Sunday, January 4, 2015

Quick Note re update to article on How to Install non-Amazon Apps on Kindle Fire HD and HDX tablets + planned blog topics


Quick note to those reading news feeds

I updated the blog article on How to install non-Amazon apps on the Kindle Fire tablets - to cover newer tablets too, clarify some aspects, add a note about other methods, and to link to the revised articles on how to get Flash working on later Kindle Fire models.

The news feeds don't bring updated older blog articles to the top, so this is just an alert, which I may delete from the main page eventually, since this quick alert is mainly for newsfeed apps that don't "see" the updated blog entry otherwise.

With the New Year, some blog posts I'm planning to do in the coming weeks include:

New Photos+video Cloud storage at no added costs and new general backup features
  (for settings) of the new Fire OS
Update on the progress of Fire OS updates and retrofitting for that OS on older Kindle Fires,
  with software updates v4.1.1, v4.5.1, and v4.5.2 so far.
  Fixes that are starting to come for sound issues for some, missing dictionaries, and missing personal highlights
Collections feature changes...but that depends on whether or not they were intentional
Most recent iOS app update
Hachette, Simon & Schuster, and McMillan agreements and what they may or may not mean.
Small external speakers for tablets and even eInk Readers
New keyboard alternative(s) on the Kindle Fires
Whatever might be happening with Amazon Echo and its nearest competitor


If you've any requests for article topics, let me know at andrys [at] panix [dot] com or at the Comments area here. Thanks.



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13 comments:

  1. HI, last comment from me regarding the Dolphin issue etc. Finally got everything downloaded, thru 1 mobile etc, but couldn't watch Acorn tv anyway, so am giving up for now...thanks for all the tips though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jessica, did you do the Settings (there's a separate paragraph on how imporant that is) to
      ... enable "Jetpack" (it's off by default) and
      go into Web Content to turn Flash ON (at all times) and make sure Javascript setting is Enabled also ?

      Hope those settings help you use Acorn...

      There was an additional paragraph on how important it is for some websites if we use "User Agent" (under Customization sub-setting) as Desktop, as some websites refuse to allow 'Android' devices to use their Flash. I moved that into the orange area with the other settings. This one should sometimes be 'Desktop' (as explained here) and at other times 'Android' might be smoother but I leave mine on Desktop and so far everything works that way.

      Delete
    2. I finally realized you haven't been looking at the article on running Flash video and are reading only the general article on non-Amazon apps (which does link to the How to Install Flash) ...

      If you haven't yet, go through the steps in How to Install Flash ... That's at http://bit.ly/kwv1229 for YEAR 2013-14 Kindle Fire tablets.
      (The older article on how to do this on YEAR 2012 Kindle Fires is at http://bit.ly/kwt1022.

      SILK does work with Acorn.TV though. Check your Silk settings for 'Reading View" and choose either "Automatic" or "Desktop" ...

      Delete
  2. Yup, carefully did each and everything directed....can't play Acorn at all, at least it played in a tiny version on silk. I'll just have to drag my heavy laptop around the house...etc. Thanks for trying!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jessica, sorry to read that. I'm curious now. I went to the site, browsed, found Brideshead Revisited, and watched the trailer, in full screen mode. Are you able to watch trailers? I'll try a free trial, to see if I can see full episodes. I'm on a Yr2013 HDX 8.9" tablet. Which Kindle Fire tablet do you have? I also have HD Yr 2012 and a Yr2013 7" HDX I've used as loaners.

      Delete
    2. Jessica, some good news. While Dolphin even on 'Desktop' user-agent mode was seen as a device for which Acorn would not support, the documentation said it did support Chrome. So I fired up my Chrome Beta and it works, both in normal mode and full screen mode to see a full series episode.
      Use your 1mobile app and search for 'chrome beta' - it works in default settings. I hope you see this note. Let me know.

      Delete
    3. Jessica again -- even Silk web works for me. In Full screen However, in full screen for both Silk browser and Chrome Beta, the pause-start controls are missing and so are the captions, which do show up in the normal viewing mode for both, which is about 2/3rds of the screen (when you swipe from right-edge-to-left to get Kindle Fire toolbar to go back to 2/3rds viewing mode).
      Chrome Beta responds to keypresses more reliably and takes less time to find HD mode than Silk does.

