Kindle and Fire Tablet Guides

The addition of USB-C port on Fire HD10 2019 (9th Gen), Fire HD 8 2020 (10th Gen), and Fire HD 8 Plus makes these Fire tablets support 15W USB-C fast charging and be compatible with more USB accessories.

This Fire tablet guide explains what USB-C fast charging  (PD) is, how to use it to charge your Fire HD tablets faster, and known problem and caveats of using fast charging on Fire HD tablets.

Please note, this guide only applies to Fire HD tablet with a USB-C port.  Currently, Fire HD10 2019 (9th Gen), Fire HD 8 2020 (10th Gen), and Fire HD 8 Plus have the USB-C Port. Older generations and Fire 7 only have a micro USB port.

What is USB-C fast charging (USB PD)?

For the 10th gen Fire HD 8 (Fire HD 2020), Amazon stated:

Fully charge in under 5 hours using the USB-C cable and 5W power adapter included in the box. Fully charge in under 4 hours with 9W adapter (sold separately), and under 3 hours with 15W adapter and USB type C to C cable (adapter and cable sold separately).

Essentially, you can fully charge Fire HD 8 2020 or Fire HD 8 Plus (and Fire HD 10 2019) within 3 hours with the fast charging. It shortens the charging time by 40%.

So,  what is the USB-C fast charging on Fire HD 8 2020 and Fire HD10 2019?

Actually, it is not “fast” charging. It is a standard USB-C charging.

The technology, or the standard, behind it is USB Power Delivery  (PD) 2.0.

Normally, when you connect Fire tablet to a USB device or charger, the tablet the charger will “negotiate” how much power the tablet can take and how much the charger can offer.… Read the rest

The post The ultimate guide of USB-C fast charging on Fire HD 10 2019, Fire HD 8 2020, and Fire HD 8 Plus appeared first on Kindle Fire For Kid.

Amazon announced two models for the 10th generation of Fire HD 8: Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 8 Plus, instead of traditionally one, as the successor of Fire HD 8 2018 (8th Gen).

So, what are the differences of Fire HD 8 Plus (2020) vs Fire HD 8 2020 (10th Gen) vs Fire HD 8 2018 (8th Gen)?

This Fire tablet guide explains the significant differences among Fire HD 8 Plus (2020), Fire HD 8 2020 (10th gen), and Fire HD 2018 (8th Gen) to help you understand the benefits of the improvements.

Fire HD 8 Plus (2020) vs Fire HD 8 2020 (10th Gen)

Fire HD 8 Plus and Fire HD 8 2020 share identical dimensions and ports. So the cases for these two tablets are interchangeable.

The hardware inside these two tablets is almost identical with two exceptions (read on).  Both tablets also run the identical software with almost identical Fire OS 7.3 (which is based on Android Pie/9.0). This also means it is very easy to add Google Play Store to both tablets. You can also use the micro SD card as internal storage on both devices as well.

There are two major differences between Fire HD 8 Plus (2020) and Fire HD 8 2020.

Difference 1. Fire HD 8 Plus has a 3GB RAM

Amazon increased the RAM in Fire HD 8 (10 gen)to 2GB (from 1.5GB in previous generations). And Fire HD 8 Plus further increases the RAM to 3GB.

So, Fire HD 8 Plus is the Fire HD tablet with the largest RAM, currently. Remember, the latest Fire HD  10 (Fire HD 10 2019) only has 2GB RAM.

More RAM is good news for heavy users. … Read the rest

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With the release of Fire OS 6 on Fire HD 8 2018 (8th Gen) and Fire 7  2019 (9th Gen), and Fire OS 7 on Fire HD 10 2019 (9th Gen), Fire HD 8 2020 (10th gen), Fire HD 8 Plus (2020) you have the new option of using the micro SD card as the tablet (internal) storage (adoptable storage) to expand the internal storage on these 3 5 devices.

