Kindle Fire HDX and Google Play

[pontifex]

So I got to play with the kindle fire hdx I bought. It seems you can't install the google play store on it? I thought I had read before you could just by sideloading it, but everything I found seems to say you can sideload Google apps like gmail, google music, etc, but not the actual app store.

Is this correct? I even saw a post today on the XDA Developers forums that said since the HDX is new, there's lots of problems getting it rooted and such and they are not recommending anyone do it yet or you risk bricking it which voids the warranty.

So since i have google play apps I bought, I should be able to copy the APKs from my nook to the kindle? is that correct?


ok, where the heck are the APKs kept?

 

[Ravynmagi]

Yeah, you'll need to be rooted to install Google Play. And my last Kindle was the Fire HD, which was took a while to be rooted and the rooting method I found to be kinda flakey at best. So I'm not shocked they are still having issues with the Fire HDX. There wasn't a very large community behind the Kindle Fire tablets either.

You should be able to side load most Google apps. I think some may not work without some Google Framework installed though (which needs root). YouTube I believe is one of them, but older versions of YouTube should work.

And most non-Google APKs should side load just fine. I use ES Explorer to update installed APKs from one Google device to my Dropbox, and then download them from Dropbox on the Kindle Fire and sideload them.

 

[pontifex]

Yeah, you'll need to be rooted to install Google Play. And my last Kindle was the Fire HD, which was took a while to be rooted and the rooting method I found to be kinda flakey at best. So I'm not shocked they are still having issues with the Fire HDX. There wasn't a very large community behind the Kindle Fire tablets either.

You should be able to side load most Google apps. I think some may not work without some Google Framework installed though (which needs root). YouTube I believe is one of them, but older versions of YouTube should work.

And most non-Google APKs should side load just fine. I use ES Explorer to update installed APKs from one Google device to my Dropbox, and then download them from Dropbox on the Kindle Fire and sideload them.

my nook is rooted with cyanogenmod so where are the APKs stored for each app? I can;t seem t locate them or find anythin gin google search to tell me.


nm, just found out how to do it

hm...i see apks for most of my apps, but not all of them....

 

[pontifex]

really thinking about returning this and getting something else.
I really liked the actual android OS like in cyanogen mod, and not having the google play store sucks. not really digging the kindle's OS.

too bad because the hardware appears to be one of the better ones out there.

or should i keep it and wait and see if rooting comes along better?

 

[pontifex]

ah, i found them, but they are the ones I paid for. apparently you can't use them without the play store?

 

[mple]

The development community for the Kindle Fire HDX is practically non-existent. Coupled with the fact the bootloader is likely Motorola, there's really no incentive for anyone to try and crack it. I bought mine mainly to take advantage of the special offers, but I do read books on it from time to time.

 

[cronos]

Not sure how you missed it, but we talked about it a lot in this forum. If you absolutely need apps from Google Play Store (e.g. paid apps you've already paid for), the worst thing you could do is get a Kindle Fire.

On a Kindle Fire you need to depend on the Amazon App Store. In addition to that there are third party app stores that will work with the Kindle Fire (like 1mobile), but of course your paid apps from Play Store won't transfer over.

 

[pontifex]

I don't follow this forum very much. Nothing else compares to the hardware in the hdx at a similar price.

 

[stlc8tr]

Which HDX do you have? Did the previous root stop working?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2585690
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2607185
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2542456

 

[pontifex]

I have the 7" model. It was never rooted.

 

[gorcorps]

Thought this was common knowledge.

Sorry OP... Maybe research a bit more next time

 

[Ravynmagi]

I don't follow this forum very much. Nothing else compares to the hardware in the hdx at a similar price.

The Nexus 7 compares very favorably against the Kindle Fire HDX 7.

Both have 1920x1200 resolution display. And the Nexus 7 2013 display is very well calibrated and I assume the Fire HDX is as well (Amazon has been good about that).

Nexus has a Snapdragon 600 while the Fire HDX is a Snapdragon 800. I haven't used a Fire HDX yet. But I am guessing the Nexus 7 with the performance improvements in running stock Android 4.4.2 will probably feel as smooth, if not smoother than the Fire HDX running a heavily modified version of Android 4.2.2 that is lacking some file system performance enhancements from later versions of Android.

In my opinion the Nexus 7 has the better form factor with the slimmer portrait bezels and really nice back material, best feeling tablet in the hand.

Amazon Prime subscribers will not be able to take advantage of Kindle specific features like the Lending Library or Prime Instant Videos. And the Amazon apps won't be as good on Android as they are on the Kindle Fire HDX.

