Bit confused on which ones are still rootable. Looking at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Fire#Models
It looks like the 7th generation has 5.7.0.0 as the latest supported OS. Did Amazon patch that, or is it still rootable?
I know that some tablets past 7th gen still can be rooted, but it has to be a specific hardware version plus you have to open it up, which I don't really want to do that.
Hey Billybob. I can't speak to the 7th gen Austin model, but I have a 5th gen Ford (2015) and 9th gen Mustang (2019) that are both flashed with custom roms. I believe the Austin is still hackable, but you'll want to review the forums on doing that. Even if they patched it in software, the hardware should still be open.
For the Mustang model, only the early releases from 2019 could be flashed. I was fortunate that I never enabled wifi or connected to Amazon's servers to get updates, but many people were less fortunate.
Related
If price was irrelevant would you choose a 5th gen OS 5.3.1.0 or a 7th generation?
Can sd card be used as main storage on both?
If price was irrelevant I would search ebay and message people to find one with 5.1.2 and tell them to turn off wifi and ship it to me. They all can run and SD card up to 128 gb
Shell820810 said:
If price was irrelevant would you choose a 5th gen OS 5.3.1.0 or a 7th generation?
Can sd card be used as main storage on both?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A 5th gen with FireOS 5.3.1 can be rooted allowing installation of a custom ROM and/or more flexible use of SD card storage (virtually anything). A 7th gen will almost certainly arrive with a version of FireOS that can not be rooted at present. You are then stuck with FireOS and fairly restrictive SD card utilization. Remaining improvements in 7th gen devices are relatively minor.
Shell820810 said:
If price was irrelevant would you choose a 5th gen OS 5.3.1.0 or a 7th generation?
Can sd card be used as main storage on both?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I currently am using 15 of the 7" 5th gens rooted and running as kiosks for test taking in my classroom. They have a few booting issues, but otherwise are awesome machines for what I need. I've really fallen in love with the heavy duty Moko case for protecting against water damage/drops from the students.
I picked up 10 more 7th gens during the Prime sale. I opened one and tried to install Google Play and the Kiosk Browser with Launcher Hijacker. Not only do I have to deal with obnoxious lock screens, but it moves sluggishly slow compared to the custom rom I've been running on the 5th gens. If 5.4.0 isn't rooted within the next month, I'm returning all 10 to Amazon because they have zero worth to me in their current state.
I understand they might be selling the tablet as a loss leader for the ads, but their bloatware is awful. Truly a waste of awesome hardware.
gsbs1 said:
I If 5.4.0 isn't rooted within the next month, I'm returning all 10 to Amazon because they have zero worth to me in their current state.
I understand they might be selling the tablet as a loss leader for the ads, but their bloatware is awful. Truly a waste of awesome hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- securing root in the next 30 days is highly unlikely IMO
- Amazon has a sound business strategy; hardware and software are sold as a package and support that strategy
I am thinking of buying the current Amazon Fire 7 tablet. Two questions:
1) I understand that you can install Google Play on it. In practice how well does this work?
I had one of the early 2013 Fire tablets. Although you could install Google Play, it didn't work that well especially with Apps that were expecting things that weren't available on FireOs. In the end I had install a custom rom on it, but I understand that it's possible with the current model.
2) On the current model, how strong is the charger port? With the 2013 model it broke after a few years, so I was no longer able to charge it.
Thanks!
kutekittysweet said:
I am thinking of buying the current Amazon Fire 7 tablet. Two questions:
1) I understand that you can install Google Play on it. In practice how well does this work?
I had one of the early 2013 Fire tablets. Although you could install Google Play, it didn't work that well especially with Apps that were expecting things that weren't available on FireOs. In the end I had install a custom rom on it, but I understand that it's possible with the current model.
2) On the current model, how strong is the charger port? With the 2013 model it broke after a few years, so I was no longer able to charge it.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google Play works much better under FireOS v5 than previous builds. Your previous experience was likely with v3 although things weren't much better under v4. That said, there are a handful of apps that must be side loaded as the Play Store believes they are incompatible with the hardware or ROM.
I have not heard/read about systemic problems with the charging circuitry on 5th-7th gen devices beyond sample defects. However, overall build quality of 5th gen devices definitely leans toward 'value'; 6th/7th aren't far behind. Might last a few years with reasonable care.
Hey Guys -
I've been using XDA for a few years now to mod my many other Android devices, but today; was talking to wife and she isn't happy with her Amazon Fire tablet as she says it's too slow and is sick of all the ads. It's a 7" 5th Generation running 5.6.0.1 and all I've done to it in the past is install Google Play on it.
What would be my best option / ROM to load which would basically turn it into a simple yet stable Android device? I looked at LineageOS & a couple of others in this forum, but unsure which is the most stable - and - if it's even possible to install any of them on a 5.6.0.1 device. I planned to test out a couple as I thought I had rooted when installing Google Play long ago so grabbed TWRP and installed FlashFire - but when launching FlashFire I was told it was not rooted.
What would you suggest be the way to go to achieve this goal? Thanks!
bzowk said:
Hey Guys -
I've been using XDA for a few years now to mod my many other Android devices, but today; was talking to wife and she isn't happy with her Amazon Fire tablet as she says it's too slow and is sick of all the ads. It's a 7" 5th Generation running 5.6.0.1 and all I've done to it in the past is install Google Play on it.
What would be my best option / ROM to load which would basically turn it into a simple yet stable Android device? I looked at LineageOS & a couple of others in this forum, but unsure which is the most stable - and - if it's even possible to install any of them on a 5.6.0.1 device. I planned to test out a couple as I thought I had rooted when installing Google Play long ago so grabbed TWRP and installed FlashFire - but when launching FlashFire I was told it was not rooted.
