I love my Nook Color! It is an excellent tablet, that can run almost anything.
But I have to download most of the stuff from the Amazon Appstore on my phone, back it up, then copy it over to the Nook and install it manually. I always get the app of the day (whether I want it or not, I figure I may someday and just don't install it). So I have more than a hundred apps available on my phone when I open Amazon Appstore. On my Nook I have 17.
I have successfully installed many of the apps that I cannot see in the Amazon Appstore on my Nook, and they work perfectly. I used to be able to see everything in the Amazon Appstore and then a while back they added some sort of device check that is causing this.
How might I get around that device check? The phone-to-nook shuffle is a pain. It apparently isn't working off build.prop like the Google Market does.
Hm, I have 40~ish apps visible to both my Nook and my G1, and none that only one could see but not the other.
I think it does go off the build.prop - but only the first time you connect with the device. It stores the information for future accesses. So modify your build.prop, then go into your Amazon account from a web browser and click on "Your Apps and Devices". Deregister the device, then run the Amazon Appstore from your Nook (with the phony build.prop). It should re-authenticate with Amazon and register as whatever device your build.prop says it is. It worked for me, anyway.
I find this development a little disturbing, though. Amazon is clearly just trying to freeze out a competitor. They didn't have a problem letting me buy apps for my Nook until they got close to releasing their own e-reader tablet, and suddenly none of the apps that are installed and working on my Nook are deemed "incompatible" on the App Store. I've bought a couple apps through Amazon (and have a good number of the free "apps of the day"), but I certainly won't ever buy another one from them. Sure, I can work around it with this little trick, but I shouldn't have to resort to trickery to get around their bad business practices.
Beautiful. Worked like a charm. I went from 19 apps available to 122. Many thanks.
JMMusic said:
Beautiful. Worked like a charm. I went from 19 apps available to 122. Many thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what build prop info did you use?
doncaruana said:
So what build prop info did you use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used this:
ro.product.model=Nexus S
ro.product.manufacturer=Samsung
I'm not so convinced it's a nefarious plot by Amazon in their Apps store, nor Google in their Market as I am that I've hacked something in a non-standard and not fully understood way and broken something. I'm seeing the same 61 Apps (on the All tab) on my Nook Color running CM 7 as on my Droid 2 phone. If I go flash a new ROM, it all breaks again. That's ME, though, not them.
I'm enjoying the Free App of the Day enough not to take this out on Amazon.
All I've done is set density to 160 and cleared data.
There's little doubt in my mind that Amazon is restricting apps on Nooks. They're getting ready to launch their own device, so it makes sense to try to reduce the value of a competing product. It's good business sense, but it shows very little respect for the customer.
I hadn't changed anything in months on my Nook, and one day it was suddenly "incompatible" with most apps on the Amazon market. Changing nothing but the product name in build.prop and re-registering the device makes it all work again, and if I change it back to the Barnes & Noble information, suddenly my apps are incompatible again. Sure seems like Amazon is filtering for "Nook" in the app store.
Are we certain this is a plot by Amazon or is this a response to the same type of "feature" recently implemented on the Google App Store?
Homer
It's not the same LCD density issue as the Google Market. I tested that. I registered the Nook as both a Nexus S and the default Nook Color settings in build.prop, at various screen densities, and no matter what the density is, if Amazon thinks it's a Nexus, it shows all my apps. No matter what the density is, I get about 75% of my apps not showing up when it's registered as a Nook Color.
It really appears to me that Amazon's App Store is looking for "Nook" or "Barnes & Noble" or something in the product model at registration. There might be another explanation, but I can't think of one. Especially with Amazon getting set to launch a direct competitor to the Nook Color...
Care to list a few of the apps you're having trouble with? If it's a plot, they shouldn't work for any Nook, right? This should be an easy test.
Never had a problem with any of the apps I wanted.
Just got the app of the day today without trouble too for example.
Guess the conspiracy is not yet fully in force.
Wait... I purchased some books with the Kindle app on my Nook. Perhaps they gave me a good comrade status.
I'm running Stock 1.3 rooted and I have had AppStore since 1.1 rooted. I just bought ThumbKeyboard and followed the directions on the preceding page to modify my build.prop because it wasn't showing. Now Amazon's website tells me it's incompatible with my "Samsung Nexus S" (Nook Color). Any ideas?
Isn't it possible they are simply trying not to give noob customers apps that may freeze their device...like say a nook that doesn't have a back button? It may not be some diabolical scheme to drive people away from the Nook Color simply because they HAVE to have the App of the day.....
A few weeks ago, both amazon and google markets made changes which made their markets more "device aware". This was not done due to any plot by amazon or google but was a change brought about to ensure that apps downloaded to a device would function well. This relieved the markets of the issues that come about by folks downloading incompatible apps then wanting refunds when they did not work. App developers were asked to list devices that their apps were designed to run on and these devices were included in the devs database on the market. This also protects the developers. As I said, no plot, just good business sense.
