Amazon’s app store for the Kindle Fire is woefully incomplete. The Facebook ‘app’ is just a link to the mobile facebook site, there’s no Youtube client and the built-in browser is…well, clunky is a good description.
There is, however, a way to get other apps onto the Fire by going around the Amazon Market. It involves installing the apps on an Android device with full access to the Google Market, then backing up the applications and copying them onto the Kindle.
I’m providing a shortcut for the first part and have published a .ZIP file containing a few of the apps that I use. I’m only including apps that are not available already in the Amazon Market. Follow the steps below to load the them onto your Kindle Fire.
If there’s an app you want that’s not included, let me know and I’ll see if I can get it to work.
Requirements
- Kindle Fire – available here if you don’t have one.
- PC – available here.
- USB Cable (USB to Micro-B USB) available here.
Sideload steps
- On the Kindle Fire, download and install the Easy Installer app from the Amazon Market.
- Go to the Apps tab, click the Store link and then search for Easy Installer.
- On your PC, download the application zip file from my FTP site using the link below in the Current App List section.
- Connect your Kindle Fire to your PC using a USB cable.
- After a few minutes, the Kindle should show up as an attached drive with a drive letter.
- Copy the files from the zip file you downloaded in step 2 above into the X:\Downloads folder on the Kindle (where ‘X’ is the drive that your computer assigned to the Kindle)
- Note that you have to have the Kindle powered on and unlocked in order for it to show up.
- After the files are copied on, give it about 15 seconds to finish up and then unplug the Kindle.
- Launch the Easy Installer app that you installed in step 1 above.
- The Installer app will scan your Kindle for new install files. Put a check mark by the apps you want to install and then hit the Install Selected Apps button at the bottom of the page.
- As each application installs, click the Done button after it installs and you’ll be taken to the install screen for the next app.
- If something messes up after the install, just go back and run the installer again and reinstall.
Current App List
I have pulled together a few apps that work (mostly) and have eliminated a few that don’t. If you have something you want me to try, let me know and I’ll probably be able to try it out. They have to be FREE apps in the Android market because there’s no authentication mechanism on the Kindle Fire.
Download here - APKPack.zip
Working Apps (included in the .ZIP file download)
- Daily Office / Mission St. Clare (1.0)
- Dice Bag (v5.2.2)
- Manage your dice and auto-roll
- Dolphin Browser (v7.3.0)
- Alternate web browser
- Facebook (v1.8.2)
- Firefox Browser (v10.0)
- Go Launcher X (v2.7.1)
- Alternative to the Amazon home screen – makes it look like a regular tablet
- Google Maps (v6.0.3)
- Network Tools (v1.1.6)
- Server monitoring via ping
- Screen Filter (v1.2)
- Lets you really dim the screen for reading at night and for improved battery life
- Spellbook for D&D 3.5 (v2.0.5)
- Because I’m a geek and I like keeping my list of spells for D&D handy
- Spotify (v0.4.12.180)
- Kind of works, the player controls are hidden by the Fire’s bottom navigation menu
- You have to quit the app to stop it from playing
- WatchESPN (v1.3.1)
- Doesn’t work for Insight Broadband, but might work for you if you’re a Time Warner customer.
- XKCD Viewer (v3.0.2)
- Because the one in the Amazon Market is crap
- Youtube v2.3.4)
- So much better than viewing in the crappy Amazon browser
Failed Apps (Tested and won’t install or don’t run right)
- Android Marketplace
- Gmail client
- Google+
- Google Listen
- Google Music
- Louisville Mobile
- US Bank
- WeatherBug
Uninstalling Apps
If you decide you don’t like one of the apps you installed, go to the app screen, long press on the app icon and choose Remove from Device.
Not all the apps showing up in the Installer?
The Installer doesn’t rescan every time it runs. To force it to rescan, click the Menu button and choose Settings, then Clear Cache.
Version History
Dolphin Browser (v7.2.1) / Facebook (v1.8.1) / Go Launcher X / Google Maps (v6.0.3) / Screen Filter (v1.2) / Spellbook for D&D 3.5 (v2.0.5) / Youtube v2.3.4)
Added Dice Bag (v5.2.2) / Network Tools (v1.1.6)/ Spotify (v0.4.12.180) /WatchESPN (v1.3.1) / XKCD Viewer (v3.0.2)
Acknowledgements
This process was based in part on this article by PC Mag -
How To Run Almost Any Android App On the Kindle Fire
Shared this link with quite a few people: you are quite popular among new Fire users! (And Screen Filter is da bomb!)
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