Kindle Fire root - screen size question - Kindle Fire Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I recently found out that the NFL Game Rewind app (yet to be released) will only support "Android devices with at least a 10 inch screen and 2.3 or later". I subscribe to the service, and would really like to be able to run that app when it's released. Would a rooted device be able to load/run an application that has a physical screen size requirement?
If not, I'd love to hear a brief explanation why, as I'm trying to slowly learn more about these devices and how they work. Thanks everyone!

pitweasel said:
I recently found out that the NFL Game Rewind app (yet to be released) will only support "Android devices with at least a 10 inch screen and 2.3 or later". I subscribe to the service, and would really like to be able to run that app when it's released. Would a rooted device be able to load/run an application that has a physical screen size requirement?
If not, I'd love to hear a brief explanation why, as I'm trying to slowly learn more about these devices and how they work. Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot of android apps only support a certain resolution (LCD density). The Kindle Fire's 7" screen has an LCD density of 160, which is set in the build.prop. Phones will have a much higher number. There are a few apps that will let you change the LCD density pretty easily with little risk of screwing up your build.prop and "bricking" your device. For a 10" tablet, I would try somewhere between 120-130, or you could use Google to find out the exact number. The only problem with that is some apps may not work afterwards because they are dependent on the 160 setting. Luckily, it can always be changed back, but it requires a reboot. But it all depends on how badly you want to play that game.

Related

A good reason not to upgrade to the new Market in Froyo

Market filters:
When a user searches or browses in Android Market, the results are filtered, and some applications might not be visible. For example, if an application requires a trackball (as specified in the manifest file), then Android Market will not show the app on any device that does not have a trackball.
The manifest file and the device's hardware and features are only part of how applications are filtered — filtering also depends on the country and carrier, the presence or absence of a SIM card, and other factors.
Changes to the Android Market filters are independent of changes to the Android platform itself. This document will be updated periodically to reflect any changes that occur.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does anyone have any idea what the market filters are checking against?
That's not really a good reason to do anything, let alone not using 2.2
dik23 said:
That's not really a good reason to do anything, let alone not using 2.2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not being able to get apps? Did you read the link? Doubtful. Uh sure. Have fun with vanilla 2.2 and 0.0 apps.
I'm sorry, did you read your own link? If you had scrolled down, it shows several examples of what can be filtered. The filters are implemented by the application developer themselves, and if they don't, they still show up in the market.
Besides, filtering by the application has been in Android since 2.0. Any application that deems a device incapable of running it (for example, a lack of a light sensor) can stop itself from running.
some kind of filter (the ones I've heard of so far are incompatible screen resolution, unverified builds, and protected apps) is already being applied to 2.1 in the AOSP build. I couldnt see Yelp, the Android Community and TMZ apps for whatever reason
cashless said:
Not being able to get apps? Did you read the link? Doubtful. Uh sure. Have fun with vanilla 2.2 and 0.0 apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah, how suspicious. French people couldn't possibly prefer apps in French and people with that new Dell pad thing probably still want SMS and contact apps.
Yeah
so you are saying not upgrade to 2.2 because marketplace will filter apps for our phone, but stick with 2.1 because it doesn't?
well genius, why don't you go and install http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.yelp.android on your phone and let us know how that 'no filtering' works out for you.
When I was running my Vougue we ran into this problem as well, its not a big deal at all. from what I remember it was checking about the build.prob and screen size that is setup in your startup. what I used to do was set my phone to my the specs for the G1, then install the apps after adjusting the density to fit everything on screen and then reboot using factory startup. it worked pretty well for most of the apps since many only blocked off whatever border the developer had.
heres the problem though but with the pace we are going it wont come up for a while, once we decide we have a rom stable enough to flash we lost the abilty to change the settings since WM is copletely gone and no haret was used. I switched over to the Touch Pro and we had the exact same problem which was solved in the EXACT way but we were not flashed still(TP2 still has a LOOOONG way to go sad to say), kept the touch pro 2 for only a few weeks before they replaced my Sprint Line TP with a Touch pro 2 due to all the TP1 problems and i'm still saddened by the slow progress. I am a developer myself and even an avid budsmoker and was still able to help out. now Refer has done a great job but from my understanding he is just doing most changes to the Android Filesystem, theirs a couple other guys working on the kernels which would be were all the hardware problems are going to be fixed from. no matter what build we use something in the kernel is either not right, or we dont have the driver in place for Android itself and since we have few Hardware level developers working on these things it seems to be low progress.

