Fire HD 10, ActionTiles, FKB Challenges

Please forward this to Support@ActionTiles.com ; We are becoming more concerned about Fire HD10 related issues because of multiple reports.

I run a Fire HD8 24x7 and don’t have such issues.

@625alex and I are, so far, unable to replicate any of the problems you’ve described, despite there being more than one Customer reporting this.

We’re confident that root causes can be found. We just hope it isn’t something completely outside our control such as an issue in FireOS or Fully - though it will be easier to get support from Fully’s developers than FireOS!

Just did so. Thanks for looking into this (even though I don’t think it’s really your issue ultimately). My question, if you can reach Fully, is why does ActionTiles work fine in Chrome on this device, but NOT Fully?

We’re trying to avoid to much speculation until we collect sufficient and consistently reproducible data.

But some facts

  • Fully uses the Android Webview system app (powered by Chromium … but it is not Chrome). On FireOS, Android Webview is older than standard Android devices, and it cannot be upgraded except by Amazon’s FireOS updates. In other words: Fully (or any Android Webview based browser) and Chrome are completely different!

  • Chrome is not officially compatible with FireOS (nor Play Store, nor any other “hacks”). If you wish to do a performance test comparison, please test with the official browser for FireOS: Silk.

  • Fully adds lots and lots of features. Just being loaded into memory could easily cause a difference in performance. But it may also be individual settings. Resetting to factory settings for Fully may be worthwhile.

  • We plan to escalate to Fully as soon as we have a reproducible case.

You rooted a Fire tablet and left the Fire OS on it? I would put a different operating system on there like CynogenMod, that way you can get a higher Android version like 6 or 7, with the latest WebView.

“rooting” is not the same as unlocking the bootloader so you can install a completely different, ROM, … no?

It’s my understanding that just being able to “root” is not necessarily sufficient to overwrite the boot partition; but I haven’t researched changing the ROM on Fire tablets because most no longer even have a practical root exploit.

I have not rooted any of mines only ran this script to remove the ads and to side load various apps (some of the stuff doesn’t work now with newer tablets).

I begged Amazon to remove the ads on a couple of Tablets and some others where the script did not work, I just paid them to remove. I still have a handful with ads.

I use the Fire Version of FKB and the enterprise license since I have over 10 tablets. If you actually did root, then that might be causing issues as I understand that it is extremely hard to root Fire Tablets.

I really haven’t had many issues with the 8s or 10s.

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We (ActionTiles) never recommend or recommended rooting Amazon Fire tablets. Never.

(If some post we made or one of our Customers made, or was made in a ActionTiles related topic said otherwise; I apologize. Of course, we can’t be responsible for what our Customers recommend.).

“Rooting is a process that allows you to attain root access to the Android operating system code (the equivalent term for Apple devices is jailbreaking. It gives you privileges to modify the software code on the device or install other software that the manufacturer wouldn’t normally allow you to.”
I can’t imagine why anyone would buy a Fire device and keep the Fire OS on it unless you think Amazon is a conscientious company putting their clients interests above their own and believe in Net Neutrality etc etc which clearly they aren’t. It’s the most closed Software system out there, what with the ads and the lock screen, who knows what information they are sending back to their servers, probably from the microphone also, you’re at the whim of every software “uograde” they decide to make. The main reason their Fire Tablets are so popular is because people are taking advantage of Amazon’s financial clout and marketing strategy by selling tablets at a considerably marked down price just to get into people’s homes. There is a huge industry of people, thousands of YouTube videos, showing how to get back full control of their tablets by rooting and flashing a regular Android OS.

Agreed… But with the latest models and/or FireOS updates, it has become nearly impossible.

Ac doesn’t recommend rooting because it is not essential to run our App. So for the average customer, the effort and risk outweigh the benefits.

Once rooted, the device is no longer comparable to our standard test devices, and so we can’t reliably replicate issues.

The user may also lose Alexa and Show features.

At this point it really doesn’t matter how some of us got here. We’re here and it seemed a good idea at the outset.

Here’s the painful reality: The Fire HD tablets look like a great option for this sort of use, but frankly in the end, they may not really be the best choice even if they are the most cost-effective choice when they go on sale. I wanted a color tablet panel that was large enough to really show off the setup I have and to be easier to operate, but I also wasn’t willing to spend hundreds of dollars for a “panel”.

At this point I’m not sure what the best path is. However, a couple things do seem to jump to mind:

  1. Can a Fire HD tablet be converted to a stock Android tablet with a flash of a vanilla version of the Android OS? If so, perhaps that’s the best option for any of us in this position as that MAY be the best chance for stability. As is, we seem to have the worst of both worlds, a Fire tablet that isn’t quite and an Android tablet that isn’t quite.

  2. The reason I keep mentioning Chrome is because I don’t even have Silk any longer. My Fire HD 10 has Chrome on it and no Amazon App Store. That has me wondering if, perhaps, I shouldn’t even be using the Fire HD version of Fully Kiosk Browser. I’ll try the generic one as soon as I get a chance. It would really help to know if the Fire version of FKB is depending on hardware or software for whatever it does that’s different. As noted, ActionTiles runs great in Chrome and I’ll try Firefox shortly too. I suspect it will likewise show no response issues.

In the meantime, I’m not casting blame on anyone but me. I made the choices. I just was looking to the community as it seemed clear others had taken the same paths I had and, perhaps, had resolved the issues I’ve encountered. Now I’m just curious about solving the puzzle.

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Seems like both of you are having issues with the FireTablets and both of you are fans of “rooting”

I can assure you that the FireTablets both the 8s and 10s run ActionTiles and Fully fine using the stock Fire OS. There is no need to root unless you absolutely can not live with the lock screen…Not only do you get cheap panels, but you also get Alexa Hands Free and Show Mode if you are into that.

Furthermore, when you add DAKboard to the equation, you get even more of a fluid experience.

Horses for Courses I guess but I highly recommended the Fire HD8, ActionTiles, Fully Pro and DAKboard to take your HA to another level.

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Thanks Ron. I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of rooting. Quite the contrary, in fact,. However, in this case the drawbacks to not rooting seemed to be an impediment to an optimal experience. The end result seems to suggest otherwise.

I’ve also looked at DAKboard a couple times and don’t see what it would bring. I mainly like my panel 100% dark unless I tap it into life.

Glad the stock setup works for you…

I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of rooting either Ron, don’t know what gave you that impression? It’s annoying, tedious, risky business. Amazon aggressively try to stop people from doing it, so it takes time finding the latest patch, but at least you’re left with a clean Android experience, none of the hardware is throttled, and you’re not sending back data to Amazon everyday. It’s more out of necessity. How can you have a wall tablet, that requires people to physically walk up to it, lift their arm, and swipe or tap each time just to see what’s going on in their house? That’s hardly automation is it? Actiontiles works best when the tablet wakes up with motion to show your panel, from across the room if need be, or only from 3 metres away as the case may be. And then the screen stays on all the time? Is that right? You have to dim it to make it look like it’s off? Doesn’t sound great for the environment, especially if you have more than 10 tablets like this. If you’re happy with stock FireOS, great, I’m just saying most people with Fire Tablets and ActionTiles decide, out of necessity, to root their devices.

Maybe this:

Either way, I understand what you all are saying. I just don’t relate.

Here are 2 different scenarios in my house.

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Alwas, are you running the Fire version of Fully or the regular one? Have you also noticed these issues vanish in other browsers?

And regarding your response to Ron, I agree entirely. I read the limitations and thought, “That’s entirely against what I’m trying to accomplish.” It would have drove me nuts having the screen on 24/7 even if it is dark. That has to take a toll. Plus I could see it, even dark, as there was a glow. I have its device motion sensor at 93 so if you get anywhere the device it turns on just from a footstep. I found that worked better than the camera approach as where this is located is usually so dark that the camera never saw me.

@Agrajag @Alwas
I have 2 8s just sitting in a box unopened. Got them for $35 each. Could you all provide me with a link to the rooting process?

Want to give it a go.

Thanks

I have the regular version of Fully. No issues at all working on 2 Android tablets that used to have Fire OS. I did have a rendering issue develop on a Samsung Tablet that was stuck on Android 4.4 because Samsung wouldn’t firmware upgrade it any longer because they want consumers to throw away “obsolete” devices and buy new tablets. It had an out dated version of the famous WebView on it, and ActionTiles stopped rendering correctly. I followed a YouTube video, rooted it and flashed it, and ended up with Android 6.0. It’s been great since.
All the info about the latest rooting techniques are on XDA developers, just find your device and go from there. Sometimes they say with the Fire Tablets to not turn on Wi-Fi the first time you use it because Amazon downloads a new firmware that may of not been cracked yet. And sometimes factory resetting still allows rooting, once you find the correct page it’s fairly self explanatory, and in my opinion it’s worth the hassle, you end up with a more powerful device.

Look on XDA-Developers.com forums. I just saw many threads on this there.

Do you know what process you followed for your Fire 10? It also appears as if we rooted, but left Fire OS 5.6 on the device. It seems to me that has to go. Just getting rid of that outdated webview message would be an improvement and maybe my other issues will go away as well.

That could also be an answer for ActionTiles: Perhaps the people with this issue are rooted, but ONLY rooted and not running a vanilla Android OS. Just a guess, but I’ll know soon enough.

I think you’re definitely right, if you get a vanilla Android OS on there, you’ll see everything run much smoother. I did mine a couple of years ago, I had smarttiles on there, so I’m out of date. It’s definitely half a days work to do it, finding the thread on XDA, reading through the thread, checking the correct instructions for the Fire OS firmware version you have, but if you’re already rooted, you’ve done the hard part already.