You can certainly change build properties and reregister your nook but remember that if the app does not function, you have no recourse through the market for a refund.
Just sayin......
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk
Ditto to moshe5368 with one correction. A few months ago both Google and Amazon markets made their changes. I ran into the same problem. Unregistered from both markets, edited the build.prop file, followed the directions on repairing / replaceing the market , and finally it worked. Amazon is not plotting against other tablets, for now at least.
My wife's Nook wasn't eligible for the Apps from Amazon. I changed the Build.Prop file to the Samsung Nexus S per the instructions. I deregistered the device from her profile. I changed the screen Density to 160.
Now that I have done all of that, I can't get her device to re-register with Amazon. I tried to delete and reinstall the Amazon App using Titanium, but it wouldn't delete...any ideas? How do I re-register her device?
It's not just on the nook. I'm getting the same responce on my Viewsonic G Tablet.
Skunkeye said:
It's not the same LCD density issue as the Google Market. I tested that. I registered the Nook as both a Nexus S and the default Nook Color settings in build.prop, at various screen densities, and no matter what the density is, if Amazon thinks it's a Nexus, it shows all my apps. No matter what the density is, I get about 75% of my apps not showing up when it's registered as a Nook Color.
It really appears to me that Amazon's App Store is looking for "Nook" or "Barnes & Noble" or something in the product model at registration. There might be another explanation, but I can't think of one. Especially with Amazon getting set to launch a direct competitor to the Nook Color...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazon is subsidizing the Fire, so it doesn't make financial sense for them to block competitors. They get more money from Nook users up front then they will those that purchase the Fire.
Ive been trying to get tablet apps to load in my market on ics for the last couple days. Specifically, id like to get CNN because the phone one doesn't look good on the fire. Is there a way to get them to show up in the android market, and if not, is there a way to get them to work on the kf at all? Thanks.
You can try to side load it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=13048857&postcount=9
Doesn't show on the market due to settings the KF uses. It requires Honeycom or higher, which won't work on the Stock Rom.. I would think you have a shot side loading it though if you are using ICS.
I have not bothered with ICS yet... no sound and video and I don't see the point because that is what I got my Fire for.
krelvinaz said:
You can try to side load it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=13048857&postcount=9
Doesn't show on the market due to settings the KF uses. It requires Honeycom or higher, which won't work on the Stock Rom.. I would think you have a shot side loading it though if you are using ICS.
I have not bothered with ICS yet... no sound and video and I don't see the point because that is what I got my Fire for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sideloaded the CNN tablet app from that link and all good. The phone version crashed on video, this does not. CM7 here.
Sent with Tapatalk / Kindle Fire / CM7 ROM
That is good news... I'd like to try it, but until ICS works with video and sound....
Am I missing something? I installed that app and it appears just to be the phone version. Also, doesn't the table version require at least honeycomb?
He is running ICS which is above honeycomb.
Yeah that's the problem. I'm trying to get the Cnn tablet widgrt to work on ice but as of now I can only get the phone version. Has anyone got it to work?
I can't wait to put a decently stable ICS on this thing because of these issues.
Is there a way to trick the market into showing "incompatable" apps?
Even for compatible Honeycomb/ICS app versions, the better tablet layouts in some apps were designed pretty specifically for the popular 10" screen size and the app will revert to the basic phone layout when it detects a screen size below a certain cut-off. These apps either need to change the cut-off that they're looking for or include another layout option that is optimized for 7-8" tablet screens.
From what I remember from playing around with ICS on my Nook Color, the otherwise excellent IMDB app is an example of this unfortunate limitation.
I can't get any apps such as facebook or twitter to show up in the market
App Update
I have the CNN app for Tablets from the previous posts but it is an older version, does anyone have the latest version to download.
The older version runs on my ICS tab but won't let me download or update because it says it's incompatible with my device.
Hello Fire Folk,
I decided to go ahead take the plunge and let my 2017 Fire HD tablets do their thing and update to 5.6.2.0. Well, the too-good-to-be-true advertising lulled me in anyway ("Show Mode!? You mean I can finally use my Fire Tablet for multi-room audio? And I can stop calling half the Alexa devices in the house "Alexa" while I call the others "Computer" and we can all live as one big happy, desegregated family?! And I can play Spotify on any of the devices and make drop in calls until my heart's content!??" Well, we're not quite there yet...
Anyway, the purpose of my post... Is anyone else noticing the annoying "Ghost" notifications (where it's just a blank white bar at the top, popping up regularly, but if you tap on it/long-touch it enough it eventually reveals its true self) appearing more frequently now? I have three HD 8s and one HD 10 and the background app is running rampant on all of them, resulting in super-frustrating and function-impairing crumminess. Fortunately, the 10 has root and on that tablet I can put this resource-gobbling ghost in its place. However, I'm at a loss on the Fire 8s. In the past I've tried various "no root" app freezing applications but I've never really found one that truly is capable of doing what it claims to be able to accomplish. Does anyone have any tips? I know for a while we could run that one script and make magic happen but can no longer use that trick. :-/
The background ghost app is "Tachyon Calling App" and I gather it's part of the messaging system that is supposed to make the Fire, post 5.6.2.0 update, more "Show"-like. But it runs wiiiild. I'll grabbed a few screenshots which tell a little more about this background pest and will include them below. If you've upgraded to the latest OS and haven't noticed this yet, I hope you never do, but I'd be surprised should you not soon become well-acquainted.