Iconia A100 sucks at app compatibility

Downloaded an upgrade to Skype today, and included was a bunch of new devices, that got videocalling with the upgrade. Among others was the Iconia A500, but of course no A100. ARGHHH!!!
After a couple of weeks of owning the A100, I'm more than happy at the size and speed of this little tablet, but it's getting to be really tiresome, that most of the cool new games and apps I find in the Market aren't compatible with the A100
Even some TABLET APPS aren't compatible.
And this is just the apps openly state they aren't compatible. With some of them, you won't find out until you either open it, and a message tells you that your device isn't compatible, or it just plain crashes on you...
(To further the confusion, in some cases you can download a demo from Tegrazone, but when you try to buy the full game after happily playing the demo, Android Market tells you, that the game isn't compatible with your device.... WTF?!?!)
Who's fault is this exactly? Is it Google that messed up? The developers that are just plain lazy? Or is Acer somehow to blame?
(I noticed that most apps report my screen in the A100 as being 600*976 pixels. Is this somehow the problem for at least some of the uncompatible apps!?)
And more importantly, what can I as a user do? Shoot off some friendly emails to developers? Or can a root or somekind of hack help solve the problem?
Opinions, suggestions?
Video still isn't working on Skype for the A500, so you're not missing much!
kjy2010 said:
Video still isn't working on Skype for the A500, so you're not missing much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Errr, yes it is (on A500/A501)! If you took 10 seconds to search you'll find in the skype parameters the possibility to turn on video (it isn't by default) and it works, I've just spent an hour on skype video, you can choose which camera you want to use, everything works perfectly. Sorry for being off topic but I just wanted to clarify what the person above me said...
jamesbdx said:
Errr, yes it is (on A500/A501)! If you took 10 seconds to search you'll find in the skype parameters the possibility to turn on video (it isn't by default) and it works, I've just spent an hour on skype video, you can choose which camera you want to use, everything works perfectly. Sorry for being off topic but I just wanted to clarify what the person above me said...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those options do not exist in HC 3.2 on the A500.
In mine stock 3.2 non root exist. Is in settings at the skype application. But you need the last skype update. I just finished a video conference right now and it worked great. Try again.
Alright, on 3.2 Rooted, but the rom that has all the bloatware and everything pretty much intact Skype does not do video calls or show ANY of the video options in the settings.
I reverted back to a backup of 3.1, and the app DOES do video call, and show the video call settings.
I don't know what your doing Kekinash, but you've got a magical tablet.
That's weird, my A501 on 3.01 stock rom with root is compatible with skype video calls.
vszulc said:
Downloaded an upgrade to Skype today, and included was a bunch of new devices, that got videocalling with the upgrade. Among others was the Iconia A500, but of course no A100. ARGHHH!!!
After a couple of weeks of owning the A100, I'm more than happy at the size and speed of this little tablet, but it's getting to be really tiresome, that most of the cool new games and apps I find in the Market aren't compatible with the A100
Even some TABLET APPS aren't compatible.
And this is just the apps openly state they aren't compatible. With some of them, you won't find out until you either open it, and a message tells you that your device isn't compatible, or it just plain crashes on you...
(To further the confusion, in some cases you can download a demo from Tegrazone, but when you try to buy the full game after happily playing the demo, Android Market tells you, that the game isn't compatible with your device.... WTF?!?!)
Who's fault is this exactly? Is it Google that messed up? The developers that are just plain lazy? Or is Acer somehow to blame?
(I noticed that most apps report my screen in the A100 as being 600*976 pixels. Is this somehow the problem for at least some of the uncompatible apps!?)
And more importantly, what can I as a user do? Shoot off some friendly emails to developers? Or can a root or somekind of hack help solve the problem?
Opinions, suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is both an opinion as well as a suggestion...
Be patient
Unfortunately the 7" and 8.9" sizes are 'new territory' for HC apps. Devs worked to get apps compatible with/to 10" screens and the associated resolutions that run on that size primarily for their tablet-only applications. In the same way devs for phone (1.5-2.3) apps have been working to make their apps scale up for tablet use, I'm sure HC-only app devs are working quickly to make their apps scale to smaller tablet screen sizes and those new resolutions. Even if the resolutions are already supported, afaik there's an issue in 3.2 causing them to crash when paired with 7" screens either way.
