# FIXED: Native Photo App disappeared - Kindle Fire HD 8.9



## photocat (Nov 17, 2012)

Well this is new.  Last night when I tapped on "photos" on my 8.9 HD, the screen blinked as if it was going to open something but it doesn't.  In checking the settings, Photos isn't even listed (Silk showed up twice though).  That said,  it hasn't completely disappeared.  Going into ES file explorer my photos are there and I can open them with other applications through it.  My battery manager also shows the Kindle Photos app and that I can "force quit" it.  Which I tried, didn't change anything.  Quite the mystery.  It sort of seems like the connection to the app is broken for lack of a better way to describe it.

I haven't done the factory reset yet (what a pain) primarily because I bought a couple of tv shows from Amazon and have downloaded them to the device - meaning I can only download one more time.   If I do a factory reset, don't I lose that copy?

I will of course contact Amazon and keep you all posted...unless anyone else has experienced this and has some other ideas?

sue

edit:  Oh I should mentioned I of course tried turning it off and on again...to no avail.


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

I would definitely call, then you have it logged and they can help with the downloads if need be.

That is strange - did the force quit work after the power down? It should have closed with that I would have thought.... but sometimes I shouldn't think 

Hopefully you don't have to resort to a factory reset. ugh.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Sue,

I haven't had that problem, it does sound like a job for Kindle CS.

(Amazon US customers inside the US: 1-866-321-8851, outside the US: 1-206-266-0927. Other customers, see here.)

I would think that you lose the downloaded copy; be sure to mention it to Kindle CS; they may issue you a credit if you need to do that.

Betsy


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## Dragle (Dec 10, 2011)

Can you copy the video files to your computer via USB and then reload them after doing the reset?

Also, that seems really strange that you can only download twice something you have purchased.  There isn't a limit like that for books, is there?


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## photocat (Nov 17, 2012)

Dragle said:


> Can you copy the video files to your computer via USB and then reload them after doing the reset?
> 
> Also, that seems really strange that you can only download twice something you have purchased. There isn't a limit like that for books, is there?


I will definitely try that. I have a Mac and the video files from Amazon are not Mac-compatible - I forget off the top of my head but they are a windows format of some sort. Therefore I can only download to my Kindle and not directly to my Mac. I think I should still be able to move it, assuming I can find it (Amazon handles downloaded from them content differently) even if my Mac cannot play it. We'll see.

The "2" limit I guess is Amazon's DRM rules -- or what the movie/tv industry makes them do. Ridiculous really but it becomes problematic in situations such as this.

I haven't phone Amazon yet but I will. I'm delaying the inevitable as I feel it will at the very least be a "restore default settings" if not a full, send it back and we'll replace it. Sad as I'm so attached to it already!

Thanks though everyone!
Sue


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

photocat said:


> I will definitely try that. I have a Mac and the video files from Amazon are not Mac-compatible - I forget off the top of my head but they are a windows format of some sort. Therefore I can only download to my Kindle and not directly to my Mac. I think I should still be able to move it, assuming I can find it (Amazon handles downloaded from them content differently) even if my Mac cannot play it. We'll see.
> 
> The "2" limit I guess is Amazon's DRM rules -- or what the movie/tv industry makes them do. Ridiculous really but it becomes problematic in situations such as this.
> 
> ...


Sue,

I missed that you had bought the video; I guess I was thinking you had rented it. I think you can download whenever you want, if there is a limitation, it's probably on the number of devices you can have it on at one time. I'd check with Amazon to be clear, but I'm pretty sure that you can have more than two downloads, just not more than two simultaneous downloads.

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

If you bought it from Amazon you have it forever. . .just like Kindle books.  Can download and watch it any time but I do think you can only have it downloaded to a maximum number of different devices.


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## photocat (Nov 17, 2012)

Movies/TVs are not the same as Kindle books when it comes to downloading. Sadly with videos it appears you can only download the content twice (i.e 2 copies) from Amazon's help pages...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_515724_wdevice?nodeId=200238920

We store all of the videos you buy from Amazon Instant Video in Your Video Library...
Choose Watch Now to watch through your web browser or *Download to see a list of download locations and available copies of the video.
*

Under one of the shows I bought and downloaded to my Kindle, it shows this. Which I take to mean if the one on my Kindle Fire disappears b/c I have to send it back or do a factory reset, I can only download it one more time.