But the Nexus 7 is very very easy to unlock and root. And of course you have access to all of Googles apps and the Play store.

I love Amazon, I had a Fire HD last year. But the Nexus 7 2013 is such an amazing tablet for it's price, I haven't been able to get myself to buy a Fire HDX this year.

 

[stlc8tr]

I have the 7" model. It was never rooted.

Did a bit more reading at XDA.

The recent update broke root but the 7" was definitely rooted previously

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2544965

http://www.gizmag.com/how-to-root-kindle-fire-hdx/30513/

http://theunlockr.com/2014/02/28/root-kindle-fire-hdx-7-thor/

 

[pontifex]

I meant mine was never rooted. Everything ive read says root on it is extremely unreliable and not to do it. Really thinking about returning it for something else.

 

[pontifex]

after thinking some more, i might just keep it. it does everything i need it to do, plus i can find most stuff on like 1mobile appstore that isn't on the amazon app store. I was able to sideload some other google apps. a big thing I can do with this compared to other tablets is miracast. I don't think any of the other tablets in the price range can do this, and thats something I originally wanted to do with the tablet. I bought a chromecast to use with the Nook but the chromecast is currently extremely limited with tablets.

I'm keeping the nook as well, so if there's anything else on the google play store i want that bad, i'll just get it on the nook instead.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Nexus 7 also has Miracast support.

 

[sweenish]

I bought a chromecast to use with the Nook but the chromecast is currently extremely limited with tablets.

That's a lie. It's limited for you because you buy hardware that limits you.

I prefer to use my Nexus 7 2013 for casting.

 

[pontifex]

That's a lie. It's limited for you because you buy hardware that limits you.

I prefer to use my Nexus 7 2013 for casting.

how do you cast a webpage from an android tablet then?
couldn't do it with the Cyanogenmod OS on the Nook either.

From January and these people can't cast a webpage from a nexus 7.
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromecast/JK5s9bXpmxU
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromebook-central/PYy3HES5jiM

and here in Feb they just now got the SDK out to devs so more apps can use it
http://mashable.com/2014/02/03/chromecast-sdk/

you can only use certain apps to cast from and chrome is not one on the android.
You can do it from a laptop though.

 

[pontifex]

I ended up ordering a Nexus 7 2013 32 GB model, should be here tomorrow. I will compare the 2 and see which one I like better and return the the other one.

 

[sweenish]

how do you cast a webpage from an android tablet then?
couldn't do it with the Cyanogenmod OS on the Nook either.

From January and these people can't cast a webpage from a nexus 7.
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromecast/JK5s9bXpmxU
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromebook-central/PYy3HES5jiM

and here in Feb they just now got the SDK out to devs so more apps can use it
http://mashable.com/2014/02/03/chromecast-sdk/

you can only use certain apps to cast from and chrome is not one on the android.
You can do it from a laptop though.

You should do a better job qualifying your statements. Tab-casting is the one thing Android devices don't really do, but following the rumor mill, screen-casting is coming to Android anyway.

And you'll want a Nexus for that, as it's functionality built into the OS. Good luck getting a current version update on a Nook or Kindle.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I ended up ordering a Nexus 7 2013 32 GB model, should be here tomorrow. I will compare the 2 and see which one I like better and return the the other one.

Let the 7 inch tablet battle royale death match begin! Two tablets enter, one tablet leaves!

 

[pontifex]

OS - Nexus 7
Sound - Kindle Fire HDX
Video - Kindle
Apps - Nexus 7
Storage - tie (32 GB for both)
Camera - Nexus 7 (2 on the Nexus, 1 on the Kindle)
Weight and Size - (doesn't matter as I was previously using a larger tablet - Nook HD+)
CPU - Kindle
Memory - tie


damn...media is much better on the kindle but I just hate the OS on it.

 

[vi edit]

The Fire OS is obnoxious. That was the main reason I dumped mine. Couldn't stand using it.

 

[s44]

I mean you *can* watch Amazon video on the Nexus, it's just a PITA (have Flash sideloaded and a browser set to desktop mode/Amazon site).

 

[pontifex]

i could wait for a root option for the kindle, but I'm not so sure thats going to happen any time soon based on the posts on the XDA developers forums

i think I'll just keep the Nexus instead. did some more reading about the 2 and I found that the CPUs on the fire hdx and the nexus 7 aren't much different despite the difference in speed. The nexus is just easier to use in my opinion.