This guide explains the new option and the pros and cons of using the micro SD card as adoptable storage on Fire HD 10 (9th Gen), Fire HD 8 (8th Gen), Fire 7 (9th Gen). Fire HD 8 2020 (10th Gen), and Fire HD 8 Plus 2020.  It also explains when you need to use the adoptable storage option.

The guide also shows you how to use the micro SD card as internal storage, and how to manage the SD card on Fire HD 10 (9th Gen), Fire HD 8 (8th Gen), and Fire 7 (9th Gen).

What is the new option of using the Micro SD card on Fire HD 10 2019 (9th Gen), Fire HD 8 (8th Gen) and Fire 7 (9th Gen)?

In addition to using the SD card as external storage, you can now use micro SD card as internal storage (adoptable storage) on Fire HD 10 2019 (9th Gen), Fire 7 2019 (9th Gen), Fire HD 8 2018 (8th Gen), Fire HD 2020 (10th Gen), and Fire HD 8 Plus (2020).

Since Android Marshmallow (Android 6.0), Google added adoptable storage for the micro SD in Android devices.

As explained in this guide, adoptable storage allows you to use the micro SD card as internal storage.… Read the rest

The post How to use the micro SD card on Fire HD 10 2019 (9th Gen), Fire HD 8 (8th and 10th Gen) and Fire 7 (9th Gen)? appeared first on Kindle Fire For Kid.

Fire HD10 2019 (Fire HD 9th Gen) is an updated model for Fire HD 10 2017 (7th Gen). It is a significant update with some new features and improvements and at the same affordable price.

As Amazon stopped the Fire HDX series of tablets, Fire HD 10 is the “flagship” tablet from Amazon. And Amazon now refreshes the tablet every two years.  Fire HD 10 and Fire 7 were updated from 7th Gen to the 9th Gen in 2019.

This guide explains everything you need to know about Fire HD 10 9th Gen: the new features, pros and cons (review) of Fire HD 10 2019, alternatives to this tablet, and answers to questions you may have about this tablet.

Top 9 new  features of Fire HD 10 2019 (9th Gen)

The 9th Gen of Fire HD 10 looks similar to the previous 7th gen Fire HD 10. Actually, the ports, buttons, cameras, and speakers are located almost in identical locations. The dimensions are also almost identical.

But don’t be fooled by the look. There are some excellent new features. Here are the top 9 new features (compared to Fire HD 10 2017).

USB-C port

Finally, Amazon ditched the vintage micro USB port with the future-proof  USB-C port on Fire HD 10 9th Gen.

The USB-C port offers numerous advantages. For example:

• The connector is symmetric. You can easily insert the cable into the port without turning on the light.
• More protocols can be supported.
• You can use more USB accessories without needing USB-OTG.
• You may charge the tablet faster (read on) with a standard charger with USB-C Power Delivery.
• You may charge the tablet with other USB-C devices if you want.

… Read the rest

The post Fire HD 10 2019 (9th Gen): everything you need to know appeared first on Kindle Fire For Kid.

Google Play store is the store for Android devices. Although Amazon App store and the pre-installed Amazon apps are sufficient for some owners, many users may need to install Google Play Store on Amazon tablet to get more value from their Fire 6, Fire 7, HD 8 or HD 10.

This fire guide explains steps of installing Google Play Store on Amazon Fire tablet, and show you how to download and install the 4 correct APK files. 

This guide applies to all Amazon fire tablets with Fore OS 5 or newer. So, you can follow this guide to install Google Play Store on Amazon fire tablets including Fire 6, Fire 7, Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10 from 4th gen to 8th gen, including the Kids edition.

Why do I need to manually install Google Play Store on Amazon fire tablet?

In a nutshell, Amazon tablet is an Android tablet. Fire OS in Amazon tablet is based on Android.

In the past, Amazon tried very hard to make it difficult to install Google Play store on the Fire tablet. But since Fire OS 5 (corresponds to Android Lollipop 5.1), Amazon apparently stopped the efforts.