So when I say be patient, I mean hold out a bit longer and I'm sure things will be up to spec. On one hand you'll have the quicker devs fixing their apps to work well with smaller screens/different tablet resolutions and worse case scenario, you know it's all coming together anyway for ICS and at that point, everything SHOULD work.
Edit:
And friendly emails to devs let me tell you, do tend to get the job done. Especially when the app is popular. I use Getglue and was frustrated that it wasn't after quite a long time, not changed to be compatible with 3.0.1. I wrote a friendly email to the dev. asking for a Getglue for Tablets because I really loved the app and I sit with my tablet beside me more so than my phone now at home, etc. etc. and I got a response from my team saying that the app was unfortunately no longer compatible, but to use the mobile site. This was in July. Then roughly a few weeks or so later, voila! Fix'd. So it never hurts to let them know what's up.
most apps work in my stock A100
So far I have had no problems with the apps I use and have downloaded or even pay for. Skype now does video calls perfectly, the only app that was crashing a lot was a spell checker tha I did uninstall and replaced with an other one that has no problems.
Just checked, and the video options DID turn on in Skype.
Along with a little warning that it might not be supported, blah blah...
So I got to use the front camera for the first time today
Dunno if it's just me but it seems not all the apps I could/can see on my A500 appear on my A100. Same gmail account. For a while I couldn't find Facebook on the market.
Yeah, there would be a lot of apps for the A500 that aren't compatible with the A100 I can imagine.
Best way to check, is to go in to the www version of the market, then you can see all apps, no matter if theyre compatible or not. If you have several devices, the www market tells you which one of your devices an app is compatible with. I wish there was a similar feature in the market app.
BUT! On the bright side, I DID get around to rooting my A100... You think that might make a difference in regards to apps? Is there some kind of workaround available now that its rooted?
I just activated cam on my A100 and it is working fine.
?? Does Skype update automatically???
muqali said:
Dunno if it's just me but it seems not all the apps I could/can see on my A500 appear on my A100. Same gmail account. For a while I couldn't find Facebook on the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sideloaded Facebook, just FCs. The alternates kind of suck. Dolphin for Tablet FCs. Works on my A500.
Sent from my A100 using XDA Premium App
reverendbill said:
I sideloaded Facebook, just FCs. The alternates kind of suck. Dolphin for Tablet FCs. Works on my A500.
Sent from my A100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just downloaded the Facebook app from the market on my A100, it works perfectly. Running 3.2.
It must have auto-updated. Works now. Weird. It didn't used to.
Sent from my A100 using XDA Premium App
Skype is working too here...
Skype works well
Acer Iconia Tac A100-- Skype Video works great.!
mine is working with no problems also.
Sent from my A100 using xda premium
my Wife has the Iconia Tab 7" and when she gets incompatibility issues, all I do is side load the app. example, American Express app says its not compatible with her device. I just copied it from one of my Android devices and Bluetooth it to her, she installs it and it works 100%
sometimes the market place is just wrong. when I want an app even though the market says NO, I find the .apk from somewhere and install it. on my Galaxy Tab 10.1 Gameloft says their game Lets Golf 3 doesn't work....BS, Ive been playing this game for a month now with ZERO issues.

[Q] Why is my phone cooler than my tablet?

Why is my phone cooler than my Kindle Fire tablet? I don't mean hardware. My phone has obviously better hardware than the Kindle. What I mean is why do apps behave differently, in fact better, on my phone than on my KF?
As an example, the Kindle Reader app on my phone shows a book browser within the app when I search for books. On the KF when I want to browse books, the app opens up Amazon's web site in a browser (not the nicest of interfaces for a small screen).
Another example is the Dolphin browser. On my phone, pressing the back button (on this web site for example) actually goes to the previous page whereas on the KF I have to press the back button at least twice and often more in order to get to the previous page; sometimes I have to time it just right, too.
There are a lot of little things like those examples that make my phone cooler in spite of its significantly smaller screen.
In case it matters, I have CM10.1 Android 4.2.2 on the KF and the phone has stock Google Android 4.2.2 that came with the phone. All the apps are presumably the same, having been download from the Play Store.
Can anyone explain this difference? Thanks.
pfederighi said:
Why is my phone cooler than my Kindle Fire tablet? I don't mean hardware. My phone has obviously better hardware than the Kindle. What I mean is why do apps behave differently, in fact better, on my phone than on my KF?
As an example, the Kindle Reader app on my phone shows a book browser within the app when I search for books. On the KF when I want to browse books, the app opens up Amazon's web site in a browser (not the nicest of interfaces for a small screen).
