Amazon
Amazon Fire tablets have a lot going for them, but there is one major caveat. The Appstore has far fewer apps and games than on an iPad or in the Google Play Store. Fortunately, we can solve that problem.
Why would you want to do this?
Amazon supplies Fire tablets with its own store for apps and games. While the Amazon Appstore has the most heavy hitters (Netflix, Spotify, Instagram, etc.), the selection isn’t nearly as good as the Google Play Store.
For reference, the Play Store has over 3 million apps and games, while the Amazon Appstore only has about 500,000. But here’s the thing: those 3 million and more apps in the Play Store are compatible with your Fire tablet.
Sideloading is the method of installing apps from outside the Amazon Appstore. At its core, Fire tablets run Android and support Android sideloading. It works just like sideloading on an Android phone.
One thing to keep in mind about sideloading apps is that they cannot receive automatic updates. That process is handled by app stores, which we don’t use. You’ll need to manually reinstall new versions of apps and games if you want to stay up to date.
Warning: Sideloading is disabled by default for some reason. The Amazon Appstore has security protocols in place to ensure that the apps and games you download are safe. It’s certainly not perfect, but it’s something. Sideloading apps bypass these protocols, so you need to be careful about where you get the apps from. APK Mirror is our recommended source for sideloading.
RELATED: How to Sideload Apps on Android
Install APK on Amazon Tablet
The first thing we need to do is download an APK file to download. You can go to APKMirror in the Silk Browser on your Fire tablet and download the app you want to sideload. Make sure to choose “APK” files, not the files labeled “Bundle”.
After the download is complete, tap “Open” in the message at the bottom of the screen.
A pop-up message informs you that you need to have the “unknown apps” app installed before you can install the APK. Tap “Settings” to go there.
Toggle the switch to “Allow from this source”. You only need to do this once for each app you use to install an APK.
Now you can go back to the previous screen and tap “Install” to complete the APK installation.
That is it! The app is added to the home screen in the “Home” tab. This is a fairly simple process that works for most Android apps and games.
RELATED: How to Install the Google Play Store on an Amazon Fire Tablet
However, it can get annoying if you sideload a lot of apps. Therefore, installing the Play Store may be a better option.
This post Sideloading apps on your Amazon Fire tablet
was original published at “https://www.howtogeek.com/178357/how-to-sideload-apps-onto-your-kindle-fire/”
