Develop Bugs

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.

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.

Is it a good buy ?

Currently i have an lg g2 but it has a defective screen. Im looking for another phone on the price range of 200. I can get the fire phone which i actually pretty intrested in or i can get the huawei ascend mate 2 or another lg g2 in brand new condition. I dont mind the amazon fire os and im leaning to the fire phone but what do you guys think ?

It's super easy to install Google services and while we have had to deal with our Google stuff going down for a couple of weeks when they updated, everything has been fine since then. If you use prime services it's a no Brainerd because the current cost is 179 and if u were going to get prime it's basically a 80 dollar phone. I don't regret it and I've been a strictly android user since I got the google g1 many years ago. I don't even mind the Amazon launcher. You just have to get used to the swype up for back and Netflix isn't working with chromecast.

It depends how you are going to use your phone, I'm on my second fire phone, sold the first because it was running android 4.2 and Android Wear needs 4.3 at least to work, now that the KitKat update is here, I gave it another go, bought used cheap on eBay, £95, the reason for this, really like the build quality, screen, specs and camera, really good pics in low light. I had the G2 as well and the fire camera is just a bit better IMO.
Now the negatives
The screen is a bit too tiny, awesome for one hand use, but I prefer the 5"+ screens.
No notifications icon on the status bar, if you have any missed notifications, you have to pull down the notifications to see them, that is why having a android wear device is essential if you don't want to miss any notification.
G2 Battery is better, fire phone does last a full day, but G2 is awesome when it comes to battery life.
This is a big one for me, no custom ROMs, I'm using Google Now Launcher to make it more like a pure android phone, but miss flashing custom ROMs
Tip:
If you are going to sideload Google Play Store, please have this in mind, search first for the app on the amazon store, if you can't find it there, than use the play store, had some issues before by doing this... also disable auto update from Play store, because Facebook for example, it has to be the Amazon App store version, just a couple of things to keep in mind if you want a stable phone =)
So if you want a different phone from most people, great build quality, compact, fast, good camera, this is for you, if you want a phone tried and tested, with a big screen and with with custom ROMs, than go for the G2

I got one brand new for £99 in the Amazon sale recently. It's good spec but I like tweaking my setup with custom launchers etc and it isn't too good for that. I'm using the stock fire OS launcher but I've got a gesture app installed now and a t9 launcher assigned to it and all sorts of other crap. Other launchers generally throw up issues I've found. If you're into Amazon for kindle and prime video it's probably worth it. By the way, do uk users get the one year free prime? I didn't see anything when I ordered!

hugoprh said:
Tip:
If you are going to sideload Google Play Store, please have this in mind, search first for the app on the amazon store, if you can't find it there, than use the play store, had some issues before by doing this... also disable auto update from Play store, because Facebook for example, it has to be the Amazon App store version, just a couple of things to keep in mind if you want a stable phone =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you say so? I've installed every app from play store without collateral effects, even Facebook. And i have play store auto updates enabled and working too. What problems did you have with FB taken from play store?

Well amazon took the offer of 179 away so i guess im going for the lg g2. Really wanted the fire phone but i need a phone now and i was going to buy it Friday. Does anyone know how often amazon put the fire phone on sale?
Sent from my LG-D801 using XDA Free mobile app

i love it, but i came from a s2, so it was a massive upgrade for me

FB was one of the apps, the issue I saw with some apps, was the icon would simply disappear from the Amazon launcher and the only way to open the app, was going to play store, search the app and press "open" through there, so I did a factory reset and disabled updates from play store and now all good, weird that you did not experience that and I did...

Wow can't believe it, $450 now. Anyway I love my fire phone. I use Google now launcher with gel customized, software keys via udn app, of course I use the play store and rooted with a proper superuser.

A Question Before I Buy Amazon Fire Phone

i have a question, i am planning to buy this phone but i am very much relying on google stuff these days , i made a back up of almost everything on google , this phone does not have google store but i heard i can install google store in it and it works like a charm .. i don't know if i would be able to get my android games saved progress or will i have to start the games from amazon store all over again . does it have apk system ? what about my contacts on google , will they sync with the system contacts ?
thank you :laugh:
any tips would be appreciated

hi there,
most stuff from "original google" will probably work.
save games should also if you backup your data and restore the folder on the fire back (after APK installation/google store install). Saved states from google play also work.
Some differences appear in fire system ui but this is not a strange thing. Replace the fire starter with nova launcher e.g. and all is good
Contact/calendar from google acc will also work as usual.
nice day

fniestroj said:
hi there,
most stuff from "original google" will probably work.
save games should also if you backup your data and restore the folder on the fire back (after APK installation/google store install). Saved states from google play also work.
Some differences appear in fire system ui but this is not a strange thing. Replace the fire starter with nova launcher e.g. and all is good
Contact/calendar from google acc will also work as usual.
nice day
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you :laugh::good:

my general recommendation is Don't buy this phone. my reasons are:
-You are stuck on Andriod KitKat while world prepares for Android N(7.0)
-No current/ further software support.
-Yes you will get google services and everything but they are not reliable. My phone doesn't gives me essential notifications on Whatsapp and messenger until i manually open them and check it.
-Camera doesn't matches the Quality you will find in newer phones.
-Battery life is not Great, 2400 mAh doesn't guarantee a full day.
-its bulky, you dont want a brick in your pocket but upside, this phone is solid af.
-Anyone who sees this phone is going to ask "are all those Front cameras?" and your whole life will be consumed in explaining its 3d features.
-if you think Installing CM11 will smooth the software part(atleast) then you are wrong, Everything works great but camera doesn't, photos taken with Flash are overexposed(there is a work around though) and most of the apps can not use camera, even i was not even able to scan QR code for Whatsapp web because it will just crash and snapchat never worked aswell.
-if you are thinking i will get SnapDragon 800 in few bucks , this is what i thought too but the headaches it bring is not worth SD800.
-if you already have a phone and you want a secondary phone, it still isn't worth it. Probably get Nexus 5 which offers much better solutions.
This is my experience and honest Advice.

Tayyab.Hasan said:
my general recommendation is Don't buy this phone. my reasons are:
-You are stuck on Andriod KitKat while world prepares for Android N(7.0)true
-No current/ further software support.99,99% true
-Yes you will get google services and everything but they are not reliable. My phone doesn't gives me essential notifications on Whatsapp and messenger until i manually open them and check it. it's not my case, I receive gmail, whatsapp, messenger, calendar, facebook, twitter, all sort of notifications. it doesn't need the app stays open in foreground, just don't fully close it swiping it away in recent apps menu.
-Camera doesn't matches the Quality you will find in newer phones. true, it's fine for social
-Battery life is not Great, 2400 mAh doesn't guarantee a full day. true, but depends...
-its bulky, you dont want a brick in your pocket but upside, this phone is solid af. true but sadly there aren't many truly smaller phone today, except iphone SE or z5 comapct, which are pricey
-Anyone who sees this phone is going to ask "are all those Front cameras?" and your whole life will be consumed in explaining its 3d features. who cares?
-if you think Installing CM11 will smooth the software part(atleast) then you are wrong, Everything works great but camera doesn't, photos taken with Flash are overexposed(there is a work around though) and most of the apps can not use camera, even i was not even able to scan QR code for Whatsapp web because it will just crash and snapchat never worked aswell. true, better stay on stock with google now launcher
-if you are thinking i will get SnapDragon 800 in few bucks , this is what i thought too but the headaches it bring is not worth SD800. they are annoying, but if you play many games, adreno 330 and HD display it's a great combo. To find something better in you need something like adreno 418 or 430 on a full hd display
-if you already have a phone and you want a secondary phone, it still isn't worth it. Probably get Nexus 5 which offers much better solutions. depends, i use it as primary phone and I'm fine, i'd be very happy to use it as secondary phone
This is my experience and honest Advice.
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My experience and answer in bold next to yours.

theprov said:
it's not my case, I receive gmail, whatsapp, messenger, calendar, facebook, twitter, all sort of notifications. it doesn't need the app stays open in foreground, just don't fully close it swiping it away in recent apps menu.
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then it will eat battery life. but none the less it is not reliable.
-I think investing in SE or Z5 compact is better than keeping an old phone.
-I think Nexus 5x is great performer for its price. SD808 Adreno 418, was for $250.
-I also use it as my primary phone and i too will happily use it as secondary if i dont sell it.( although i dont like the concept of secondary phone, better to invest in 1 then having 2) , if someone have an option who is looking for secondary better get Nexus 5, which got the same specs and Android Marshmallow out of box.

One week in: My so-so experience. (Any tips, tricks, etc?)

(Sorry in advance for the super long post)
So, I bought an ATT Unlocked 32GB Fire Phone new for only $80 (free shipping) on Ebay and I've been using it for exactly one week now, and my experience has been so-so. I LOVED the fireos UI on the kindle fire tablets but once I started using it on the smaller screen with the fire phone, I found it to be very cluttered, inefficient, and none of my side loaded apps show up in the UI.
So, two days in I hacked play store and 1mobile market onto the phone and downloaded ZenUi launcher from Asus (which works fantastic on Fire Phone), and now I've been liking the general UI experience. But I've been having a few other minor annoyances about this phone, mostly related to things simply not working.
Heres my biggest annoyance: The facebook suite of apps hardly work. This is a problem for me, because my friends and family, all of them communicate over Facebook, and since Facebook thinks its such a FANTASTIC idea to force you to have messenger to read and send messages (no more messaging through the mobile site), I pretty much HAVE to have messenger. My problem though, is that the facebook app crashes alot on Fire Phone, and messenger is doing the same thing. I had to download all of these through play store because the normal Facebook app isn't even on Amazon App Store, and the messenger app is several versions outdated on the store (apparently they abandoned the platform?), So now, I am basically fighting these to apps to work.
Another problem is Play Services. I am not sure whats going on, but no matter what guide I follow (the one here on XDA, the one on spinyourfire and the one on rootjunkies), after a few resets or after just a few days, play services "break" and any and all apps relying on play services (like snapchat, google apps, etc) refuse to work. So when that happens, I have to purge it all relating to Google and redownload. This is REALLY annoying, because Snapchat is another app I use alot for communications and since Play Services keeps doing this, its becoming really difficult.
Tumblr isn't working either. I guess since the browser version works just fine and unlike facebook you aren't required to have their apps, thats not a MAJOR problem. Now, several other communication apps that I HAVE to sideload, like Badoo, OOvoo and some other chat apps aren't working either no matter what I try.
This being a "Communication" device, I am having a very hard time "Communicating" when this is happening. This is really making me upset because I absolutely LOVE the design of the device, the camera is acceptable, I LOVE firefly and the 3D support, and the specs for the price are fantastic. (How many phones have NFC, 3D, good cameras, 32GB ON BOARD space for $80 new?), but with all these problems, I am highly considering sending the phone back to the vendor and buying something else, and I really don't want to! Games run GREAT on here, like GTA Sanandreas, Sims Freeplay, and Fallout Shelter. The camera works great and like I said, I already am in love with Firefly. But I am upset that all the essential apps pretty much need sideloaded since it seems everyone is abandoning Fire Phone, and side loading isn't working.
I should also mention that I did try CM11 and pretty much right away switched back to fireOS because the cameras were not working. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Thank you!

For me google services works fine, one month of using fire phone and I have dust in back camera. So this is the problem for me, and fire os 5.

Are you on the latest update of fireOS? i only switched to the MIUI ROM recently but for the past couple of months when i was still on fireOS, play store and messenger(from play store) have been working fine with no issues. Also please ensure that if you are using google play to take of automatic updates in the amazon store. From experience apps tend to break if not updated from the original source.

for Facebook try using swipe (just search for it in play store). I'm having problems with messenger myself (no notifications) but with swipe i have no problems.

ozan2 said:
For me google services works fine, one month of using fire phone and I have dust in back camera. So this is the problem for me, and fire os 5.
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I had that as well. Thankfully I was able to get it to move by tapping it.
romario3600 said:
Are you on the latest update of fireOS? i only switched to the MIUI ROM recently but for the past couple of months when i was still on fireOS, play store and messenger(from play store) have been working fine with no issues. Also please ensure that if you are using google play to take of automatic updates in the amazon store. From experience apps tend to break if not updated from the original source.
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I am on the latest release of Fire OS and the latest google services files. Nothing. I have auto updates off and I am selectively updating. I can't update SnapChat because everytime I do, it breaks.
dato02 said:
for Facebook try using swipe (just search for it in play store). I'm having problems with messenger myself (no notifications) but with swipe i have no problems.
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I tried Swipe and it opens a black screen then closes quickly, sadly.

I'm loving mine after installing Google play and I've downloaded all the apps I want through there and not through Amazon appstore. I'm using Nova Launcher and it's pretty much a nice Android experience now. Not many 4.7" android phones with these great specs I got my 64GB for $100. This thing isn't a budget phone by any means. Snapchat also works just fine. Screen quality reminds me of iPhone 6s.

No issues anymore with fire os 4.6.6.1 and current versions of FB and messenger from play store.