But you should not expect Google Play store or any Google services on Amazon products: they are direct competitors on all fronts:  Amazon Appstore vs Google Play store, Amazon Fire TV vs Google Chromecast, Amazon Echo vs Google Home, Amazon Video vs Google Play TV movies + YouTube Prime, Amazon Cloud vs Google Cloud ….

The relationship between Google and Amazon is so intense that Amazon bars Google Chromecast and Google Home in the platform. You can buy everything from Amazon except Chromecast and Google Home.… Read the rest

The post How to install Google Play Store on Amazon Fire Tablet: Fire 6, Fire 7, Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10? appeared first on Kindle Fire For Kid.

Update (2018):

For Fire Tablet 4th gen to 8th gen (Fire HD 7, Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10), you may check this guide to find out how to install Google Play Store directly on the tablet.

Some links to APK files in this post were broken. Please use this guide if you want to install Google Play store or use any Google services on your Amazon Fire tablet.

Update (2016): What works and what doesn’t when set up a Google account on Amazon Fire tablet?

1. For Fire tablet 5th generation (Settings–Device options –Device model)

If you have own the current generation (5th) of Fire tablet, you can use Google Play store as well. Just install the 4APK files, and run one ADB command. Everything should work, including the Google Play store. You can update Play services and all apps through the Play store.

For Chromecast users,  screencast (screen mirroring) also works!!

Yes, the $50 fire tablet can run Google Play store and almost all Google apps without issues.

2. For all previous generations of Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, and Kindle Fire HDX tablets

Almost all Google apps except Google Play store, work on all previous generation of Kindle Fire tablets. This is very likely blocked by Amazon. But you can install Google apps APK files directly. GMail, YouTube,… almost all Google apps should work after you install the 4 APK files and run one ADB command.

In this case, although Google Play store does not work on these tablets, you still need to install it because some other Google apps require it.

Because you cannot update Google Play services through the Play store, you need manually install the latest version of Play services using APK files.… Read the rest

The post How to setup a Google account on Amazon Fire tablet? appeared first on Kindle Fire For Kid.

Android developer options give app developers a lot of options to test the app under various simulated conditions.

But for normal users, sometimes, you may also need some features that are under developer options. For example, when you need run an ADB (Android Debug Bridge) command to backup the phone, or take lots of screenshots of Amazon Fire tablet  from your PC (if you just want to take a few, you can do this on the tablet with Power and volume up button as illustrated in this guide), you need turn on USB Debugging (enable ADB).

By default, the developer options on Amazon Fire tablet is hidden with the recent Fire OS. This is consistent with other Android devices which hide developer options since Android Jelly Bean 4.2,

But it is very easy to enable and access developer options on Amazon Fire tablet. In this guide, Fire tablet refers to Fire HD, Kindle Fire HD, Fire HDX and Kindle Fire HDX.

This guide will show you how to enable and access developer options on Amazon Fire tablet, and how to disable and hide the developer options on Amazon Fire tablet (after you enabling them).

How to enable and access developer options on Amazon Fire tablet?

Step 1: Go to Settings–Device Options

In your Amazon Fire tablet, go to Settings by swiping down from the status bar (top of the screen) or tap Settings app in the app drawer.

Then tap Device Options as shown below.

Step 2: Tap Serial Number Field  7 times

In the Device Options page, tap the serial number field 7 times.

After tapping the serial number 2 times, it starts to pop out the message as shown below.:… Read the rest

The post How to enable and access developer options on Amazon Fire tablet (Fire HD, Fire HDX and Kindle Fire HDX), and how to hide developer options again? appeared first on Kindle Fire For Kid.

Update (2018-12):

Please use this guide if you want to install Google Play store or use any Google services on your Amazon Fire tablet. It works on Fire tablet (HD 7, HD 8 and HD 10) from 4th gen, 5th gen, 6th gen, 7th gen and 8th gen.

Updated with video. Transcripts added at the end of this post.

Video guide: how to sideload Android apps in Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HDX?

Can I run Android Apps on Kindle Fire tablets?

