I just purchased a brand new Amazon Fire HD 10 Tablet and would like to know how to optimize it for SmartTiles/Home Automation.
I’ve read there is a ton of bloatware/garbage. I want to know step by step what to do before starting it up and connecting to WiFi.
I’m not a programmer so looking for something easy to understand. Thanks
Removing bloatware is something that manufacturers do not make “easy” on purpose.
Regardless, there is an existing helpful and educational Topic…
Much has changed with recent Amazon updates, for example they have native stay on screen while plugged, now. Depending on what you are looking to do with your Fire, you may not need to change anything, just plug, connect and enjoy. If you want to install a bunch of Google Play apps, it may take you 30 min to download a few apk (add 5 extra minutes if you want a different launcher).
Basically, I want to have the tablet be dark when I go to sleep and light up during the day and in the middle of the night if the alarm is triggered. I am mounting the tablet beside my bed.
How would I do this?
I just want to know that it is safe to connect to the internet for the first time or if I should remove a bunch of stuff first.
I use Fully Kiosk Browser and have my tablets go dark when there is no motion for 1 minute.
For my bedside tablet, I turn it on manually.
Is it possible to have the tablet light up if the alarm is triggered?
Might be possible with Tasker.
Out of curiosity, why do you need the screen to come on when the alarm goes off?
The idea is to be able to see where the intrusion is quickly.
Clarification here. I use the Fully/motion sensor/dim: configuration too, and the screen goes very dim, but not off. In a bedroom, you may have an annoying glow.
Does the Fire tablet screen only light up when the button on the side is pushed or can you light up the screen by tapping the screen?
I can’t have any light in my room when sleeping.
Just trying to brainstorm having it in a wall mount where the side power button is not accessible.
You can have it where Fully turns off the screen altogether and will wake up based on motion. For this, you will have to swipe to unlock.
As far as mounting, Velcro holds these on the wall without any issues.
Here is one of mines:
The issue with just Velcro for me is that I cannot conceal the charging cord.
+1 on this! I’ve gone through both approaches on my various devices and I’ve found that if the tablet is primarily being used to display a dashboard or webpage, then Fully Kiosk Browser by itself is enough. No need to worry about sideloading Google Play, removing apps, running scripts, etc.
That being said, if you have a particular need for an app which depends on Google Play Services, then there are plenty of options for getting it sideloaded. And if the app doesn’t depend on Google Play Services, you can easily sideload the app without ever installing Google Play.
+1 on this as well. It’s one of the biggest downsides to Fire tablets as dedicated dashboards. On normal Android devices, Fully can completely turn off the screen and then turn the screen back on (and unlock it)… on Amazon devices, the workaround is to dim the screen really low. Otherwise you can have Fully turn the screen off, but you’ll have to manually unlock the screen like Ron does.
With regard to physical interaction, only a button press on the side will wake it. It doesn’t have double-tap to wake like many modern Android phones/tablets.
As mentioned above, Fully or Tasker can wake the Fire tablet, but they can’t unlock it.
Okay so just to make sure I understand correctly, it can be setup to wake with a screen tap/swipe, but you just need to enter a password, then it goes directly to whatever you had running (ActionTiles, etc)?
Someone mentioned that the screen doesn’t go fully dim with just a slight glow. I’m not okay with this because it’s going to be right beside my bed. Is this the case even when using Tasker or is there a way around this?
Sorry, this is all new to me and I’m learning everyday.
Fully can be set to ‘wake’ the tablet - for example, based on the camera detecting motion - the screen will turn on, but it will be at the ‘lock screen’. If you haven’t setup a password or other form of ‘lock’ for the tablet, then all you have to do is swipe to ‘unlock’ the screen and return back to whatever app you had open.
And apps like Tasker can also wake the tablet based on various events, but again it will only be woken to the lock screen where you will need to manually swipe to unlock the tablet.
So, no, you can’t ‘wake’ it from a tap of the screen. The only manual interaction to wake it would be to tap the power button on the side.
Using the examples you gave, will the screen dim completely when “sleeping” or is there still a slight glow?
Can you program the screen to light up based on time of day and motion?
When the screen is truly asleep, then there is no glow at all as the screen is completely powered down… but when it’s asleep, that’s when you have to manually ‘unlock’ the screen by swiping.
If you use the dim feature of Fully, it basically just keeps the screen on all the time with screen dimmed as low as it will go - the Fully Kiosk app is still running, it’s just displaying a black overlay… but the glow is definitely noticeable if you go with this latter approach.
I made cables out of cheap, like $2.99 cheap, wireless charging Qi receivers. I have a write up somewhere on here…Pictures below explains it.
My Tablets are plugged in behind the tablet. I use remodel 1 gang recessed box and an outlet that has USB on it. I get power from either a switch or outlet.
I have over 15 tablets running ActionTiles. However again, for my bedside Tablet, I just use a stand and turn it on manually.
Quick question: if I’m only using the Fire HD for SmartTiles/Home automation, should I register it to my Amazon account?
I just put in my WiFi password and it’s asking me if I’m me.