Another example is the Dolphin browser. On my phone, pressing the back button (on this web site for example) actually goes to the previous page whereas on the KF I have to press the back button at least twice and often more in order to get to the previous page; sometimes I have to time it just right, too.
There are a lot of little things like those examples that make my phone cooler in spite of its significantly smaller screen.
In case it matters, I have CM10.1 Android 4.2.2 on the KF and the phone has stock Google Android 4.2.2 that came with the phone. All the apps are presumably the same, having been download from the Play Store.
Can anyone explain this difference? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone's hardware was designed with 4.2.2 in mind and the Kindle was designed for a forked rendition of GB.
Guitarman2010 said:
The phone's hardware was designed with 4.2.2 in mind and the Kindle was designed for a forked rendition of GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then perhaps I do not understand what Android is. I was under the impression it was an OS with a defined API such that it would look (theming aside) and behave the same on different hardware (with obvious exceptions like not having bluetooth functionality on KF). Your statement would indicate that it is very heavily hardware dependent and that somehow app developers take into account the plethora of different hardware platforms and choose to behave in different manners on different devices. If this is the case, then it's an illogically designed system.
pfederighi said:
Then perhaps I do not understand what Android is. I was under the impression it was an OS with a defined API such that it would look (theming aside) and behave the same on different hardware (with obvious exceptions like not having bluetooth functionality on KF). Your statement would indicate that it is very heavily hardware dependent and that somehow app developers take into account the plethora of different hardware platforms and choose to behave in different manners on different devices. If this is the case, then it's an illogically designed system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Running 4.2.2 on a system that was meant for GB results in some things not working right....
pfederighi said:
Why is my phone cooler than my Kindle Fire tablet?
...
Another example is the Dolphin browser. On my phone, pressing the back button (on this web site for example) actually goes to the previous page whereas on the KF I have to press the back button at least twice and often more in order to get to the previous page; sometimes I have to time it just right, too.
...
Can anyone explain this difference? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The browser thing I think can be explained. If you are zoomed in on a page, if you press the back button, it will zoom out to the whole page. The second tap of the back button takes you back to the previous page.
Does this help / make sense?
sent from The Muffinator (it's a kindle fire running cm10.1)
using Tapatalk 4 beta, and loving it!
jma9454 said:
The browser thing I think can be explained. If you are zoomed in on a page, if you press the back button, it will zoom out to the whole page. The second tap of the back button takes you back to the previous page.
Does this help / make sense?
sent from The Muffinator (it's a kindle fire running cm10.1)
using Tapatalk 4 beta, and loving it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would make sense if it was the same behavior on my phone. Thanks, though.
pfederighi said:
Then perhaps I do not understand what Android is. I was under the impression it was an OS with a defined API such that it would look (theming aside) and behave the same on different hardware (with obvious exceptions like not having bluetooth functionality on KF). Your statement would indicate that it is very heavily hardware dependent and that somehow app developers take into account the plethora of different hardware platforms and choose to behave in different manners on different devices. If this is the case, then it's an illogically designed system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pfederighi said:
That would make sense if it was the same behavior on my phone. Thanks, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're missing the point. The Kindle Fire was never made to run apps from the Google app store, and Google Play apps are rarely made for a modified Kindle Fire, running JB, and a custom kernel made from the ground up. Android is versatile, but it's not perfect. There are many apps that work well on some devices but not others. Looking at the reviews of any app in the Play store should be enough to convince you of that.
Guitarman2010 said:
Running 4.2.2 on a system that was meant for GB results in some things not working right....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why? Does the Android code really have such code as:
if (running_on_older_hardware)
{
make_all_apps_less_cool(); // because we only like newer hardware, even if it's possible for the older hardware to function
}
What little I know of OS design is that if you want your OS to be used aon a wide variety of hardware (which seems to be the design goal of Google in their relentless pursuit of world domination), the API should be as hardware independent as possible and that all hardware access should be done through the API. The very fact that (most) apps are written in Java and compiled to bytecode dictate that they have to use the API. Is the functionality difference because there is some sort of proprietary ROM that Android and certain apps know about that doesn't exist on the KF? And this ROM makes apps behave cooler?
Is it a memory issue? Does 4.2.2 expect to have a different memory/segmentation model? Or a different cache model? Or simply ungodly amounts more memory?
The only runtime software difference I could tell between my phone and my KF is that the per app memory limit on the KF is set to 256 MB whereas on the phone it is 512 MB.
