# Why I won't be getting Fire HD



## n4uau (Nov 26, 2011)

While I love my Fire as an ereader and while it works, sort of, as a browser I am frustrated by the fact that an Android is not always an Android. For example I've wanted Skype on my Fire to do text. It is available at Google Play but they say I don't have an Android device so I can't get it there. Searching Amazon apps for Skype for Fire brings up lots of stuff but not Skype.

There are other examples but you get the ides. Apple iphone, ipad are a much more organized and coordinated tablet with apps that work and exist.

So I'll wait till the new ipad or ipad mini comes out and use my Fire as an ereader only.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

The new Fire HD comes with Skype already installed. It even has a camera in the front.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Skype isn't being offered as an app as it is an integral part of the new Fire HDs, as Heather says.  We have members already Skyping on their Fires, Sam.  See the separate thread about it.

Betsy


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## n4uau (Nov 26, 2011)

Luvmy4brats said:


> The new Fire HD comes with Skype already installed. It even has a camera in the front.


Thanks and yes the new Fire is an improvement but to me it is annoying to want to load an Android app that exists on the Android market and find that Kindle is not Android but an Amazon Android so at best there might be a work-around to 'sideload' the app onto the Fire. I think Apple's 'an app is an app' is much more user friendly. Perhaps Amazon's Android issue is an Android issue in general but until Android is as user friendly as Apple I'll stay with the Fire as an excellent ereader and Apple products as general all purpose tablets with workable apps.

Or the file manager sideloaded app that wants to update but Kindle won't let it do so. I don't need this hassle.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I don't really get your "an app is an app" comment--where outside of Apple's iTunes store can you get an app for your iDevice?  How many sideloaded apps do you have on your iThings?  Both Apple and Amazon are trying to control where you purchase apps to go on your devices in order to ensure that apps work well with the device and with each other.    And I was just thinking the other day that Amazon's and Apple's approaches were actually kind of similar, as far as wanting to control what you put on your device, except that Amazon's is more open.  

I don't think it's an either-or, by the way...I use both my iPad and my Fire for both reading and for apps.  But everyone's different, and their expectations and needs are different.  'Sokay.    It's great that there are enough different devices out there that we can find the ones that suit are needs.  It's a great time to be a gadget girl or guy.  New stuff every day!  

Betsy


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## Annalog (Dec 28, 2008)

I agree with Betsy. While I don't have any iThings or other android devices other than my Fire, I did install 1Mobile Market, using instructions found on another thread, to install apps I wanted that were not available from Amazon. I think of the problem of my old Fire not being recognized by Google Play as partly a problem on the Google side and partly on the Fire side. (Pun intended. )


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## Finished (Feb 14, 2009)

Odd thread. Ever tried sideloading an app on an iPad?


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> I don't really get your "an app is an app" comment--where outside of Apple's iTunes store can you get an app for your iDevice? How many sideloaded apps do you have on your iThings?


I think what she is getting at is that an iPhone app will work on the iPad, the Touch and so on provided you have the common version of iOS for it. Something like Skype is an app - so available for all devices.

Being locked out of the Google store can be frustrating if you don't have another device so you can get at apps that may work that way. Amazon and Apple are similar in this way - the big difference comes in the perception that the Fire is an "android" device and should then have Google Play access. But it doesn't and why you and I understand it, a lot of people aren't going to "get it". (And not implying that the OP doesn't get it).


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

I haven't had much trouble finding any apps that I really wanted for my Fire, even if I had to go outside Amazon.  Some from the developers' websites, some from Getjar, 1Mobile, etc.  But it is true that not all Android apps will work on all Android devices.  That's the downside of an "open" platform.  And one of the reasons that overall I prefer iOS over Android.  I've still got my pre-order in for the 32 GB 7" Fire HD, though - I like my Fire enough that I want to upgrade it.  Just tattoo "Sucker" right across my forehead...


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## Raheulon (Aug 1, 2012)

n4uau said:


> While I love my Fire as an ereader and while it works, sort of, as a browser I am frustrated by the fact that an Android is not always an Android. For example I've wanted Skype on my Fire to do text. It is available at Google Play but they say I don't have an Android device so I can't get it there.