What would you suggest be the way to go to achieve this goal? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, allowing FireOS to update beyond 5.3.2.0 permanently removed the ability to root and/or install custom ROMs. It's FireOS in all it's glory from this point forward. There is a convoluted way to remove some of the Amazon bloat but you probably don't want to go there as it's not for the faint of heart. Most who travel that route have less than satisfactory outcomes. 5th/7th gen Fire 7 devices are getting long in the tooth and are decidedly underpowered for the tasks Amazon demands of it. Your better half is probably looking a new device if she is significantly dissatisfied.
Davey126 said:
Unfortunately, allowing FireOS to update beyond 5.3.2.0 permanently removed the ability to root and/or install custom ROMs. It's FireOS in all it's glory from this point forward. There is a convoluted way to remove some of the Amazon bloat but you probably don't want to go there as it's not for the faint of heart. Most who travel that route have less than satisfactory outcomes. 5th/7th gen Fire 7 devices are getting long in the tooth and are decidedly underpowered for the tasks Amazon demands of it. Your better half is probably looking a new device if she is significantly dissatisfied.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some folks over in the HD 8/10 forum seem to be making headway with achieving root, some of which might apply to the Fire 7.
However, I do have to agree the 5th gen Fire 7 I have is barely a functional tablet at this point with the stock ROM.
lakitu47 said:
Some folks over in the HD 8/10 forum seem to be making headway with achieving root, some of which might apply to the Fire 7.
However, I do have to agree the 5th gen Fire 7 I have is barely a functional tablet at this point with the stock ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HD 10 has a different underlying architecture utilizing different kernel and ROM components exposing new vulnerabilities that are being exploited. Amazon will undoubtedly close those as do all manufactures. In contrast HD 8 uses the same architecture as the Fire 7. Realizing root on that device is highly unlikely.
It will be interest to see what Amazon does with the next hardware refresh. Me thinks the Fire 7 will be gone with either an adjustment on the HD 8 price point or the addition of some other gizmo to fill the gap.
Davey126 said:
HD 10 has a different underlying architecture utilizing different kernel and ROM components exposing new vulnerabilities that are being exploited. Amazon will undoubtedly close those as do all manufactures. In contrast HD 8 uses the same architecture as the Fire 7. Realizing root on that device is highly unlikely.
It will be interest to see what Amazon does with the next hardware refresh. Me thinks the Fire 7 will be gone with either an adjustment on the HD 8 price point or the addition of some other gizmo to fill the gap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what it looks like so far, it looks like the current progress for the Fire HD 8 is less so "root" and more like "uncovering hidden features we never knew we could use on Fire OS".
I do notice the Fire HD 8/HD 10 have gotten more of the spotlight recently. The Fire 7 (even the 2017 version) just isn't the $50 bargain it was two years ago. The HD 8 2017 has already dropped down to only $80 new.
Less people are buying the 7" tablet now, because it almost seems "too cheap". I do wonder what the Fire tablet lineup will be next year.
I bought the 7" recently and still consider it a pretty good bargain (I paid 40 Euros).
You could argue that the 8" it better value for money (I don't really know, but maybe) but for me the 7" form-factor is just perfect for a "everyday carry device".
The market for 7" tablet is not so big, you could get a Lenovo for about 80 Euro or a Samsung for about 120, that's about it if you want to avoid chinese no-names.
So it is by far the cheapest option and debloated and equipped with Google Playstore it is quite a nice device and I expect Amazon to drop the 7" line, so get it while you can...
morgonhed said:
I bought the 7" recently and still consider it a pretty good bargain (I paid 40 Euros).
You could argue that the 8" it better value for money (I don't really know, but maybe) but for me the 7" form-factor is just perfect for a "everyday carry device".
The market for 7" tablet is not so big, you could get a Lenovo for about 80 Euro or a Samsung for about 120, that's about it if you want to avoid chinese no-names.
So it is by far the cheapest option and debloated and equipped with Google Playstore it is quite a nice device and I expect Amazon to drop the 7" line, so get it while you can...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A gently used HDX is a far better device for similar coin. Far superior hardware and capable of running a dozen+ custom ROMs ranging from KitKat to Nougat (soon Oreo). I do enjoy my rooted 5th gen Fire for media streaming playback.
Maybe I'm special but I can't seem to find anywhere, what are the car naming conventions used for the fire now? I bought a new 16gb and wanted to jump in but no idea what model I actually got. super noob question and I should know better but what can you do.
Thanks!
Mustang is the 2019 7"
Maverick is the 2019 10"
What model do you have?
I currently have a 2015 fire7 (ford) and works well for what I use it for. Wondering if the 2019 version (mustang) is significantly better in any meaningful way?
Sure it has some physical upgrades, but it's still a dog. Like playing with a potato.
Amazon Fire - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
I think it depends on what you use it for. Comparing the 2015 to the 2019, the main things I notice are a faster processor, 5GHz wifi, and more storage (8GB on the ford, 16GB on the mustang). The screen is the same, and it'll even fit the same case although button layout changed. The 2019 version does support the newer FireOS, although you won't be able to root or install a custom ROM on a new version.
The problem is Amazon really hasn't had the mustang/2019 version on sale often, so paying full price for a ~2 year old device feels wrong. If you can get it around half price and don't mind the limitations, it's probably decent.
Fire 8 plus for what you pay same price and get generation 11 plays more games than last 7 and 8HE although still restricted in a way which Android and google are apart in Amazon fire and appears to be coming soon after years of experience both boosting the 4gig ram and mentioned google.. But Luna is not in UK yet as they go in gaming online it needed the work behind it's own device.