Are there dynamic libraries/frameworks/apks on my phone that are not included in stock/CM10.1 4.2.2 that most apps are aware of and use? Can I copy them to the KF?
Thanks.
pfederighi said:
Why? Does the Android code really have such code as:
if (running_on_older_hardware)
{
make_all_apps_less_cool(); // because we only like newer hardware, even if it's possible for the older hardware to function
}
What little I know of OS design is that if you want your OS to be used aon a wide variety of hardware (which seems to be the design goal of Google in their relentless pursuit of world domination), the API should be as hardware independent as possible and that all hardware access should be done through the API. The very fact that (most) apps are written in Java and compiled to bytecode dictate that they have to use the API. Is the functionality difference because there is some sort of proprietary ROM that Android and certain apps know about that doesn't exist on the KF? And this ROM makes apps behave cooler?
Is it a memory issue? Does 4.2.2 expect to have a different memory/segmentation model? Or a different cache model? Or simply ungodly amounts more memory?
The only runtime software difference I could tell between my phone and my KF is that the per app memory limit on the KF is set to 256 MB whereas on the phone it is 512 MB.
Are there dynamic libraries/frameworks/apks on my phone that are not included in stock/CM10.1 4.2.2 that most apps are aware of and use? Can I copy them to the KF?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Proper communication between the API and the hardware is still dependent on the kernel. Considering your phone's kernel was likely produced by a team of paid programmers and the KF's 3.0.x kernel was made by maybe a small handful of people with most of the work done by one man, for FREE, I'm sure there is plenty of possibility for something not working as efficiently as it could.
soupmagnet said:
Proper communication between the API and the hardware is still dependent on the kernel. Considering your phone's kernel was likely produced by a team of paid programmers and the KF's 3.0.x kernel was made by maybe a small handful of people with most of the work done by one man, for FREE, I'm sure there is plenty of possibility for something not working as efficiently as it could.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And I truly do appreciate the hard work of the many hackers who put together kernels, boot loaders, recovery programs, apps, etc. I hope someday to join their ranks.
I was under the impression that there was a stock kernel as well as a stock OS and that the only real difference from one system to another was the boot procedure and the selection of drivers (with stubs or emulation for missing hardware/features). I take it that then this not the case.

One Month of use and playing with it, here is the result

Hello,
So, let me start by saying that I am by no means a developer but a tinkerer by trade. I got the Fire Phone the day after Release. My initial reaction was disgust at the interface and usability of it all. I found the carrousel interface to hinder my use of the phone. The Apps I needed always rotated away and I would spend more time scrolling over to find something than it would ever take me to find and launch from the traditional Android launcher screens. So I set about finding a way to "restore" functionality.
Previously I've had a Motorola Milestone, Motorola Atrix and Samsung GS3. My SGS3 had abysmal battery life, which is why I switched to a new phone. Comparatively, the Fire Phone so far has had brilliant battery life. I've been unplugged overnight and still been at 40%+ in the morning when it was around 80% the night before.
I had used towel root recently on my SGS3 and I tried it on the Fire Phone. It worked. I just downloaded the most recent version from the towel root site, allowed apps from other sources in settings, and first try it worked. I installed Root Explorer from the Amazon Store. Using the instructions from another Thread about getting G-Apps onto a Kindle Fire I was able to load Chrome, Play Music, Google Maps, Gmail, and the play store. There are some small quirks though. The Play Store does not work. It says no connection when opened. And the Google play services is constantly crashing and slightly annoying. I also found on AppAPK a download for the galaxy launcher. I installed that and at first I could not set it as the default launcher but There appeared to be some sort of update or something that rebooted my phone at this point the launcher asks which to use when it needed the launcher at boot and the galaxy launcher is not set to default. It still crashes if I try to set a background or widget but I at least have a functional home screen.
The only thing that really stops me from having a great experience with it now is an issue with Google Maps. Road names overlap and after driving for a short about of time words just become giant gray blobs of unreadable garbage. Navigation works fine and the maps themselves look okay, the words just become completely useless.
I do have to say that it has a really nice Camera, pictures look great.
I also wish there was a back button......this has been really hard to get used to as well. Having to swipe up from the bottom or hit the Home
I hope that there will be a custom Firmware someday, until then I feel like unless you really like Amazon kindle and Amazon services, or can tolerate a hundred workarounds to try and gain more functionality, stay away from this phone.
