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Amazon Backpedals On Encryption, But Fire "Still Sucks"
Just a day after it made headlines for announcing that it would remove encryption from its line of FireOS devices, reports Ars Technica, the company has reverted the change, and says that encryption will again be a user-selectable option, with an update to come sometime this Spring. Judging from comments here on Slashdot, that ought to please a lot of people. However, encryption isn't the Fire's only problem; Ricki Jennings at ComputerWorld has collected some of the user reaction to the change, and says that anemic hardware means that even with this small course correction, the Fire tablets themselves "still suck." I'm not so sure; I bought one of the low-end Fire tablets and returned it, disappointed not in the hardware (seemed not bad at all for $50, with a decent screen, snappy video, and sound that was better than reviews had led me to expect) but rather by the intentional limitations of the OS itself.
I bought a Fire on the first day of release as well, and set very low expectations for it based on how much I was paying. Ultimately, all I ever use it for is to watch movies I've downloaded on flights. It's Browser performance (just performing DNS lookups as far as I can tell from the UI, forget about getting pages to render) is anemic at best. I haven't even bother installing any applications that I could use to create or add data to it (like a text editor, dropbox, or even a non-throwaway email address), but I'm sure some people do that.
Oh on the plus side, it plays Minecraft like a champ, so it's useful for quieting the house.
Just amused that it can render rudimentary 3-D graphics, play full screen, full motion video, but I can't even use it to visit Slashdot...
It's actually very simple to get Google Services, including the Play Store, on the Fire. You don't even have to root it—just enable developer mode, activate USB debugging, install some drivers on your PC, and sideload a software package. Then, boom: you've got the Play Store and nearly every app I've tried works just fine. (Oddly enough, Google Inbox is one that doesn't.) As a side effect, it also disables Special Offers for free.
I gather you can go further with further hacking, outright replacing Fire OS with CyanogenMod or whatever, but I've never felt the need to. I have other pure Android devices, and this Fire the way it is is good enough.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
In an era in which computers, of all kinds including smartphones and tables, are powerful enough to do most things one could ever imagine, it's irritating that manufacturers impose artificial software limitations.
Those include: Being unable to install software from outside of an official app store (iOS and Windows Phone), being unable to uninstall certain bundled programs (You can't uninstall certain Google apps even from unlocked Android phones), being unable to install apps on SD cards (Android), etc... All of them can be summed up as not allowing the user to be root on their own device.
I don't doubt, because this is Slashdot, that a few people use them - with a stock ROM installed - for checking their email, but that's not really their purpose and Amazon doesn't go out of their way to encourage that kind of use, unlike Google Android where you pretty much set up Google's groupware suite as part of the setting it up process, and unlike phones where you have all of the above plus the mandatory text messaging.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
So the hardware and the O/S is a little limiting? Fine. It isn't the type of device you need.
On the other hand, all of the ridiculous levels of settings and personalizations and all that on a 5.1.1 or 6.0 Android box is too much for my parents to want to argue with.
There's something to be said for "works well enough". As developers we should not forget that, lest a simpler product line come along and put your complex fully-featured super-product out to dry, no matter what features the new upstart is missing.
I'm not saying Amazon's Fire will do that to Android, as the tablet market right now is still pretty large and has room for all (and of course, Fire could easily re-enable Android features they've suppressed at a moment's notice should the demand truly be there). But it is something to consider that not all products are the right fit for all audiences.
I have a Fire that I use for reading at night (Feedly, Pocket, and Facebook - all the links i've saved throughout the day - and kindle books if i'm still awake after all that). It works perfect for that purpose (I also use it as test platform for my apps since i'm targeting that easier-to-use market).
But I take a Samsung Tab 4 with me during the day, because that's the better one for when I want interactive stuff or games or things that require Google Play Services and all that.
Right tool for the right job and the right audience.
(That said, FireOS 5 did have a few really annoying bugs I've had to work around, but nevermind... :) )
"But remember, most lynch mobs aren't this nice." (H.Simpson)
-- Joe
We're all sorry to hear that you lost your job at Amazon.
I ROt13d your data. Pray I do not ROT13 it again.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
If you already have a Fire tablet, try an alternative ROM before returning/selling. As long as you are able to root the device, you can install safestrap, a ROM like cyanogenmod and Google apps. At this point, you have a fully functional device with a choice of launchers and app stores.
If you are thinking of this route, don't connect to WiFi during device setup. This way, you don't update bootloader and OS from potentially rootable versions and have most options for the device going forward.
Of course there is a wide choice of inexpensive Android tablets when shopping for a new device and rooting is hit or miss. But if you already have one in your hands, it's worth a shot.