Is there a guide for setting up a fire tablet for ActionTiles?

Devices & Integrations
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Fire HD 10 tablets are on sale, so I picked a few up, I have never used an amazon tablet, so I am unsure of the most efficient way to set them up for ActionTiles , Do I have to use my amazon account? the tablets will be wall mounted and only used for home automation.

Is there a guide that explains the pros and cons of the different ways to set up the tablets.

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There is an app in the AppStore.

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Hi Robbie,

I’ll keep an eye on this thread for further comments, but really, like anything in a smart home, the optimal configuration depends on your unique household and requirements.

Our general recommendation is to make the minimal changes necessary. It is not necessary to install the Google Play Store (or any Google Services) for example. Any unnecessary changes increase the chance of difficult to diagnose issues.

But a few points:

  • Ads cannot be reliably disabled, except by contacting Amazon and possibly paying the requested fee.
  • Lock screen cannot be disabled by any means (except if you are able to remove FireOS - which there is no practical means of doing so).
  • Lock screen can be essentially avoided by activating Developer Mode on the Tablet (tab the Serial Number 7 times for the Developer Menu) and selecting “Never sleep when powered”. And then - always leave the Tablet plugged in.
  • Since an always-on screen may give off too much light, a kiosk-mode browser such as Fully-Kiosk (download the FireOS APK directly from the “download box” at https://fully-kiosk.com) has a built-in screensaver option, for which you can set the screensaver to be a completely dimmed black page. This does not shut-off the backlight, but it is pretty faint.

For the ActionTiles “Fully” (etc.) page, please visit our Feedback Forum, including this specific Topic:

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Nothing you really “have” to do.
I use Fully Kiosk paying for the full licenses. Small fee per Tablet.

I use DAKboard for my Screen Saver as it makes the Tablets look awesome when they are not in use. It allows for a Slide Show of pictures, Weather, Current Event, Calendars, etc.

When you walk up to the Tablets, then they show the ActionTile (AT) Panel that is assigned to that Tablet. Also have tiles for exploring all of the other AT Panels. After a designated period, DAKboard come back on.

For the ones that don’t need to be always on, a simple swipe up gets me to the AT screen.

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Thanks for the replies, what about activating the tablets? Are there any pros cons of using my main amazon account? Or should I create a “house” account?

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I’m running under my one account, and haven’t found any reason that I shouldn’t be.

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I still think Amazon/Alexa doesn’t handle multiple “profiles” very well, but I think it would be even worse if you have to think about multiple Amazon Accounts involved. I guess the “house” Account could be made a “family member” Account and thus have it’s own profile and be a little isolated. I doubt this is typical in any normal Alexa household, though.

If you use Amazon Photos (or other services attached to your Amazon Account), then a separate House Account could help maintain privacy. The House Account’s photos would be all family-friendly and such, and usable in the native tablet screensaver … :thinking: