Concerns with Lack of Apps for Fire - Page 3

tubemonkey · 10-12-2011, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

What I want to know is why don't we have Angry Monkeys Reykjavik?

We prefer the hotsprings of Jigokudani to the lava fields of Iceland. Change the location to Japan and we'll approve the game.

tubemonkey · 10-12-2011, 04:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shack70

I'm going to make a prediction that the Amazon App Store will explode the week they release the Fire or very shortly after. There is no reason developers wont jump on this especially if they already have an app coded for Android. This is not like WebOS where it is an whole new operating system.

Provided Amazon allows those apps. Blockbuster, Google, Hulu Plus, Netflix, Nook, and Zinio are all missing from their app store. 10:1 says Amazon is blocking these competitors.

gweminence · 10-12-2011, 04:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

The Kindle Fire is NOT a generic Android Platform. If you are expecting that, you will be sorely disappointed.

With the exception of Silk, Amazon has done little more than skin it. It IS, in fact, 95% generic android. 2.3, to be exact. You'll be able to sideload things just fine. In fact, an Amazon executive was quoted specifically as saying that amazon will do nothing to prevent not only sideloading, but root.

tubemonkey · 10-12-2011, 05:02 AM

While Dropbox is not available, Box.net is. How do the two compare?

My $99 TouchPad came with 50GB of free storage from Box.net; which would be accessible on a Kindle Fire with the Box app.

kennyc · 10-12-2011, 06:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gweminence

With the exception of Silk, Amazon has done little more than skin it. It IS, in fact, 95% generic android. 2.3, to be exact. You'll be able to sideload things just fine. In fact, an Amazon executive was quoted specifically as saying that amazon will do nothing to prevent not only sideloading, but root.

No it's not. It does not have cameras, gps, etc. It doesn't meet the requirements of an Android tablet.

beckywc · 10-12-2011, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

No it's not. It does not have cameras, gps, etc. It doesn't meet the requirements of an Android tablet.

This is from the FAQ from Amazon Developers board:

Quote:

My app is optimized for the Motorola Xoom (Honeycomb 3.0-based Android). Will it work on Kindle Fire?
In general, apps optimized for a tablet experience will work on Kindle Fire. To increase the probability that your app will be compatible with Kindle Fire, you should only use APIs that are backwards compatible with Gingerbread.

Here is the link: https://developer.amazon.com/help/fa...890#KindleFire

beckywc · 10-12-2011, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blossom

I can understand their frustration but they did give permission for it to be free.

My main complete is the DRM Amazon adds to the apps.
If are not logged into their App store on your device you can't use any of the apps because you get a message telling you to log in. This happened to me while my hubby was in bed and wanted to play Angry Birds. I had to go downstairs and find the password so he could play. The Next week I had it happen on my phone. So before you get on say a plane make sure you are logged in to the store or it'll be a long trip! The App store does log you out sometimes without you doing anything.

That's the choice of the developer:

Quote:

Can I apply DRM to my app?
For each app that you submit to the Amazon Appstore, you can choose to apply DRM or make your app available without any rights management constraints. If you do choose to apply DRM to one of your apps, you must use the DRM system provided by Amazon through the Amazon Appstore Developer Portal.

From Amazon Developers Portal FAQ.

kennyc · 10-12-2011, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beckywc

This is from the FAQ from Amazon Developers board:

Here is the link: https://developer.amazon.com/help/fa...890#KindleFire

My point exactly. The HARDWARE is not fully Android tablet compatible. This is a device that is intended for media consumption provided by Amazon. It is not intended to be a generic tablet which is what I said.

murraypaul · 10-12-2011, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gweminence

With the exception of Silk, Amazon has done little more than skin it. It IS, in fact, 95% generic android. 2.3, to be exact.

The Nook Color is also just a skinned Android, but you can't sideload apps on that.

Quote:

You'll be able to sideload things just fine. In fact, an Amazon executive was quoted specifically as saying that amazon will do nothing to prevent not only sideloading, but root.

