved version of the device itself. One more shot is all the retailer will get, Mr. Nielsen said. “If that’s a failure, then the Fire is doomed to the dust pile of history.”

Despite Amazon’s silence on the matter, analysts have been estimating the company will sell three million to five million Fires this quarter. They are neither raising their estimates nor lowering them.

Amazon’s devotion to this product line is such that it has stripped down the original Kindle e-reader, reduced its price and begun to sell it through other retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart for $79, as well as prominently on its Web site. If Amazon had Apple-like margins, analysts estimate that the basic Kindle might cost $180.

According to calculations by the research firm IHS iSuppli, the $79 Kindle costs Amazon $84 to make. That sum does not include research and development, shipping or, with a third-party retailer, the wholesale discount. Add these up, and Amazon might be losing as much as $20 on every $79 Kindle sold at, for example, Best Buy.

For most hardware makers, that would be a recipe for corporate suicide. But once the device is activated in a buyer’s home, the losses stop and the consumption begins.

“What else are you going to do on this Kindle?” asked Andrew Rassweiler, senior director of tear-down services at iSuppli. “Nothing. It’s a useless device unless you’re planning on putting books, a lot of books, on it.”

The Fire is trying to do much more than be an e-book reader, a function some say it does not do as well as the original Kindle. Slightly more than a third of the 4,500 reviewers of the Fire on Amazon have given it mixed to negative reviews, three stars or fewer. Of Amazon reviewers of the iPad 2, 22 percent have given three stars or fewer; for the original Kindle, that number is 11 percent. (There are a few caveats. At least some of the iPad reviewers bought not from Apple but from resellers, the real target of their ire. As for the original Kindle, after four years it has both a huge number of reviews — over 34,000 — and the advantage of being a known quantity.)

Many of the initial customers of the Fire seem to have bought it on a mixture of faith and hype. The striking thing even about some of the one-star reviewers is that they are regretful rather than angry. One review, couched as an open letter to Amazon’s chief executive, Jeff Bezos, began: “I have spent thousands on your outstanding site. I own and love the original Kindle. When asked about why I would buy a Fire when I had an iPad, I said that half of me wanted to just support your effort and that I believed Amazon just did things right.” The reviewer is now recommending that friends skip lunch to buy an iPad.

Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, has been tracking the opinions as more reviews are posted on Amazon. Since Nov. 18, five-star reviews have fallen slightly, to 47 percent from 50 percent, he says. One-star reviews have held relatively steady at about 13 percent.

“I would have expected things to be even worse at this point,” Mr. Munster said, adding that initial buyers were usually the most critical. Pricing will save the Fire, he predicted. At $199 versus $500 for an iPad, “Amazon has a lot of air cover to have a B-level product.”

Mr. Nielsen, the consultant, disagreed.

The 7-inch Fire does a good job displaying sites optimized for smaller mobile devices, he said, but stumbles when it tries to show pages designed for 10-inch tablets. “Like squeezing a Size 10 person into a Size 7 suit,” Mr. Nielsen wrote in his report. “Not going to look good.” As for displaying desktop sites, forget it.

It is true that the device is only $199, but so what? “Look at your hand. Is it thin or fat?” he asked. “If it’s fat, you just know it’s going to be bad.”

The device does do one thing well, he said. Shopping on Amazon is a breeze. “If I were given to conspiracy theories, I’d say that Amazon deliberately designed a poor Web browsing user experience to keep Fire users from shopping on competing sites,” Mr. Nielsen said.
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