There is a work-around for Kindle Fire HD users if you want to install some apps by downloading them directly as APK files instead of going through Google Play: Go to Settings -> Device and turn on "Allow Installation of Applications from unknown sources." However, most apps aren't available that way.


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## n4uau (Nov 26, 2011)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> I don't really get your "an app is an app" comment--
> 
> I don't think it's an either-or, by the way...I use both my iPad and my Fire for both reading and for apps. But everyone's different, and their expectations and needs are different. 'Sokay.  It's great that there are enough different devices out there that we can find the ones that suit are needs. It's a great time to be a gadget girl or guy. New stuff every day!
> 
> Betsy


Betsy what I meant is you see there is an Android app for something but then find out it isn't on Kindle app store and you need work arounds. Kindle is like its own language. If you see an iphone app you know it will work without jumping through hoops.

I agree it is great to have choices and I too use both. I am worried about the Apple-Samsung fight. If Samsung and other Android companies can't sell their products the user is going to loose out on choices, price and creativity and soon no more 'new stuff every day'. Remember phones when Ma Bell owned the whole business? Any color you wanted as long as it was black 

Meanwhile I'll not get FireHD but use my current one. Oh and BTW I'm not rushing out to get an iphone 5 either. But maybe a mini Ipad.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

n4uau said:


> Betsy what I meant is you see there is an Android app for something but then find out it isn't on Kindle app store and you need work arounds. Kindle is like its own language. If you see an iphone app you know it will work without jumping through hoops.


Aaah. I don't have any other Android devices, so rarely hear about apps outside the Appstore.... but I do read about iPhone apps that don't have iPad versions...and yes, the iPhone version will work on an iPad but are often less than satisfactory. (I can only compare my tablet experiences, as I don't have an iPhone either. )



> I agree it is great to have choices and I too use both. I am worried about the Apple-Samsung fight. If Samsung and other Android companies can't sell their products the user is going to loose out on choices, price and creativity and soon no more 'new stuff every day'. Remember phones when Ma Bell owned the whole business? Any color you wanted as long as it was black


Don't get me started about the breakup of Ma Bell...I'm still not entirely convinced it was a good thing. I have a friend who worked on that case and I keep showing him my phone bill and asking him to decode it for me. 

Betsy


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

n4uau said:


> I agree it is great to have choices and I too use both. I am worried about the Apple-Samsung fight. If Samsung and other Android companies can't sell their products the user is going to loose out on choices, price and creativity and soon no more 'new stuff every day'. Remember phones when Ma Bell owned the whole business? Any color you wanted as long as it was black


I'm hoping other companies hire some of the good unemployed designers out there. Did you see the new HP computers last week? iMac Clones. Totally. Even HP said that Apple showed them design DOES matter. So get some fresh blood and innovate!



> Meanwhile I'll not get FireHD but use my current one. Oh and BTW I'm not rushing out to get an iphone 5 either. But maybe a mini Ipad.


I babysit for my UPS guy. I'm soooooo bummed that he won't have a phone for me on his truck on Friday. It's a good thing he doesn't have his daughter friday and I won't have to see him. I'm liable to be in a pissy mood! LOL!!


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Aaah. I don't have any other Android devices, so rarely hear about apps outside the Appstore.... but I do read about iPhone apps that don't have iPad versions...and yes, the iPhone version will work on an iPad but are often less than satisfactory. (I can only compare my tablet experiences, as I don't have an iPhone either. )


I have a couple of games that I can't imagine playing the iPad version of, I use the iPhone one.[/quote]

Well, i can imagine.... I'd have to go to the eye doctor for new glasses to see the tiny things! 

(note, I need to go to the eye doctor anyway, it is just money that I don't have)


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

n4uau said:


> Betsy what I meant is you see there is an Android app for something but then find out it isn't on Kindle app store and you need work arounds. Kindle is like its own language. If you see an iphone app you know it will work without jumping through hoops.


See, and a lot of people see this as an advantage Android has over Apple: Apps may be available various places. You can get an android device from various manufacturers and buy apps anywhere you want. Sure, if you buy a Fire, Amazon wants you to buy from them -- they've flat out said, 'we've made this so it's easy to get stuff for it from us.' Given the price on the device, I think a lot of folks will be o.k. with that.