Copies available:
1 of 2 downloads
2 of 2 unbox portable devices

I have my fire hooked up to my mac now and cannot find where this show that I bought/downloaded from Amazon is kept through the android file transfer app, otherwise I'd try to move it over just to "be safe" I'm guessing the app is purposefully limited for that reason and possibly to prevent the user from accidentally deleting needed system files too.

All this means for me is for shows I really want to keep in a downloadable file, I will have to get from iTunes as I have software that lets me convert them and put them on the Kindle for viewing. Such a pain for the end user. I blame this mostly on DRM and the entertainment industry, yet lack of consistency of file formats among platforms too doesn't help.

I'll keep you posted when I make the call to Amazon

sue


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

photocat said:


> I blame this mostly on DRM and the entertainment industry, yet lack of consistency of file formats among platforms too doesn't help.


When various parents and grandparents started complaining about trying to get digital movies to their nabi tablets for their kids, that was my first response. BLame Hollywood first....

I didn't realize how hard it was to get content to various android devices. The google store only worked hit and miss on non-google play certified devices for buying movies. Amazon doesn't play nice with anyone else, iTunes obviously doesn't either. THe problem is is that the "normal public" doesn't understand it, nor care, they just want to watch the content they bought. Period.

I still buy most of my content on DVD (unless we rent it from amazon), then just rip my own copies. Much easier to sort out anyway.... but if Hollywood could pull their heads out of their... things would just WORK like people expect them to today.

But the foray into nabi-land showed me that most people just don't get what DRM means for them....

That really stinks that it can only be downloaded to 2 kindles. Heck, we are a house of 4 active, new iOS devices that could all want a copy of a movie on them. 3 kids and me... And actually between the 4 of us, there are 8-9 actively used devices!

So like the sudafed law... the only ones being "hurt" by hollywood's rules are the honest folks.....


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## photocat (Nov 17, 2012)

TraceyC/FL said:


> When various parents and grandparents started complaining about trying to get digital movies to their nabi tablets for their kids, that was my first response. BLame Hollywood first....
> 
> I didn't realize how hard it was to get content to various android devices. The google store only worked hit and miss on non-google play certified devices for buying movies. Amazon doesn't play nice with anyone else, iTunes obviously doesn't either. THe problem is is that the "normal public" doesn't understand it, nor care, they just want to watch the content they bought. Period.
> 
> ...


AMEN! Very true and very well-said!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

photocat said:


> Movies/TVs are not the same as Kindle books when it comes to downloading. Sadly with videos it appears you can only download the content twice (i.e 2 copies) from Amazon's help pages...
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_515724_wdevice?nodeId=200238920
> 
> ...


Sue,

I don't read the above the same way you do. I read that as saying you can have it on no more than two offline devices at the same time.

See this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200238960

And scroll down to where it says releasing video licenses....

for example, it says this:


> Kindle Fire
> If you wish to release a download license for a video currently on your Kindle Fire, you must delete the video from your Library. In the Device section long-press (press and hold) the video you'd like to delete and select Delete Download.
> 
> PC
> If you've downloaded videos to a PC, but no longer want to watch them on that PC, you can release the download licenses by uninstalling the Unbox Video Player.


Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I agree with Betsy.  It's like the 'simultaneous device limit' for books -- except 2 instead of (usually) 6.  I know I have one or two TV episodes that I've downloaded to TiVo and watched.  We then deleted them.  I still see those episodes available for 2 downloads.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

On one of my shows, the one dowload is to the laptop that got stolen.  I need to contact Amazon about that.

Betsy


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## photocat (Nov 17, 2012)

Oh cool - excellent.  Thanks Betsy!  I'll give that a try.  Given I bought the season and downloaded 1 episode (of 16 or something like that) not sure how that works but I'll give it a go when I get the chance today.

I have a few errands to run this morning and plan to call Amazon this afternoon.  Fingers crossed!

sue


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## photocat (Nov 17, 2012)

UPDATE:  Just spent about 30 minutes on the phone with Amazon.  This is the first they have ever heard of such an issue and she said they would log it for future reference.  The fix?  Factory reset.  

Big thanks to Betsy and everyone else, I did "delete" the downloaded videos first and the available downloads did go from "1 of 2" to "2 of 2" so I didn't lose a copy (yay!!!!)

Now...back to setting EVERYTHING back up again (better than having to send it back though)

Thanks again!
sue


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Yay, glad to hear it, Sue!

Betsy


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