Are you relying on the PCMag story for that? That story has been completely blown out of proportion.
Here are the actual statements attributed to the Amazon employee:

Quote:

"It's going to get rooted, and what you do after you root it is up to you," Jenkins said."

Quote:

Jenkins said he didn't know whether the bootloader was locked, which is one hurdle Android hackers face when altering their devices. The company won't help hackers root the tablet, it just isn't actively trying to stop them.

(And it isn't even clear that the last sentence was from Jenkins, it probably wasn't)
Everything else was added by the PCMag writer.
So someone who was head of development for their browser, and has admitted no knowledge of any security measures Amazon may have used, has said that he thinks the device will probably get rooted. Which is a pretty good guess, as everything gets rooted eventually.

He was not quoted as saying you could sideload apps, the PCMag writer assumed that.

friktion · 10-12-2011, 10:56 AM

Is it just me? I honestly don't even understand this discussion ... of course, there's a lack of apps for the Fire - IT HASN'T BEEN RELEASED YET! How on earth are people supposed to manage to make apps for something that they can't test on?

tubemonkey · 10-12-2011, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by friktion

Is it just me? I honestly don't even understand this discussion ... of course, there's a lack of apps for the Fire - IT HASN'T BEEN RELEASED YET! How on earth are people supposed to manage to make apps for something that they can't test on?

An Android tablet is an Android tablet.

kennyc · 10-12-2011, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by friktion

Is it just me? I honestly don't even understand this discussion ... of course, there's a lack of apps for the Fire - IT HASN'T BEEN RELEASED YET! How on earth are people supposed to manage to make apps for something that they can't test on?

But it's android. That's a standard. It's like a new windows PC is being released but is restricted to software available from MS-AppStore.com which has a only a few of the applications available to other windowd PCs.

The Kindle Fire IS an android platform, it should be able to run many of the existing Android apps, but is limited in it's capabilities so some clearly would not work. There is also talk that it can ONLY use the Amazon App store which may or may not prove to be true.

kennyc · 10-12-2011, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

An Android tablet is an Android tablet.

Except when it's not.

friktion · 10-12-2011, 11:25 AM

But we don't even know yet if it will be the standard Android app that will be used in the Kindle Fire. Perhaps they are redoing it especially for the Fire. **Maybe this is going to be a NEW improved Kindle reader app!

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

But it's android. That's a standard. It's like a new windows PC is being released but is restricted to software available from MS-AppStore.com which has a only a few of the applications available to other windowd PCs.

The Kindle Fire IS an android platform, it should be able to run many of the existing Android apps, but is limited in it's capabilities so some clearly would not work. There is also talk that it can ONLY use the Amazon App store which may or may not prove to be true.

kennyc · 10-12-2011, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by friktion

But we don't even know yet if it will be the standard Android app that will be used in the Kindle Fire. Perhaps they are redoing it especially for the Fire. **Maybe this is going to be a NEW improved Kindle reader app!

Uh, no, they have already stated that it is running Android 2.3 and will run the Apps available in the Amazon store (which run on all other Android Platforms).

There may be a new improved Kindle App but it still is going to run on top of android 2.3 on the Kindle Fire.

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10-12-2011, 05:02 AM	#34
tubemonkey monkey on the fringe Posts: 45,858 Karma: 158733736 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Seattle Metro Device: Moto E6, Echo Show	While Dropbox is not available, Box.net is. How do the two compare? My $99 TouchPad came with 50GB of free storage from Box.net; which would be accessible on a Kindle Fire with the Box app.

10-12-2011, 10:56 AM	#40
friktion Zealot Posts: 107 Karma: 11204 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Canada Device: Sony 700, Kindle 3Wi-Fi, Skytex Primer 7", Kindle Fire	Is it just me? I honestly don't even understand this discussion ... of course, there's a lack of apps for the Fire - IT HASN'T BEEN RELEASED YET! How on earth are people supposed to manage to make apps for something that they can't test on?