Apple, on the other hand (and -- full disclosure: I own no apple products at all) seems to price it's devices very high and still retains an iron fisted control on where you can get apps. Yes, the quality is also extremely high. But *I* don't see it as being that much better than similar non-Apple items -- whether we're talking smart phones, tablets or computers. Example: There's a MacBook Air on Woot today for $799. That's on SALE -- I can buy a non Apple laptop that is just as good, in my opinion, for under $500. NOT on sale. Obviously, though, their business model is successful for them! 

They also got a jump on things by being first. . . .there are still a lot of apps that are ONLY available for iThings. . . .you can't get them for Android at all! One of the reasons my son has an iPad is that he wanted to use it to run the lights at the theater he manages. There was 'an app for that' for iPad but nothing for Android tablets. But he was absolutely not willing to spend what Apple wanted for a new device. We ended up getting a not-too-bad deal on a used one privately for him. But he only really uses it in the theater and hasn't bought any Apple apps for it. OTOH, he has lots of stuff on his Android smartphone and is interested in a Fire for a larger screen android device.

And, for the record, it's dead easy to load apps from 1Mobile onto the Fire. Honestly, once you've gone to the website once and downloaded their purchase app, it's no harder to do it than it is from Amazon. Seriously: it's easy -- I can be timid about this stuff sometimes, arguing to myself that it's better to not rock the boat and do without than color a little bit outside the lines.  And there's not much in Google Play that isn't in 1Mobile or already in the Amazon Appstore. So I don't see it as a problem.

The BIGGEST issue I had with the Fire was that I couldn't sync my Google calendar. But there was an App, Calengoo, that enabled that -- with some 'off device' noodling -- and, with the HD, the email app that comes with automatically syncs the calendar once you set up your gmail account. Which was also dead easy.

I'm glad I got the HD -- I'm still looking forward to seeing the 8.9HD. . . .and I'm not exactly sure which one, if either, will get passed on to my son.


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## n4uau (Nov 26, 2011)

TraceyC/FL said:


> I babysit for my UPS guy. I'm soooooo bummed that he won't have a phone for me on his truck on Friday. It's a good thing he doesn't have his daughter friday and I won't have to see him. I'm liable to be in a pissy mood! LOL!!


Talk about innovative: You have the perfect chance for a hostage swap, his daughter back for the iPhone 5 you want!!

Well you guys are more sophisticated than I in this stuff. Sometime back, when I couldn't access various files, one of you put me onto File Expert which, as I recall, at the time I had to go somewhere and side load it. Since then it periodically wants to update and every time it 'fails to install'. Because it was sideloaded from an 'unoffical' site - who knows??

I go to Kindle store for Skype, it doesn't exist. I go to google play and it exists but Google Play tells me I don't have an Android device. So my original comment an app is not an app always or maybe an Android is not an Android. I haven't had these problems with Apple. Maybe if I had a Nexus android tablet all would be happy or maybe this is life in the open source world of Android.

Maybe we need a 'how to find apps that work on Fire' tutorial might help. Lot of maybe's


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

n4uau said:


> I go to Kindle store for Skype, it doesn't exist. I go to google play and it exists but Google Play tells me I don't have an Android device. So my original comment an app is not an app always or maybe an Android is not an Android. I haven't had these problems with Apple. Maybe if I had a Nexus android tablet all would be happy or maybe this is life in the open source world of Android.


It does. (Skype) Though it doesn't list either of my Fires as compatible. But the original Fire didn't have a microphone or camera, so that makes sense, and the HD fire came with it pre-loaded. So no need to go to the Appstore.  It definitely shows as an app on my Fire HD and I can even remove it if I want. And I can't do that with some of the other resident apps like email and help&feedback. I expect, before the 8.9HD's are released, that it will show as available for the HD Fires in the app store. I'm thinking there's simply some catching up that needs to be done.

Oh, and it works, too. . .Betsy and I have tried it.


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## n4uau (Nov 26, 2011)

Ann in Arlington said:


> It definitely shows as an app on my Fire HD and I can even remove it if I want. And I can't do that with some of the other resident apps like email and help&feedback.


