Earlier TeleRead told how your $50 Amazon Fire could run apps such as Moon+ Reader Pro, Mantano, FBReader and Aldiko without rooting. And the diligent Paul St John Mackintosh, our newly appointed Associate Editor, has just mentioned what he can and can’t run without the Google Play Store on his new toy.
But wait. This gets better. Suppose Paul and others in the TeleRead community actually could run Google Docs and other apps associated with the Google Play Store and perhaps Google Framework.
Yes, ingenious hackers have opened up another gap in Amazon’s infamous Firewall. Presto! The store awaits you and your $50 Fire. No rooting needed in this case, either! Get the lowdown from the XDA developers forum, Techaeris, Android Headlines, and Root Junky (RJ’s YouTube shows what you need to do).
Please note I have not tested the hack at this point, but lots of other people have. Read the XDA forum, as well as comments on RJ’s video. XDA and RJ link to the files you’ll need.
For now—a further warning: If you brick your Fire, please don’t blame us. Another risk is the possibility of a voided warranty (even though it might help that you’re not rooting the Fire).
Needless to say, if you try this, we’ll be very interested in your comments. Especially, how about your experiences with the Google Books apps? Does it work with the Play Store and the Framework installed? And can you even use the Google Books app with the Fire’s text to speech? If Paul tries this, will he at last be able to enjoy Google Docs and Google Drive on his $50 Fire? The suspense mounts.
That trick has been around for a couple weeks now, and it takes a lot of work.
I have not written about it because it’s more work than I think is worth the result.
@Nate: Thanks, but here’s one guy even saying the same trick can even work on the Fire phone. The video tutorial should help. So should the recent tips from Rootjunky commenters who’ve added their own refinements.
No need, David.
There’s already a simpler solution for adding Google Play to the Fire Phone.
@Nate: Hey, didn’t work for everyone with the Fire Phone–as your comments section shows. Nice to have yet another approach available.