My overall Rating would be as follows:
Performance - 4.5 - I run into some hiccups every now and then and it gets hot even if you are just web browsing for a little bit.
Battery Life - 5.0 - Sooo much better than my old SGS3
Ease of Use - 1.0 - Out of the box, coming from several other Android solutions, it was the worst thing I have ever used. After all the tweaking and hacking ~4.0
Features - 3.5 - There are a lot of nice features but overall there are a lot of Gimmicks...also why no SD slot? No Google Play yet also hurts...
Overall - 3.5/5.0 - At least I got another free year of Prime out of it...
I have an Important Question: please help me
1.Can this phone show 3D side bye side movies without glasses ( like LG optimus 3D and HTC Evo 3D) ?
2. Can this Phone Capture 3D images or videos?
danteoz said:
Hello,
So, let me start by saying that I am by no means a developer but a tinkerer by trade. I got the Fire Phone the day after Release. My initial reaction was disgust at the interface and usability of it all. I found the carrousel interface to hinder my use of the phone. The Apps I needed always rotated away and I would spend more time scrolling over to find something than it would ever take me to find and launch from the traditional Android launcher screens. So I set about finding a way to "restore" functionality.
Previously I've had a Motorola Milestone, Motorola Atrix and Samsung GS3. My SGS3 had abysmal battery life, which is why I switched to a new phone. Comparatively, the Fire Phone so far has had brilliant battery life. I've been unplugged overnight and still been at 40%+ in the morning when it was around 80% the night before.
I had used towel root recently on my SGS3 and I tried it on the Fire Phone. It worked. I just downloaded the most recent version from the towel root site, allowed apps from other sources in settings, and first try it worked. I installed Root Explorer from the Amazon Store. Using the instructions from another Thread about getting G-Apps onto a Kindle Fire I was able to load Chrome, Play Music, Google Maps, Gmail, and the play store. There are some small quirks though. The Play Store does not work. It says no connection when opened. And the Google play services is constantly crashing and slightly annoying. I also found on AppAPK a download for the galaxy launcher. I installed that and at first I could not set it as the default launcher but There appeared to be some sort of update or something that rebooted my phone at this point the launcher asks which to use when it needed the launcher at boot and the galaxy launcher is not set to default. It still crashes if I try to set a background or widget but I at least have a functional home screen.
The only thing that really stops me from having a great experience with it now is an issue with Google Maps. Road names overlap and after driving for a short about of time words just become giant gray blobs of unreadable garbage. Navigation works fine and the maps themselves look okay, the words just become completely useless.
I do have to say that it has a really nice Camera, pictures look great.
I also wish there was a back button......this has been really hard to get used to as well. Having to swipe up from the bottom or hit the Home
I hope that there will be a custom Firmware someday, until then I feel like unless you really like Amazon kindle and Amazon services, or can tolerate a hundred workarounds to try and gain more functionality, stay away from this phone.
My overall Rating would be as follows:
Performance - 4.5 - I run into some hiccups every now and then and it gets hot even if you are just web browsing for a little bit.
Battery Life - 5.0 - Sooo much better than my old SGS3
Ease of Use - 1.0 - Out of the box, coming from several other Android solutions, it was the worst thing I have ever used. After all the tweaking and hacking ~4.0
Features - 3.5 - There are a lot of nice features but overall there are a lot of Gimmicks...also why no SD slot? No Google Play yet also hurts...
Overall - 3.5/5.0 - At least I got another free year of Prime out of it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Towel root works?? We can make a thread in the development forums to guide people to root it. PM me.
bagher said:
I have an Important Question: please help me
1.Can this phone show 3D side bye side movies without glasses ( like LG optimus 3D and HTC Evo 3D) ?
2. Can this Phone Capture 3D images or videos?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No to both.
the 3d is just a simulation, but a very convincing one. It uses perspective, and the best guess knowledge it gains from 4 cameras to guess where your head is. In theory, this could be used to watch a 3d movie, or photography, but it would need to be specially formatted for the Fire phone. As far as 3d recording goes, nope.
The 3d they call Dynamic Perspective. It is a lot like looking into a photo, but then being able to look around the inside of the photo as if it were a diorama. They use it in games and throughout the interface, though both are in the early stages.
bagher said:
I have an Important Question: please help me
1.Can this phone show 3D side bye side movies without glasses ( like LG optimus 3D and HTC Evo 3D) ?