Yup it does now but says not compatible with my Fire non HD. Well anyway that is the kind of thing that has me a little down on Fire as an all purpose table. I'll try some 1mobile downloads and see. Thanks and glad skype works now. I use it daily on PC for group chats, not video chats, and had wanted to do that on Fire as screen on iphone really too small.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

n4uau said:


> *Yup it does now but says not compatible with my Fire non HD.* Well anyway that is the kind of thing that has me a little down on Fire as an all purpose table. I'll try some 1mobile downloads and see. Thanks and glad skype works now. I use it daily on PC for group chats, not video chats, and had wanted to do that on Fire as screen on iphone really too small.


Because the non HD Fire has neither a camera nor microphone. 

And, FWIW, when Betsy and I were experimenting with Skype, when she 'called' me from an non-video skyping device, we could still talk just fine; we just couldn't see each other. When I called her from my Fire, she could see my video but as she had no camera I couldn't see her. I could see ME in full screen. When we both used video devices I could see her on the main screen and me on the small inset. Which helps so you know you're holding the thing at your face and not your feet -- or something.


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## n4uau (Nov 26, 2011)

I've skyped with the iphone  frequently, it's better than on the PC because with the rear camera you can show folks where you are etc.

Enjoy!

I just tried 1mobile and my frustrations continue.  Chrome downloaded but wouldn't parse.  Whatsapp download but then decided it wasn't written to work on tablets!  

What do you use for texting free on the, old, Fire.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

n4uau said:


> What do you use for texting free on the, old, Fire.


Ah. Well, I don't. I barely text on my phone.

I thought there was something Betsy'd found that worked though. . . . no doubt she'll pop in here soon enough.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

n4uau said:


> What do you use for texting free on the, old, Fire.


I've had very good luck with 1mobile on my Fire. You can also get alternate browsers through Amazon; I believe Firefox is available.

Here's what I use to text...



Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> I've had very good luck with 1mobile on my Fire. You can also get alternate browsers through Amazon; I believe Firefox is available.
> 
> Betsy


Not from Amazon, but they do have Maxthon: 

It lists the Fire as compatible but not the Fire HD at this time. It has good reviews.

Amazon also has Opera and Dolphin but neither of those are set as compatible with the Fire.

Firefox is available via 1Mobile.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I couldn't remember...I tried it and didn't like it that much, though there was something that worked better on Firefox than the Amazon browser...

File Expert is available through the Appstore now...


Betsy


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

So, I'm curious, as I don't have any other Android device...

Is any app one gets at Google Play guaranteed to work on any Android device?


Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> So, I'm curious, as I don't have any other Android device...
> 
> Is any app one gets at Google Play guaranteed to work on any Android device?
> 
> Betsy


Nope.

Because they keep updating the operating systems. Now many are designed that they'll still work on a newer version of Android, but not all. And many designed for a newer version won't work well on an older version.

It's also possible that the changes Amazon made for the Fire may make it so somethings won't work well. . .that can be the case for other Android devices as well -- depends on how much customization the manufacturer is using. To be fair, Amazon's changes are more than most, what with the proprietary carousel launcher.

So _probably_ a thing will work, but you can't be sure until you try. Some don't. I've gotten things that weren't happy on my phone and others that weren't happy on my tablet.

I like that, via Amazon, there's something that indicates that it should work on a given device. I have my phone, tablet, and 2 Fires registered as android devices on Amazon -- when I am browsing for Apps, there's a list of my devices and a green check mark or red x that tells me if the app will work on a given device.


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Ann's correct. Nexus and Fire use a modified version of the Android OS. Apparently the changes are slight since many standard Android apps work. But there is enough of a difference that even Fire 1 versions don't necessarily work on the Fire HD. On the other hand, it's similar enough that many Amazon Fire 1 (and HD) apps work on my wife's Galaxy Tab 2.


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## n4uau (Nov 26, 2011)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> File Expert is available through the Appstore now...
> 
> I may have to uninstall the current version and download the Fire approved one.
> Betsy


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## n4uau (Nov 26, 2011)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Not from Amazon, but they do have Maxthon:
> It lists the Fire as compatible but not the Fire HD at this time. It has good reviews.
> Amazon also has Opera and Dolphin but neither of those are set as compatible with the Fire.
> Firefox is available via 1Mobile.


And that was one of the reasons I started this thread. All android apps are not created equal !


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