Oh also, my tablets all have Play Store et al. installed and I'm using Action Launcher, if that might have any impact on why I'm experiencing this conflict.
Thanks all! I've been lurking in the Fire section for a long time now and decided to finally make a profile, interact, etc. I am very appreciative to many people here for sharing the awesome findings/discoveries/techniques you've brought forward. I am still holding out hope - some day - even if it's 2046 and these tablets are beyond obsolete/somehow still manage to exist in physical form somewhere in the world, that we will get root access on HD 8! ??????
Screenshots w. additional details:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/album.php?albumid=15035
Having this same problem on a Fire 8 that's got the Play Store loaded. Also my model doesn't even have a sim card, does yours?
This is a new one. Never heard of or seen this app in any Amazon tablet I own (and I own several from the Fire 7 all the way to 10). Just from doing a general search, it appears it belongs to tachyon Mobility. At least that's the most likely culprit. For whatever reason it's on a device I have no idea unless you own a Samsung phone or tablet. I've seen other Samsung apps and Hardware configurations on Motorola devices but never on an Amazon device. If you don't mind uploading a copy of the APK, I can decompile it and take a look inside and see what it actually does or at least try. For now disable it by changing the file name to: appname.apk_ because some system apps like that may become useful in the future. By the way if you are rooted on the HD 10 Google 'rooted activity launcher'. Download the APK from the GitHub source. You can use that activity launcher to launch almost every system app that has a user interface. If this application does you can launch it with rooted activity launcher and see what it does.
I really would like to have the best of both worlds! I like the almost every Amazon has implemented on the Fire HE 10, except their apps and app store. And I like everything about Google Play services and their apps. Here on CAR are many threads on topics to customize one world over the other. But not anything I would characterize as the best of both worlds.
Most Amazon topics are generally like tips. And Google topics generally involve a complete wipe of Amazon's implementation of launcher and product offering.
Is there anyone who has created an implementation that utilizes the best of both? It seems as though I've read all the posts or searched all the posts here and nothing that really says to me this is the solution. I would especially like to see a custom rom like we see for our phones.
cfedata said:
I really would like to have the best of both worlds! I like the almost every Amazon has implemented on the Fire HE 10, except their apps and app store. And I like everything about Google Play services and their apps. Here on CAR are many threads on topics to customize one world over the other. But not anything I would characterize as the best of both worlds.
Most Amazon topics are generally like tips. And Google topics generally involve a complete wipe of Amazon's implementation of launcher and product offering.
Is there anyone who has created an implementation that utilizes the best of both? It seems as though I've read all the posts or searched all the posts here and nothing that really says to me this is the solution. I would especially like to see a custom rom like we see for our phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check around here for my tips, hacks etc. I have been trying to build a ROM for a bit. It may not be possible on this device (as long as it's bootloader locked), at least not like the Fire 7. Either FlashFire won't install one on the HD 10, or Amazon did something that doesn't allow the traditional updater-scripts or FlashFire to do their job properly. I suspect they removed something from a .bin file or modified it like they did the bootanimation.bin (FireOS stock bootanimation is written into the bootanimation bin file in /system/bin. So if you don't replace the bin file, and try to change bootanimation, it would fail.) So far I have been doing it the slow way: replacing the Amazon apps one by one, with Android. My hope is to create a 'ROM' that way, and at some point distribute the system.img.
cfedata
Follow DragonFire1024's posts about the FIre HD and you have a great approximation of both worlds. I have Alexa and Google Assistant voice activated on all my Fire HD's. The Amazon Appstore is pretty useless in my opinion. Once you get the Google Play store installed, you'll probably never use it. I tend to sideload apps on all my devices anyway but the Play Store is occasionally useful for updates. Just make sure you have "Do Not auto-update apps" selected in your Play Store settings since some updates for certain apps make them unusable or unstable on the Fire HD's
Hiya,
I have some old Android tablets lying around, two of which are Kindle Fires. I'd like to figure out some use for them.
One thought is making one connected all the time to a to-do list app (like Google Keep) and have that mounted on a wall. I'm curious if anyone has any suggestions and getting an extremely barebones ROM on a Kindle Fire, but with the ability to login to Google and use up-to-date apps like Google Keep. Preferably it would be "pinned" that that app all the time. Wondering if there is a ROM that eliminates the launcher entirely and just goes to a single app (but with the ability to do full authentication with a Google account)
Thanks for any help!
This probably could be done - like you say, we'd need to have a non-stock rom that could utilize the tablet features of the kindle instead of the reader features.
I like the idea a lot!
I'll see what I can dig up, since I also have this tablet and would like to do that as well.