# Rooting Kindle Fire



## Smcgoey (Jan 6, 2012)

Hello can anyone tell me about Rooting your Kindle Fire, Is it illegal, and do i get new apps. Also if possible tell me if it is worth it or not.
Thanks,
Sean.


----------



## Smcgoey (Jan 6, 2012)

But will i still be able to get new apps and is it illegal?
Thanks,
Sean.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Illegal?  As in will the coppers come and take you away to the Clink?  No.

But it is against Amazon's Terms of Service and will likely void your warranty.  So it's definitely something you do at your own risk.

Note that without rooting you can install apps from not-Amazon by simply allowing them in the settings Device menu.  There are a number of threads here on how to do that efficiently and where to find apps that will work.


----------



## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

It isn't illegal, but it would probably void your warranty.  You'd be able to access apps from the Android Market - but it's not necessarily worth it unless there are just some vital apps that are only available there.  (And given time, those apps will probably become available for the Fire anyway since it seems to be selling well.)  And you can already access apps from Getjar and 1Mobile and other sites besides Amazon for the Fire.

Of course if you just love tinkering and rooting and stuff like that, you might want to do it anyway.  Or you could get a refurbished Nook Color for about $150 and root that, either with an SD card or directly on/in the Nook's software.  (I have one, personally I prefer my unrooted Fire...but I do run GO Launcher on it for keeping my apps organized.)


----------



## KimberlyinMN (Dec 30, 2009)

Smcgoey said:


> But will i still be able to get new apps and is it illegal?
> Thanks,
> Sean.


You will be able to get apps from the Amazon app store and from the regular Android app store. Personally, I prefer the Android app store. There are WAY more apps there. (Especially ones geared for rooted devices.) Before you go about doing any of this, make sure to research a bit. One thing you'll want to find out is: how easy is it to revert back to the stock OS?


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I have removed the post with the link to directions. . . we view rooting the Fire in the same way as stripping DRM from books or music. . . .we won't allow discussions of or links to 'how to'.  Sorry.


----------



## KimberlyinMN (Dec 30, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I have removed the post with the link to directions. . . we view rooting the Fire in the same way as stripping DRM from books or music. . . .we won't allow discussions of or links to 'how to'. Sorry.


Oops! Sorry about that. I thought I had read a post here around the time the Fire was released that talking about rooting would be akin to custom screen savers with the eink versions. (Obviously the non-SO versions.)


----------



## sparklemotion (Jan 13, 2011)

This is my feeling as well. I know some people like to tinker and that's fine and is up to them, but I personally don't think it's worth voiding your warranty. Especially if you just want to install outside apps as you can do that easily with side loading without voiding your warranty. 



Meemo said:


> It isn't illegal, but it would probably void your warranty. You'd be able to access apps from the Android Market - but it's not necessarily worth it unless there are just some vital apps that are only available there. (And given time, those apps will probably become available for the Fire anyway since it seems to be selling well.) And you can already access apps from Getjar and 1Mobile and other sites besides Amazon for the Fire.
> 
> Of course if you just love tinkering and rooting and stuff like that, you might want to do it anyway. Or you could get a refurbished Nook Color for about $150 and root that, either with an SD card or directly on/in the Nook's software. (I have one, personally I prefer my unrooted Fire...but I do run GO Launcher on it for keeping my apps organized.)


----------



## dougdirt (Jan 8, 2012)

My guess is "If you have to ask, you probably don't want to try it". There are added benefits to doing so. But there are also risks that come along with it, such as bricking your Kindle Fire. As I said, if you have to ask, you probably don't truly need the added benefits of doing so when you could probably get what you need by learning to sideload apps.


----------



## Bigal-sa (Mar 27, 2010)

Smcgoey said:


> Hello can anyone tell me about Rooting your Kindle Fire, Is it illegal, and do i get new apps. Also if possible *tell me if it is worth it or not*.


Read my second post in this thread (if it makes sense).


----------



## Malweth (Oct 18, 2009)

I like to have control over my systems, but I have had Prime for years and don't want to lose the Amazon services. Apparently Prime video doesn't work on a rooted kindle. Rooting is also less secure since all apps then have root access.

I'll remain content with switching out the launcher and learning to write my own software.

(via Tapatalk on Kindle Fire)


----------



## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

It makes me sad because you apparently have to root to be able to enable a keyboard like SWYPE.  I did read somewhere that there's a work around to access Amazon Prime Instant Videos even after rooting.  I've never rooted a device... but sorely tempted to with my Fire.  I figure with my luck I'll brick it, though.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

We have had people post here with a bricked Fire after attempting to root.  And it is against Amazon's ToS.    I'm not entirely sure why Amazon wouldn't allow different keyboards; they could sell more apps!

Betsy


----------



## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

Yeah seriously.  I'm probably not going to do it just for Swype... maybe if I had the money to gamble, but right now I really don't.  I've always hated onscreen keyboards, though, and Swype type apps are the only things that make it bearable.


----------