      Both Foxflash and Puffin did not work for me with Acorn. Nor did Dolphin But Chrome Beta and Silk do.

      Are you sure you have the right Adobe Flash file installed on your tablet?

      Delete
    4. Wanted to emphasize in this later reply subthread that SILK does work with Acorn.TV. Check your Silk settings for 'Reading View" and choose either "Automatic" or "Desktop" and not 'mobile'...

      Delete
  3. F/U...I can watch but without the pause/ start and captions, which means that if there is a glitch in the streaming I don't have any control. Oddly, every so often, usually when I have completely given up, I do get whole screen, captions, pause etc all going just fine and then it goes away. I have the HDX 7", the 2013 version. Can I presume I have the right adobe flash if I can watch Acorn in any fashion? Yes, I do Automatic or Desktop. I swipe from R to L, I restart the kindle, I spin to the R in my chair (just kidding). It seems like I am close but just not quite...thanks again for continuing to try to help.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jessica, glad you're able to watch some now. I guess you're using Silk? I tried several ways, but even without Flash on your system, the 'mobile' choice on Silk will get you what you're seeing and nothing more.

      If I choose a newer, very wide-screen HD or high-definition movie, that seems to do better if I'm using 'automatic' (which appears to use 'desktop' but I can't be sure). The lower row's CC for captions show up sometimes in not-fullscreen mode but only sometimes. Can't figure out how to make it show all the time.

      Seems that if you're viewing a more recent wide-screen HD movie -- after the picture's stabilized and you're NOT in full-screen mode, if you touch the screen at left center, sometimes the bottom row's other options, including CC (and time seen so far) show up and then the captions are really clear. But it's unreliable. Have you asked them about that? They say there's a way to 'hover' over the bottom row for options -- but that would be only when you're on a computer instead of a tablet.

      With full screen mode, I never see any start/pause or captions. To get Out of full-screen mode, you swipe from right-edge to left and sometimes that will get you the 2/3rds screen version which may suddenly show start/pause and captions.

      If you do automatic or desktop (automatic choice seems more stable than either manual-choice of desktop or mobile), then you have the right Flash. I tried using another Flash file and it didn't work at all, so I went back to the recommended Flash file linked in the "How to Install Flash ..." article.

      The last thing you can try is spinning to the L in your chair :-) Let me know if the developers who've been trying to help have any clue re the caption enabling and lower-row showing. I'll contact them eventually too. Glad you can at least watch a show!

      Another good thing to do is to Power Off the Kindle Fire and then Power it back on before trying the site next time. That gives a cleaner slate for less problems.

      Thanks for the follow-up.

      Delete
    2. I should say that Acorn site does not like Dolphin or Puffin though. It's either Amazon's Silk or 'Chrome beta' (which is no better than Silk web with Acorn).

      Delete
  4. When we upload the AZK output in the IPAD, the devices seems to be hanged. We tried in several devices, but result seems to be same.

    All device rendering properly the fixed format. Except amazon fixed format shows overlapping issues in paragraph. How to view this amazon fixed format and find exact issues. Any one can help for us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Karthik, your question, while not related to this blog topic, might be answered at http://pressbooks.com/blog/testing-pressbooks-kindle-output-on-iphones-and-ipads-mobi7-kf8-azk-gahhh/.

      There they say, at the end:
      " you can indeed test the AZK file on your Kindle/iOS, here is how:

      download Kindle Preview software (free)
      upload your MOBI file to Kindle Preview
      from the top menu, select: Devices –> Kindle for iOS
      this will convert the file to .AZK … and give you a link to the file on your computer
      take this file, and add it to your iTunes library
      connect your iOS device to your computer via USB
      go to Add Files … and select the .AZK file to transfer to your device
      open the Kindle app on your device, and look at the file
      in theory, it should look nice."

      ALSO, you can ask your question where there are AZK experts waiting to answer it. https://kdp.amazon.com/community/forum.jspa?forumID=13&start=0.

      The answer may be that only a purchased completed file by Amazon will show the right way on the iPad.

      Hope you find your answer.

      Delete

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