My Kindle Fire running Go Launcher EX

There are at least two alternative launchers within the Amazon app store which can be installed on the KFire. No hacking required.

• Go Launcher EX
• Claystone Launcher

Attached is a photo of my KFire running Go Launcher EX. After you install an alternative launcher, whenever you press the Home button you are given a choice of which launcher to launch. It is easy to switch between multiple launchers.

Unfortunately you do lose some functionality with Go Launcher EX. I've not tried the Claystone Launcher yet. For example, you can launch the Kindle reader app but because it does not have a Library screen like the Kindle for Android app you cannot change books. I suspect there are many other drawbacks too. But the idea I'm getting at is that some smart developers could probably figure out how to customize a launcher that can replace the stock KFire launcher without losing any of the functionality of the KFire. One can hope anyway!

[weatherman]

I'm.actually hoping we get some custom launchers specifically for the Fire; I'm not a huge fan of the look of the Fire's native interface, but it is pretty easy to use.

[SCION]

I like the stock interface. The standard Android pre-Honeycomb look reminds me of my CM7 NOOKcolor, and I had enough of that after a year. Stock is refreshing, reminds me it's a Kindle. Also, helps me appreciate my Honeycomb tablet.

Originally Posted by SCION

I like the stock interface. The standard Android pre-Honeycomb look reminds me of my CM7 NOOKcolor, and I had enough of that after a year. Stock is refreshing, reminds me it's a Kindle. Also, helps me appreciate my Honeycomb tablet.

True, but what if someone wrote a similar launcher to the stock one on the Fire but made the Carousel a toggled option and added easily configurable collections for books, docs, videos, music, etc.? And then allowed you to change the themes and backgrounds? That might get your attention. It would certainly get mine!

BTW: I still have fewer than 100 items in my Carousel, yet it has long since become to cumbersome to be useful.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by jswinden

True, but what if someone wrote a similar launcher to the stock one on the Fire but made the Carousel a toggled option and added easily configurable collections for books, docs, videos, music, etc.? And then allowed you to change the themes and backgrounds? That might get your attention. It would certainly get mine!

BTW: I still have fewer than 100 items in my Carousel, yet it has long since become to cumbersome to be useful.

I'm all for that! Just don't want the Android tablet look.

Originally Posted by SCION

I'm all for that! Just don't want the Android tablet look.

Me either, but there are some cool looking launchers that look totally different from stock Android. Most probably won't run on the Fire though.

[obsessed2]

Wow. That's cool. I don't have a Kindle Fire in front of me right now because my son has it, but here are some other Launchers you may want to experiment with if you are so inclined. As soon as my son get's home with my Kindle Fire (oops, I mean his Kindle Fire) I'll give these a try and see what happens. I have tried all of these on my other Android tablets.


ADW Launcher: http://www.freewarelovers.com/android/app/adw.launcher

Zeam: http://www.freewarelovers.com/android/app/zeam

Android Seven Lite: External Mirror http://handheld.softpedia.com/get/Sy...e-112920.shtml

Launcher 7: http://download.pandaapp.com/android...42-id2989.html

[Blog Kindle]

It's nice of Amazon to allow alternative launchers into the store (even those that distance customers from media purchases at Amazon).

Personally I like the stock look and kept it despite rooting and installing Google App Store. Carousel is not meant to be the primary way of launching every piece of media and app that device has - just an easy shortcut to most recently used stuff. And good looking too. That is just my opinion though

[weatherman]

I like the look of that Launcher 7 (though shouldn't it really be called Launcher 8?). I'd love something like that designed specifically for the Fire that had big buttons for "Read" "Watch" "Listen" etc, ideally with a "Recent" button as well to take the place of the carousel.

[astrodad]

Originally Posted by Blog Kindle

It's nice of Amazon to allow alternative launchers into the store (even those that distance customers from media purchases at Amazon).

Personally I like the stock look and kept it despite rooting and installing Google App Store. Carousel is not meant to be the primary way of launching every piece of media and app that device has - just an easy shortcut to most recently used stuff. And good looking too. That is just my opinion though

I agree that the carousel isn't really a launcher. I'd like some way to limit the amount that is shows, but I have found so far that I'm using it quite a bit.

[BethQB]

So the problem with outside launchers is getting to the books app. Here is what is working for me. You can get to the regular interface in Go Launcher Ex by choosing the app called Launcher. Do this and go to books. If you leave it there everytime you hit the Launcher app in the Go interface it will take you to your bookshelf. Not perfect, but good enough for now.

Originally Posted by obsessed2

Wow. That's cool. I don't have a Kindle Fire in front of me right now because my son has it, but here are some other Launchers you may want to experiment with if you are so inclined. As soon as my son get's home with my Kindle Fire (oops, I mean his Kindle Fire) I'll give these a try and see what happens. I have tried all of these on my other Android tablets.


ADW Launcher: http://www.freewarelovers.com/android/app/adw.launcher

Zeam: http://www.freewarelovers.com/android/app/zeam

Android Seven Lite: External Mirror http://handheld.softpedia.com/get/Sy...e-112920.shtml

Launcher 7: http://download.pandaapp.com/android...42-id2989.html

Cool, thanks! I'll try them out.

Originally Posted by BethQB

So the problem with outside launchers is getting to the books app. Here is what is working for me. You can get to the regular interface in Go Launcher Ex by choosing the app called Launcher. Do this and go to books. If you leave it there everytime you hit the Launcher app in the Go interface it will take you to your bookshelf. Not perfect, but good enough for now.

Good idea. I was also wondering if we could somehow make screen icons for books. The iOS allows you to bookmark things via icons on the desktop, which is a great shortcut feature. I don't know if this is possible in Android though. It would be very tedious and manual, but conceivably we could create a screen for each collection and populated it with up to 25 book shortcuts (icons).

[MarkY]

It appears that Launcher EX is no longer in the Amazon app store.

I'm not surprised. Amazon wants to discourage installation of competing apps so they hide them or claim they are incompatible. But the good news is they don't prevent us from installing them, so find the apk and sideload it if you want to try it out.

[ectoplasm]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I'm not surprised. Amazon wants to discourage installation of competing apps so they hide them or claim they are incompatible. But the good news is they don't prevent us from installing them, so find the apk and sideload it if you want to try it out.

I think this semi-openness is a clever strategy, and given the fact that I'm constantly impressed with the smart choices made by Bezos/Amazon, I don't think it's accidental.

Technophiles make up a small percentage of the user base, but they make a lot of noise with blogs, forum posts, and reviews. And they influence a lot of other people. So it's smart to let them do what they want. Meanwhile Amazon still steers the herd in the direction they want.