2. Can this Phone Capture 3D images or videos?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't think of it as a 3D phone. Pretty much only the lock screen is 3D. Out of the five cameras on the phone, only one is a camera and the other four are used to track where your head is. That being said, it is a fantastic phone.
---------- Post added at 03:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:54 AM ----------
danteoz said:
Hello,
So, let me start by saying that I am by no means a developer but a tinkerer by trade. I got the Fire Phone the day after Release. My initial reaction was disgust at the interface and usability of it all. I found the carrousel interface to hinder my use of the phone. The Apps I needed always rotated away and I would spend more time scrolling over to find something than it would ever take me to find and launch from the traditional Android launcher screens. So I set about finding a way to "restore" functionality.
Previously I've had a Motorola Milestone, Motorola Atrix and Samsung GS3. My SGS3 had abysmal battery life, which is why I switched to a new phone. Comparatively, the Fire Phone so far has had brilliant battery life. I've been unplugged overnight and still been at 40%+ in the morning when it was around 80% the night before.
I had used towel root recently on my SGS3 and I tried it on the Fire Phone. It worked. I just downloaded the most recent version from the towel root site, allowed apps from other sources in settings, and first try it worked. I installed Root Explorer from the Amazon Store. Using the instructions from another Thread about getting G-Apps onto a Kindle Fire I was able to load Chrome, Play Music, Google Maps, Gmail, and the play store. There are some small quirks though. The Play Store does not work. It says no connection when opened. And the Google play services is constantly crashing and slightly annoying. I also found on AppAPK a download for the galaxy launcher. I installed that and at first I could not set it as the default launcher but There appeared to be some sort of update or something that rebooted my phone at this point the launcher asks which to use when it needed the launcher at boot and the galaxy launcher is not set to default. It still crashes if I try to set a background or widget but I at least have a functional home screen.
The only thing that really stops me from having a great experience with it now is an issue with Google Maps. Road names overlap and after driving for a short about of time words just become giant gray blobs of unreadable garbage. Navigation works fine and the maps themselves look okay, the words just become completely useless.
I do have to say that it has a really nice Camera, pictures look great.
I also wish there was a back button......this has been really hard to get used to as well. Having to swipe up from the bottom or hit the Home
I hope that there will be a custom Firmware someday, until then I feel like unless you really like Amazon kindle and Amazon services, or can tolerate a hundred workarounds to try and gain more functionality, stay away from this phone.
My overall Rating would be as follows:
Performance - 4.5 - I run into some hiccups every now and then and it gets hot even if you are just web browsing for a little bit.
Battery Life - 5.0 - Sooo much better than my old SGS3
Ease of Use - 1.0 - Out of the box, coming from several other Android solutions, it was the worst thing I have ever used. After all the tweaking and hacking ~4.0
Features - 3.5 - There are a lot of nice features but overall there are a lot of Gimmicks...also why no SD slot? No Google Play yet also hurts...
Overall - 3.5/5.0 - At least I got another free year of Prime out of it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you considered that the Ease of Use is hard because you're comparing it to other Android platforms? It really shouldn't be compared to Android at all.
For the Love of Tech said:
Have you considered that the Ease of Use is hard because you're comparing it to other Android platforms? It really shouldn't be compared to Android at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why shouldn't I compare it to android? It is android under the hood with a multitude of tweaks. Even iOS and Windows phone both support having apps arranged in a manner that makes finding them easy and how you want it. So far the Fire has not shown that. I had an original kindle fire, it was quickly rooted and I loaded custom ROMs within a few weeks because the interface was really bad for running multiple apps.
For me personally and anyone else I've shown it to, it is far from user friendly. But again that is my opinion of it and that was what I gave here, my opinion and observations.
danteoz said:
Hello,
So, let me start by saying that I am by no means a developer but a tinkerer by trade. I got the Fire Phone the day after Release. My initial reaction was disgust at the interface and usability of it all. I found the carrousel interface to hinder my use of the phone. The Apps I needed always rotated away and I would spend more time scrolling over to find something than it would ever take me to find and launch from the traditional Android launcher screens. So I set about finding a way to "restore" functionality.
Previously I've had a Motorola Milestone, Motorola Atrix and Samsung GS3. My SGS3 had abysmal battery life, which is why I switched to a new phone. Comparatively, the Fire Phone so far has had brilliant battery life. I've been unplugged overnight and still been at 40%+ in the morning when it was around 80% the night before.
