Revision [310]
This is an old revision of AmazonFireTablet made by jmussetter on 2015-10-27 18:52:15.
Amazon FireTablet
Android Tablet / Color E-Reader
Default IP Settings:
IP= DHCPSubNet= DHCP
Installing Official Google Play Store on Device:
These instructions are for installing the Offical Play Store Marketplace on the device. These tablets do not come with the Play Store included as Amazon does not include any Google apps or access to the Google Play store. Amazon only supplies the Amazon App store on the devices from them.Pre-Requisits
- ES File Explorer - File explorer app that will allow you to access apps on the internal memory and install .apk (android package) files. This can be downloaded from the Amazon App Store for free.
- Make sure the Tablet allows installation of 3rd party apps by turning on "Settings>Security>Apps from Unknown Sources"
- Google Account - Sign up for a free Google Account. Google creditials are required to access the Play Store.
Install Steps Overview
Easy Method No Root Required- Open ES File Explorer app.
- Click on the menu in upper left corner, and click on "Add"
- In promp box, for Path, enter http://dwl.gadgetsxray.com and give it a name like "Google Play" and Add the new source.
- Once the source is added, open the menu again, and scroll down until you find the "Google Play" entry that you added and select it. This will open a simple web page with 4 links on it.
- Click on the first link "Google Apps", which will open a page with 4 files on it. Click each file to download them one at a time to the Tablet. Once the last one is downloaded, click on the "Open Folder" in the prompt that you are shown. If not, you can find the files in the Tablets Downloads directory.
- You should see 4 apk files that you downloaded. Click to install them in this order:
- Google Services Framework
- Google Play Services
- Google Account Manager
- Google Play Store
- Once Installed, you should have a "Google Settings" and a "Play Store" icon in the apps list.
- Open up the Play Store, and enter your existing Google account creditials or create a new account.
- Exit and reboot the device so Google Services can all successfully start and run.
It is highly recommended at this point to use the Play Store to install Googles YouTube app. After installing it, open YouTube app, and it you will most likely be prompted to update the Google Play Services on the device. Select update to get the latest services (the services installed in previous steps are a fixed cached copy, so these need to be updated to the most recent version available).
Installing Alternate App Store on Device:
These instructions are for installing the 1Mobile Marketplace on the device. This is an alternative marketplace to the official Google Play Store. Be careful using this market place, as these apps are not verified like the official Play Store, so while many apps are authentic, there can be malicious programs and or spyware/adware or non-authentic clone apps.Pre-Requisits
- ES File Explorer - File explorer app that will allow you to access apps on the internal memory and install .apk (android package) files. This can be downloaded from the Amazon App Store for free.
- Make sure the Tablet allows installation of 3rd party apps by turning on "Settings>Security>Apps from Unknown Sources"
Install Steps Overview
No Root Required- Use a web browser on the Tablet to go to 1Mobile Market download page. And click on Download apk.
- Once downloaded, open ES File Explorer, and navigate to the tablet's download folder.
- Click on the 1Mobile .apk file that was just downloaded, and select install.
Installing XBMC/Kodi on Device:
These instructions are for installing Kodi Media Center on the device to use as a media center to watch streaming content.Pre-Requisites
You will need to download the following apps to your PC to use to load Kodi and setup the FireTV to use Kodi optimally.- Latest Version of SPMC or alternative version of Kodi.
- ES File Explorer - File explorer app that will allow you to access apps on the internal memory and install .apk (android package) files. This can be downloaded from the Amazon App Store for free.
Install Steps Overview
Note: Full Install instructions for Kodi is available on the official Kodi Wiki Site- Open Web Browser and goto http://spmc.semperpax.com/ to download the latest apk version of SPMC (Kodi).
- Open ES File Explorer and browse to download folder.
- Click on the SPMC .apk file and follow prompts to install it.
- Start Kodi software and configure Kodi as desired, see: Kodi Setup Overview
App Launchers:
To make the device behave more like a standard Android tablet, consider using an App Launcher. There are many to choose from in the Play Store, but the ADW Launcher is the standard Android app launcher. This gives the desktop the feel of a normal android device.Another very popular launcher is the Go Launcher
NOTE: Be aware, that installation of an App launcher makes the device behave like a native android tablet, there is one flaw. Because Amazon has the device so locked down, the "Home" button will always take you back to Amazon's home page (jumping out of the alternate launcher). The Go launcher has a setting to change the home button action, but due to the lockdown of the OS, this setting does not work as it's overridden by the Amazon FireOS. So far, the only way to change the behavior of the "Home" key, is to root the device and install a hack that can override the FireOS functionality. There is no real downside to this flaw, just be aware, that if you are using an alternate launcher to navigate and launch apps, if you press the Home Key (circle), it will jump you back out to Amazon's Home Page, and you will need to go back into the launcher. As a work around, you can instead press the "Apps" key (square) to get a list of running apps, then select the launcher app to go back to the launcher when in another program, or area of the FireOS.
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