Nexus 7 with Kindle Fire Rom

[nfrisbie3]

Not sure if its been done or asked already I'm still new to the forums but is there any way to get the Kindle Fire version of Android on the Nexus 7? I enjoy using Amazon services and have a substantial amount invested in Amazon's ecosystem. I know I can install most of the apps but I like the Fire's interface and like a lot of what Amazon introduced today.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[seriyb]

I'm pretty sure the answer is NO.
This is a completely backwards idea and hackers would rather spend time installing JB on Kindle than the other way around.

Why not just buy Kindle and have a perfect experience if you like it so much?

 

[mkiker2089]

It's possible but untried. Get the kindle fire utility program and if it recognizes the nexus a reboot and stock restore may work.

 

[AZImmortal]

It's possible but untried. Get the kindle fire utility program and if it recognizes the nexus a reboot and stock restore may work.

No, it's not possible. These tablets have completely different hardware. The most you can expect from doing this is to end up with a bricked device.

 

[dmmarck]

I'm sure someone can port it or make a skin, but whether or not it'll act like a KF remains to be seen.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2

 

[nfrisbie3]

I already have the Nexus 7 and like it. Now what's the difference between installing this and a custom rom ? Just because you think its backwards thinking doesn't mean it is. Its the same thing you want something different than the original. If it bothers you that I asked then don't respond.

(In response to seriyb)

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[Ravynmagi]

I already have the Nexus 7 and like it. Now what's the difference between installing this and a custom rom ? Just because you think its backwards thinking doesn't mean it is. Its the same thing you want something different than the original. If it bothers you that I asked then don't respond.

(In response to seriyb)

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

If all the ducks are flying south and you are flying north, then to everyone else you are backwards. Sorry for the stupid analogy, but I understand why someone would think this sounds backwards.

This is the first time I've heard of someone wanting to put KindleOS on their Android tablet. It's always the other way around, people want to get Jelly Bean or ICS on their Kindle tablet.

I imagine it's possible, but I just don't believe there is enough interest in this type of thing for ROM developers to devote precious time on such a project.

Probably better off just trying to sell the Nexus 7. Since you want KindleOS, might as well buy a Kindle Fire HD, I think the hardware is better than the Nexus 7.

 

[nfrisbie3]

If all the ducks are flying south and you are flying north, then to everyone else you are backwards. Sorry for the stupid analogy, but I understand why someone would think this sounds backwards.

This is the first time I've heard of someone wanting to put KindleOS on their Android tablet. It's always the other way around, people want to get Jelly Bean or ICS on their Kindle tablet.

I imagine it's possible, but I just don't believe there is enough interest in this type of thing for ROM developers to devote precious time on such a project.

Probably better off just trying to sell the Nexus 7. Since you want KindleOS, might as well buy a Kindle Fire HD, I think the hardware is better than the Nexus 7.

Lemmings all go in one direction too just saying.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[dmmarck]

I already have the Nexus 7 and like it. Now what's the difference between installing this and a custom rom ? Just because you think its backwards thinking doesn't mean it is. Its the same thing you want something different than the original. If it bothers you that I asked then don't respond.

(In response to seriyb)

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

The only issue I see is how... Bloated and stifling the OS is. That would preclude many devs from bothering, unfortunately or fortunately.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2

 

[MichaelPayton21]

Jeez, people. grow up. He's just asking for a home launcher. Not everyone has to live in you some Nexus hive mind of sameness. You don't need to get snotty with the guy for daring to not want pure Android on his screen.

As to the OP, the Kindle OS is really just a skin over Android 2.3. It probably won't work with any tablet natively running 4.0+. Once the new Kindle's ship using 4.0 as their base it might be possible. I'm not sure there is an existing home launcher that can currently replicate that appearance and function, but it would make a nice project for someone.

 

[crackberrytraitor]

Pretty sure just about every good dev on xda would be horrified at even the suggestion of such a thing.

Sent from my One X using Android Central Forums

 

[dmmarck]

Pretty sure just about every good dev on xda would be horrified at even the suggestion of such a thing.

Sent from my One X using Android Central Forums

Nah, they'd see it as a challenge. I know I would!

Sent from my Overly Suspicious Robotic Grouper

 

[drewwalton19216801]

There's one fundamental issue with this. The Kindle Fire runs an extremely modified version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Even getting it booting would require backporting all of the Nexus 7 kernel drivers from Linux 3.0 to 2.6. Getting any of the other hardware working would require reverse engineering ALL of the proprietary libraries and drivers from Android 4.1 all the way back to 2.3. No developer in their right mind would even consider attempting something like this.

tl;dr
Not gonna happen.

