4 ms·

Probably a stupid question, but does Kindle have any "native" app support? I'm surprised the it even has a browser. I wonder what are the limitations?

by butz 3y ago

input_sh 3y ago
Nope, no app store, no way of installing apps (other than rooting a device). If you want to do anything other than read, I'd definitely recommend something running Android underneath.
- jepler 3y ago
  way before the kindle fire you could in fact buy "active content" for kindles on the amazon storefront. I recall buying a crossword app this way. It was fine, especially since this was an original (or 2nd generation?) kindle, which still had a physical keyboard ! At some point they dumped support for this. I recall it as being around the time the Fire came out. There doesn't seem to be a lot of info left out there, e.g. it merits just an un-cited sentence in wikipedia's article on the kind. there may have been some remnants of it as late as 2020 though: https://the-digital-reader.com/amazon-removes-active-content-section-of-the-kindle-store/ https://the-digital-reader.com/amazon-removes-active-content...
abdullahkhalids 3y ago
Kindle does not have any native app support. But it's a linux machine. If you can jailbreak it (which has become increasingly harder), then you can write/install custom apps on it. For example, back in the day I had a epub reader app installed.
riobard 3y ago
I was wondering if Amazon, instead of wasting money and time on Fire phones/tablets, had poured a portion of that resource into making native Kindle apps a thing, maybe it could have a more compelling ecosystem by now.
- Infinitesimus 3y ago
  It's unlikely that would have worked. 2 big ecosystems seems to be what the market will bear and choosing an Android base for the fire tablets makes a lot of sense. Very few people are going to bother writing apps for another ecosystem. Also, more apps means less control by Amazon which won't fly
ShrigmaMale 3y ago
it runs linux and you can compile a decent amount of stuff for it with an armhf toolchain. just have to jailbreak.

Probably a stupid question, but does Kindle have any "native" app support? I'm surprised the it even has a browser. I wonder what are the limitations?

by butz 3y ago

Probably a stupid question, but does Kindle have any "native" app support? I'm surprised the it even has a browser. I wonder what are the limitations?

input_sh 3y ago

Nope, no app store, no way of installing apps (other than rooting a device). If you want to do anything other than read, I'd definitely recommend something running Android underneath.

jepler 3y ago
way before the kindle fire you could in fact buy "active content" for kindles on the amazon storefront. I recall buying a crossword app this way. It was fine, especially since this was an original (or 2nd generation?) kindle, which still had a physical keyboard ! At some point they dumped support for this. I recall it as being around the time the Fire came out. There doesn't seem to be a lot of info left out there, e.g. it merits just an un-cited sentence in wikipedia's article on the kind. there may have been some remnants of it as late as 2020 though: https://the-digital-reader.com/amazon-removes-active-content-section-of-the-kindle-store/ https://the-digital-reader.com/amazon-removes-active-content...

abdullahkhalids 3y ago

Kindle does not have any native app support. But it's a linux machine. If you can jailbreak it (which has become increasingly harder), then you can write/install custom apps on it. For example, back in the day I had a epub reader app installed.

riobard 3y ago

I was wondering if Amazon, instead of wasting money and time on Fire phones/tablets, had poured a portion of that resource into making native Kindle apps a thing, maybe it could have a more compelling ecosystem by now.

Infinitesimus 3y ago
It's unlikely that would have worked. 2 big ecosystems seems to be what the market will bear and choosing an Android base for the fire tablets makes a lot of sense. Very few people are going to bother writing apps for another ecosystem. Also, more apps means less control by Amazon which won't fly

ShrigmaMale 3y ago

it runs linux and you can compile a decent amount of stuff for it with an armhf toolchain. just have to jailbreak.