tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post6525730238817900801..comments2024-03-18T22:39:50.137-07:00Comments on A Kindle World blog: Kindle Fire HDX and HD Tips: [WAS] *$30 off ANY HDX: 2 days*. $10 off 16GB Kindle HD 7" Gen2. Avoid v4.3 update for Kindle for Android. X-ray for Music. Recent reviews and points to consider. Display-test results for smaller and larger tablets from Apple, Google, and Amazon. UPDATED 12/26.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05109282436243758435noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-4712981142710966972013-12-24T17:01:41.123-08:002013-12-24T17:01:41.123-08:00Thanks for those comparisons, Tom. I'll check...Thanks for those comparisons, Tom. I'll check the next couple of days where there might be quiet time to see if anything is different on my KFire 8.9 and my Samsung tablet. Talk about the 'fragmented' Android situation, this is one of the results.<br /><br /> Fun celebrations to you and thanks again for your really-appreciated feedback and analysis.<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05109282436243758435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-63298295621738117962013-12-24T11:50:46.551-08:002013-12-24T11:50:46.551-08:00I have a (3-1/2 year old) Xoom tablet running 4.1....I have a (3-1/2 year old) Xoom tablet running 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean), which is not the latest version of Android by any means (that would be 4.4, Kit Kat). I don't think we have data to conclude anything about which Android versions or devices have problems and which do not, or even if it is worse than usual. Google Play reviews used to show which device the person had but not anymore. And the Kindle app description does not even list the current version ('depends on device'). <br /><br />It is kind of odd that Amazon would pull it from their own app store. One of their selling points is that they do more curation than Google, so you would think they would have discovered problems before pushing it out in the first place. But I think this is just the way things are with Android. Not only are there all of these devices and OS versions, but it is all infinitely customizable. Developers cannot anticipate everything, users have to be more self-sufficient in solving problems.<br /><br />What is better about Android Cloud Collections: <br />- when viewing a collection you can use List view (showing Author & Title). On the Fire you only have thumbnails, which may or may not have legible Author/Title<br />- you can have Custom sort (like iOS and Fire), but you can also sort by Author Title or Recent (unlike them)<br />- if you open a book from a collection, returning to Library takes you back to viewing the same Collection, maintaining 'context'. On Fire/iOS it returns you to the Collections list, you have no idea what collection you were just using and have to re-open the collection to resume reading the book.<br />- when viewing a collection on the Fire, all you can do with an item is to remove it from the collection. You cannot remove it from the device, add/remove to other collections etc. You have to go back to Carousel or one of the book lists to do anything else. On Android you can change collection membership, go to options, view shelfari book extras, and remove from device, as you can wherever the item appears.<br />- when using Add to add to a collection, Fire only lets you add Books OR Docs OR Audiobooks (you have to edit the collection from those respective 'silos' to add items of that silo's type). On Android you can add anything in your library, Books or Docs).Tom Semplehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05127272649086914117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-41194374505379418772013-12-24T00:45:01.802-08:002013-12-24T00:45:01.802-08:00I see why Amazon is not offering the v4.3.0.44 on ...I see why Amazon is not offering the v4.3.0.44 on its own page now. I checked the Amazon Kindle forums for more discussions and the Android Update notice isn't there now, but there is an older thread that's being used. It's <a href="http://bit.ly/af-k4android-updates" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/af-k4android-updates</a>. There the latest note says this:<br /> =====<br />"Posted on Dec 22, 2013 7:38:05 PM PST<br />Kittykatmilly says:<br />I just had this same problem. I just spent over an hour on with a special department within tech support and here is what they said/did. <br /><br />If you have an Android device with the most recent Jellybean OS, some phones with it are just not compatible at the moment. You have to uninstall your Kindle App updates and turn off Auto Update and wait for a new OS update from Android, or wait for a new version of the app to come from Amazon. It is likely that a new version of the App will come first since they are aware of the problem and looking at how to fix it."<br />=====<br /> In fact, I found my old Samsung 10" tablet which has an old ice cream sandwich v4.04 OS on it and updated the app for Android. I forgot how slow the older tablets are as everything takes forever, compared to the new HDX. But there is chatty feedback about what it's doing so I was never tempted to stop it.<br /> Each time I open the app it tries to sync again. Am spoiled by the new tablets.