 

[dextorboot]

I'm sure at some point someone will make a launcher that makes it look like a Fire but you'd also need other apps that mimic the way other content on the Fire is displayed. Using Amazon's other apps would do most of the trick but you'd still need a player for Amazon Video. I thought I read on these forums a month or so ago that someone attempted to use the apk from a Fire but it did nothing. I think it'd at least be a worthy endeavor to get the Fire apps working on native Android. The book display is a much nicer look than the kindle app ever was. I don't know if functionality is really all that different though.

 

[rootbrain]

Nah, they'd see it as a challenge. I know I would!

Sent from my Overly Suspicious Robotic Grouper

Yep, someone, somewhere would put a souped up VW engine into a Porsche, just because they can!

LOL

 

[seriyb]

I already have the Nexus 7 and like it. Now what's the difference between installing this and a custom rom ? Just because you think its backwards thinking doesn't mean it is. Its the same thing you want something different than the original. If it bothers you that I asked then don't respond.

(In response to seriyb)

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

Sorry, wasn't trying to come out as disrespectful. I was just saying that I'm pretty sure that there will never be such ROM because you can just save yourself the trouble and go buy KF.
Kindle is such a closed OS that no "hacker" will want to use it anywhere. It's like going backwards.

And I'm not saying that KF is a bad product. It's probably great for what it is but not to butcher N7.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Jeez, people. grow up. He's just asking for a home launcher. Not everyone has to live in you some Nexus hive mind of sameness. You don't need to get snotty with the guy for daring to not want pure Android on his screen.

As to the OP, the Kindle OS is really just a skin over Android 2.3. It probably won't work with any tablet natively running 4.0+. Once the new Kindle's ship using 4.0 as their base it might be possible. I'm not sure there is an existing home launcher that can currently replicate that appearance and function, but it would make a nice project for someone.

Amazon did a lot more than just make a custom launcher or skin. The changes are a lot more in depth than that. I imagine some developer could do it, but with some many projects a developer could be working on, this seems like an odd one that would be appreciated by very few people. If I had the skill to do something like this I sure as heck wouldn't waste it making a $200 Kindle Fire OS run on an $200 Nexus 7. Seems a bit pointless.

As for the Nexus hive mind of sameness. The cool thing about the Nexus is that it allows us to be very different and individual, it's very flexible in what it allows us to do and customize right out of the box. It's the Kindle that is the hive mind of sameness.

 

[natehoy]

Nah, they'd see it as a challenge. I know I would!

But it's unlikely that you'd ever actually want to share the resulting monstrosity with anyone, right?

Mostly, devs want to take hardware that is subsidized (therefore cheaper) and in a locked ecosystem and rip it out of that ecosystem and into something more open. It's called "getting more for your money". I have a B&N-locked Pantech Digital Novel running full-on Eclair to prove it. Someone bought one, said "hey, this is based in Android but I hate GetJar and where's my Google App Store?" and hacked-and-whacked a backport from a more recent Pantech device and made it work.

A further problem is that most of these aftermarket builds depend on some sort of support from the original manufacturer. Drivers for hardware, etc. Aftermarket ICS builds for my beloved Thunderbolt (for variable definitions of beloved) haven't become available until recently because a test build just recently became available to hack and compile against. Very few hackers have the time and resources to actually build out Android from scratch and get all the drivers written or even assembled.

So combine a generally-not-desirable outcome (taking an open device and locking it into a closed ecosystem, thereby ruining part of its desirability), with the fact that similar devices already exist at the same price and specs that are already locked in to that ecosystem, with the fact that the Amazonified portions of Android are not readily available to developers, and you've got a recipe for a lot of developers walking right past the concept looking for something easier and more generally useful to do.

 

[natehoy]

I thought I read on these forums a month or so ago that someone attempted to use the apk from a Fire but it did nothing. I think it'd at least be a worthy endeavor to get the Fire apps working on native Android.

Amazon has put a significant amount of effort into making sure that will never happen without their specific say-so. They actually want to take the loss of having you own a Fire, because then you are locked into their ecosystem for most of your media.

There's nothing wrong with that. Phone companies will give you a subsidized phone to keep you locked in as a subscriber. It's a business model.

If Amazon started taking all comers to their apps, they'd have to work harder to compete on media costs. Once they have a Fire in your hands, you're more likely to buy a dozen books from them rather than somewhere else where they are $5 a pop cheaper, because you're in the Amazonosphere and it's just easier.

Plus making those APKs run on other hardware means their DRM algorithms would suddenly be opened up to a plethora of folks who would love nothing more than to get all their Amazon content for free.

I'm sure there are some really interesting and hard-to-bypass dependencies baked in.

 

[dextorboot]

I agree with basically everything you said but you lost me when you said they'd have to try harder to compete on media costs. They already price match every major e-retailor on ebook and music price. It's one of the biggest reasons I'm having such a hard time using $25 playstore credit. There's competition from some of the independents out there but so few people use them they're basically a non factor. Anyway, just my 2cents and completely off topic.