I had used towel root recently on my SGS3 and I tried it on the Fire Phone. It worked. I just downloaded the most recent version from the towel root site, allowed apps from other sources in settings, and first try it worked. I installed Root Explorer from the Amazon Store. Using the instructions from another Thread about getting G-Apps onto a Kindle Fire I was able to load Chrome, Play Music, Google Maps, Gmail, and the play store. There are some small quirks though. The Play Store does not work. It says no connection when opened. And the Google play services is constantly crashing and slightly annoying. I also found on AppAPK a download for the galaxy launcher. I installed that and at first I could not set it as the default launcher but There appeared to be some sort of update or something that rebooted my phone at this point the launcher asks which to use when it needed the launcher at boot and the galaxy launcher is not set to default. It still crashes if I try to set a background or widget but I at least have a functional home screen.
The only thing that really stops me from having a great experience with it now is an issue with Google Maps. Road names overlap and after driving for a short about of time words just become giant gray blobs of unreadable garbage. Navigation works fine and the maps themselves look okay, the words just become completely useless.
I do have to say that it has a really nice Camera, pictures look great.
I also wish there was a back button......this has been really hard to get used to as well. Having to swipe up from the bottom or hit the Home
I hope that there will be a custom Firmware someday, until then I feel like unless you really like Amazon kindle and Amazon services, or can tolerate a hundred workarounds to try and gain more functionality, stay away from this phone.
My overall Rating would be as follows:
Performance - 4.5 - I run into some hiccups every now and then and it gets hot even if you are just web browsing for a little bit.
Battery Life - 5.0 - Sooo much better than my old SGS3
Ease of Use - 1.0 - Out of the box, coming from several other Android solutions, it was the worst thing I have ever used. After all the tweaking and hacking ~4.0
Features - 3.5 - There are a lot of nice features but overall there are a lot of Gimmicks...also why no SD slot? No Google Play yet also hurts...
Overall - 3.5/5.0 - At least I got another free year of Prime out of it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I have it a week , I sideload the 4.6.1 update and updated in 5 minutes, I followed the tutorial to install Google services and play store and works flawlessly, I installed Google maps and youtube and chrome Along with more Google apps and other apps and they work flawlessly , I can install custom launchers and different keyboards but I like the stock launcher as its fresh from just seeing a grid off apps and the stock keyboard is fine, the only work around I did was to manually install the 4.6.1 update sand install Google apps, the phone is fast and never lags and has good speakers and hardware
The home button doubles as a recent app selector. Try installing 4.6.1 like suggested it totally makes the a better experience.
I'm using it for about a month and easy of use is OK, much better than some say it is. I'm using it with stock launcher and I can't understand this obsession of many users here to s**t all over it. Main problem with FireOS is absence of persistent notifications on top bar - system tray, and inability to choose which quick actions you want to have in system tray. Lock screen is also pretty basic but not to bad. Installing other launcher will not solve this problems. UX can be better but can be worse either. Overall its a great phone for price under $200.

Daydream Compatibility

Ok so I got this phone expecting to be able to install and run daydream apps and games. Looking on the play store aside from the official daydream app none of the other apps appear to be compatible. I could understand if some developers put device/screen restrictions on their apps but I don't see every app being that way. Is there something I'm missing or some change I need to make for the daydream compatibility?
** side note I just double checked and the official daydream app by google says incompatible device as well.
wren2k said:
Ok so I got this phone expecting to be able to install and run daydream apps and games. Looking on the play store aside from the official daydream app none of the other apps appear to be compatible. I could understand if some developers put device/screen restrictions on their apps but I don't see every app being that way. Is there something I'm missing or some change I need to make for the daydream compatibility?
** side note I just double checked and the official daydream app by google says incompatible device as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok so looking a little closer at the matter it appears as if Google is "automatically" giving daydream certification to most phones without LCD screens. As far as I can tell, however, the IPS screen in the G7 meets all of google's requirements. I wonder if they haven't gotten around to certifying the G7 or if they are hands down declining cert for any phone with an LCD screen. On that note does anyone know of a way without root to get daydream working on "incompatible" phones without root. I have to admit I enjoy root, but with all the manufacturers working to lock down their devices I'm trying to move away from root for the features I'm looking for. Unfortunately that means upgrading my phone more often, but alas that is the goal of the manufacturers.
I've been looking as well. Powerful phone but no good vr app?
I'm stumped on what to do. I tried to return my lg g7 thinq for the Galaxy because I am finding the Galaxy is being excepted with compatible software and yhe lg is getting passed by.

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