You may already know that Kindle Fire tablet (Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire HDX) actually is an Android tablet. The Fire OS 3 in the new Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire HDX 7 and Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 actually is based on Android Jelly Bean 4.2.

Of course, Amazon hacked Android so heavily that it is hard to find any traces of Jelly Bean in the UI. But this does not mean you cannot install Android apps, for example, from Google Play Store.

Amazon Appstore for Android has a decent collection of apps that are compatible with most Android devices. Similarly, most Android apps can work on Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HDX tablets without any modifications.

So, the answer is very clear. Yes, you can run almost all Android apps in Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HDX.

Why sideload Android apps in Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HDX?

Currently, Amazon Appstore for Android still has far fewer apps than Google Play store. Sometimes, you may need some apps that are available in Google Play, but are not available in Amazon Appstore.… Read the rest

The post How to sideload Android apps in Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HDX? appeared first on Kindle Fire For Kid.

Do you know you can take a screenshot on Kindle Fire, Fire HD, Kindle Fire HD, Kindel Fire HDX 7 and Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 without using any apps?

You can easily share with your friends or family members whatever shown on your Kind Fire  (including Kindle Fire HD, and Kindle Fire HDX) screen: web pages, product images, photos, book pages, app screen, game achievement screen.

Of course, what can be shared is the screenshot, not the video file, or the app itself.  This Kindle Fire Guide will show you how to take screenshots on your Kindle Fire tablet easily.

Taking screenshots on Kindle Fire tablets is really very easy and simple. You do not need any apps.

In fact, most screen capture apps require a rooted tablet. So, don’t consider any apps to take screenshots on Kindle Fire tablets.

You do not need ADB, which requires a USB connection to a PC for your Kindle Fire tablet. Many app developers like to use this heavy tool.

To take screenshot on Kindle Fire (including Fire HD, Kindle Fire HD, and Kindle Fire HDX), you can simply press and hold both the Power and Volume down key for about three seconds.

You will hear the camera shutter click. Then, the screenshot is saved into your Photos. You can check the screenshot taken in Photos at any time.

If you want, you can edit it in Kindle Fire using all available photo editing tools in the tablet. The screenshot is saved just a normal image file.

Is taking screenshots for Kindle Fire very simple? This method of taking screenshots is native to all Android phones (Kindle Fire is powered by Fire OS, which is a customized Android) .… Read the rest

The post How to take screenshot on Fire HD, Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HDX tablets? appeared first on Kindle Fire For Kid.

Ultimate Kindle Fire Guide, Guide of Kind Fire for Kids, is the collection of the best guide, tutorials, manual on how to better use Kindle Fire tablets (Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire HDX 7 Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 and all later Fire HD (Fire 6, Fire 7, Fire HD 8, Fire HD 10) and Fire HD Kids edition..

The main focus of the ultimate Kindle Fire guide, or guide of Kind Fire for kids, is how to convert the affordable tablet into the best edutainment machine for your kids.

Amazon offers great content and services that many parents are not aware of.  These guides will teach you, step-by-step, how to get the most out of your new Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire HDX 7, Kindle Fire HDX 8.9), Fire 6, Fire 7, Fire HD 8, and Fire HD 10.

Writing Kindle Fire guides are not a simple job because different users may have quite different backgrounds. The Kindle Fire guides on this page are specially tailored for parents with limited experience with Kindle Fire tablets. Experienced users can also find some in-depth tutorials on this page.

This is an on-going project. We update the Kindle Fire guides regularly. If you cannot find the guide you need, you may check back later, or leave your feedback in the comment box below.

The list of finished or coming-soon Kindle Fire guides:

1. How to set up and use display mirroring on Kindle Fire HDX 7 and HDX 8.9

2. The ultimate guide of Kindle FreeTime

3. A practical guide of Kindle FreeTime Unlimited

4. How to install Flash player for your Kindle Fire tablets?

5. How to take screenshot on Fire HD, Kindle Fire and Kind Fire HDX tablets?

… Read the rest

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