# Alternative menu system (aka get rid of the carousel) HD 8.9"?



## CandyTX (Apr 13, 2009)

I've always disliked the carousel, but I REALLY hate it on the 8.9. It seems like such a waste of space and with all the people on my account, I can never find a damned thing on it.

I'm looking into alternative menu systems. I'm not sure which one will work with the 8.9 or how well it works. I am close to having my husband root the thing and just make it an Android tablet, but heck, I can grab a Galaxy Tablet if I wanted that. I like the Amazon integration on this one, I just HATE the menu system.

So, anyone using anything? Does it work well? Does it make it harder to get into the various top menus (apps/movies/etc)? 

Should I just suck it up and stop complaining? Yes, I have favorites, but I just wish the favorites would stay up. LOL.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Well, you can ignore the carousel and just use the specific menu sections. . . . 

There were alternate 'launchers' that worked on the OFire -- don't recall if it required rooting or not. 

If you root it you'll probably lose the amazon integration.

But I'm a bad one to ask as i don't mind the carousel.  Wouldn't mind having the choice of what gets shown there, though.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

You might want to check this out:
http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2012/09/20/an-alternate-homescreen-launcher-for-kindle-fire-hd-that-works-video/

It doesn't require rooting...and I know there have been members who have followed the instructions and it worked.

Last I heard, alternate launchers that worked on the original Fire don't work for the Fire HD; I think the ADW Launcher so far has been the only one people have been able to install. That might have changed since I last checked...

Betsy


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## CandyTX (Apr 13, 2009)

Thanks, ladies... it sounds like it's not worth it and I need to suck it up and use the favorites. One day maybe Amazon will give us another option. That thing makes me nuts.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Some better organization capability would be nice; or at least the option to use it or not.

In the meantime, I use "search" a lot from the home page (do this on my iPad, too, even though I use folders; I have a lot of apps on my 64GB iPad and sometimes it's just quicker to search.

And I remove things from the Carousel (press and hold; select "Remove from Carousel") on a daily basis or serveral times throughout the day, to remove things from "my carousel" that I don't want there.  It goes fairly quickly but then I only have two Fires on my account....and my brother doesn't use his as often as I do.

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I, too, remove things daily from the Carousel.  But, on the whole, I like it.  I like that it doesn't look like just any other android device. 

As Betsy suggests, some customization would be good -- say, let me set it so that new stuff I buy but DON'T send to the Fire, doesn't automatically populate there -- they'll be in the Cloud under books if I want them.  

Or let me set it so that apps I use don't automatically populate there -- ones I use all the time I'll put in favorites and the others are under apps or games.  

At least on the HD models they've added an option in the browser so you can have web pages not automatically populate on the carousel.


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## CandyTX (Apr 13, 2009)

Yeah. I think there might be 10 fires (8 after the kid's open their new HDs and get rid of the old ones) on my account and someone is always doing something. It's a little annoying. Especially because one family reads stuff that annoys the heck out of me. LOL. I'm always removing stuff. Silly Amazon, let me do my own thing, darn it!

I did side load in the Gmail app, which is a HUGE disadvantage to the Fire. I almost returned the original one when I couldn't do email easily, LOL! That and the GooCalendar app


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

CandyTX said:


> I did side load in the Gmail app, which is a HUGE disadvantage to the Fire. I almost returned the original one when I couldn't do email easily, LOL! That and the GooCalendar app


I use Gmail, though I'm not a power user... I'm curious to hear from someone who is. Have you tried using the native Fire HD email app with your GMail account? If so, what is it that you couldn't do that you can do with the GMail app.....

Betsy


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## lindnet (Jan 25, 2009)

I had the original Fire and hated the email app.  The one on the HD is so much better.  I have both my Yahoo mail and my Gmail set up on it, and I really like using it.


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## CandyTX (Apr 13, 2009)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> I use Gmail, though I'm not a power user... I'm curious to hear from someone who is. Have you tried using the native Fire HD email app with your GMail account? If so, what is it that you couldn't do that you can do with the GMail app.....