<br /> My only prob was getting newly bought books pushed to my old Samsung without my requesting it. But everything opened fine, Collections look good.<br /><br /> I guess I'll add the problem-acknowledgment and identification (or at least one identification) to a post. There are app-places people are recommending for the older versions. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05109282436243758435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-42891820432302183552013-12-23T13:48:43.206-08:002013-12-23T13:48:43.206-08:00Tom, I mentioned that Amazon HAD pulled the update...Tom, I mentioned that Amazon HAD pulled the update from its own store in that it is offering ONLY the previous version there (I gave the number for that and they're the ones who developed it), and it's on my Android former-phone (that phone was just replaced with the Win-based Nokia Lumia 1020). I could go to Google Play and get the later version on my Samsung S2 (still used as a 4.5" tablet for things like Cantonese lessons) but am not up for problem-solving currently.)<br /> -- Which Android device are you using? The unhappy reviews are one after another at the GooglePlay store and some are obviously experienced users. I think a lot depends on WHICH Android device you have, as far as any functioning probs, so it may not be that everyone who says they're affected is just being too impatient.<br /> It's the old "Works for me so you must be doing something wrong" ;-) ... and while there's a -chance- that is true I think it's less likely. So, the caution goes out, but I'm conservative and always wait until things settle down on a new app. That Amazon does not offer this version on its own Android appstore says enough for me.<br /><br />Add that the version they're offering is the latest otherwise but is from summer 2010. I do think that feedback on this one in the past, at GooglePlay has been spectacular, with lots of 5 stars, so people have a history of writing good feedback too on it.<br /><br /> I also make sure no apps auto-update because in cases of larger updates they interfere with the speed of what I might be trying to do and I don't like background things going on anyway unless I've approved it. My battery life stays great as a result :-) Stuff like the weather or news, I just don't care about until it's time for me to take a look.<br /> -- What is it that you miss on the Fire on the HD 7 2nd Gen that the 4.3 on Android has ? Interesting that they always give iOS the best features first and now maybe even Android (where it works for people, that is).Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05109282436243758435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-60497536333767313412013-12-23T13:14:33.628-08:002013-12-23T13:14:33.628-08:00Martin, thanks for taking the time to let me knopw...Martin, thanks for taking the time to let me knopw it was useful!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05109282436243758435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-521352982291561982013-12-23T11:51:41.523-08:002013-12-23T11:51:41.523-08:00Kindle for Android 4.3: I have not any problems wi...Kindle for Android 4.3: I have not any problems with it myself. It's nice having Cloud Collections (the best implementation to date IMO). It's rather ironic that the best implementations to date are on Android and iOS. Fire is missing a few things, and Paperwhite2 is a bit of a mess because you can't do collection management offline without getting nagged and because large collections are less manageable there.<br /><br />I noticed that it took awhile on the first launch after the update to get to 'ready' during which time it appeared not to have my books in there. This was a fairly major update, and I can imagine that it needed extra time to update local datastore and sync up with cloud. People aren't always patient enough, and conclude 'it isn't launching', 'it isn't registered', switch away, which of course shuts the app down before it can complete this initial setup, then the next time they launch it has to start that all over again, etc. Uninstall/Reinstall may seem to help but forbearance alone may be enough. And it's really hard to tell how prevalent problems are from the evidence of negative reviews (especially when these do not include details like device type, android version etc). Negative reviews are rarely retracted even when the author has resolved the issue, and people who are happy with an update aren't as likely to submit a review as someone frustrated and motivated to express that.<br /><br />This is one of the most popular apps on Android, so even if only a very small percentage of people encounter problems, their reviews can make it seem like it is a disaster. If that were the case, Amazon would have ample evidence for this and could pull the app, but they haven't done so. <br /><br />It's very easy to turn off Auto-updates (if I had a data plan that would be reason enough to turn them off). The more cautious can backup 'good' versions in case the new improved version is not to their liking. <br /><br />Tom Semplehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05127272649086914117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-16530753263413150832013-12-23T05:56:04.731-08:002013-12-23T05:56:04.731-08:00very informative post. Thanks for sharing this.very informative post. Thanks for sharing this.Martinhttp://www.esoftextensions.comnoreply@blogger.com