Labels. I'm a HEAVY labels user - ALL of my email goes through Gmail and the native app... nope. Didn't support it.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

lindnet said:


> I had the original Fire and hated the email app. The one on the HD is so much better. I have both my Yahoo mail and my Gmail set up on it, and I really like using it.


Agreed. . . .much improved and completely satisfactory for me.

It would work even better for me if I set up folders in the online clients -- but I do most of my sorting via Outlook. . . .only use my portable devices to check quickly and it's easy enough to scroll through since I know it'll be d/l'd on my main system anyway.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

CandyTX said:


> Labels. I'm a HEAVY labels user - ALL of my email goes through Gmail and the native app... nope. Didn't support it.


Ahhh...I wondered. I don't use labels much. Even the new version doesn't support it?

Betsy


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## lindnet (Jan 25, 2009)

Yes, I think it does support labels, it just doesn't work in quite the same way as Gmail online.  If you check a message and touch the Move button, you can choose a folder/label to move it to.  When I do this and then check Gmail online for that message, it has been labelled.  

I don't see where you can create a new label, but I haven't looked for that very hard.


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## CandyTX (Apr 13, 2009)

Oh, you know. I didn't even try the native app on the 8.9. I assumed it was the same as the 7" original... I might try it. It's also complicated by the fact that I use 2 step verification because I have sensitive information in there so some apps won't work at all, even when I assign a specific password. Sigh.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

CandyTX said:


> Oh, you know. I didn't even try the native app on the 8.9. I assumed it was the same as the 7" original... I might try it. It's also complicated by the fact that I use 2 step verification because I have sensitive information in there so some apps won't work at all, even when I assign a specific password. Sigh.


I use two step verification too, and was able to use the native app by assigning a specific password.

Betsy


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

CandyTX said:


> Thanks, ladies... it sounds like it's not worth it and I need to suck it up and use the favorites. One day maybe Amazon will give us another option. That thing makes me nuts.


I added the ADW Launcher and am much happier now that I can organize my apps again (I used GO Launcher on my original Fire). It's not perfect, but it's way better than no organization at all - until I found that ADW worked, I'd put very few apps on my Fire HD because I didn't want to mess with trying to find them. It wasn't particularly difficult (a whole lot simpler than rooting) and I can switch between Amazon's launcher and ADW.


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## Dragle (Dec 10, 2011)

I would like the Carousel better if it just wasn't so... BIG.  And of course, if you could control what types of items you wanted to show up or not.


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## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

CandyTX said:


> Thanks, ladies... it sounds like it's not worth it and I need to suck it up and use the favorites. One day maybe Amazon will give us another option. That thing makes me nuts.


Amazon won't change anything without user input. I sent the following and suggest that you express yourself as well.
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I would love to see the addition of a widget-based home page for the fire as an alternative to the carousel. Perhaps with widget options for Favorites, Books, App list, etc. and perhaps clock, calendar or weather options. I'm not suggesting adding the entire Android experience, but perhaps some really simple customization options. You could present them to users as Advanced or Basic options for those who wish a bit more control on how the home page looks.


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## theruleslawyer (Dec 18, 2012)

Ann in Arlington said:


> If you root it you'll probably lose the amazon integration.


I can verify that root doesn't break integration. You still have amazon instant video, etc. No problems.
Plenty of folks over on XDA are getting various launchers setup. IIRC they work better as system apps (which requires root). I haven't played around with launcher yet on mine though.


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## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

theruleslawyer said:


> I can verify that root doesn't break integration. You still have amazon instant video, etc. No problems.
> Plenty of folks over on XDA are getting various launchers setup. IIRC they work better as system apps (which requires root). I haven't played around with launcher yet on mine though.


Me too. I watch Amazon movies all the time. I have tried various launchers, but don't think they are worth it since it is hard to change wallpapers and you can't add widgets. Well, I couldn't do either of those things, can't speak for everyone.

IMO, the biggest advantage to rooting is the availability of the Google Play store and the ability to add my favorite Google apps - Google+, BeyondPod Tablet edition, Chrome to Phone, SiriusXM, etc. I also like the larger pool of games.


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

I set up a 7" HD yesterday.... oh the carousel would drive me insane. Well, technically it DID drive me insane yesterday!


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