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Bert22306
Depends on the user. A user who has exacting requirements will have the better ...
GoStripes
Its not really removed, if your device doesn't conform to the specs for the OS ...
Android market hack for Kindle Fire
Sylvie Barak
11/28/2011 8:59 PM EST
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--While Amazon Inc.’s wildly popular Kindle Fire tablet launched recently without official access to the Google Android Market, it hasn’t taken developers long to hack the code and make it work.
The hack surfaced on renowned forum for Windows Mobile and Android experts, XDA, whose community is generally among the most audacious and innovative when it comes to creative software hacking for mobile platforms.
No sooner had the Kindle Fire source code been released, XDA developers quickly figured out how to root the device, posting a “how to” on the forum for those hoping to get Google apps like Calendar, Gmail and the Android market running on it.
The hack is not a complicated one, involving a handful of APKs to download and install, but users do need to follow the instructions about which files to drop into which folders, as well as which permissions to adjust in order to get it working.
The entire process takes no more than a few minutes, even for those relatively new to Android hacking, but XDA does note that, as with any modification to system files, there is always a chance one could cause damage to their device, and says users should root at their own risk.
There are even hacks which will allow users to modify their home screens to include the Market icon onto the Kindle Fire UI.
The XDA developers responsible for the hack said some familiar apps might be missing from the market, owing to the fact that the Kindle Fire lacks certain hardware specifications needed to run them all. “However, once custom ROMs start appearing for the Kindle Fire, it is a safe bet it will no longer be the case,” wrote JolleyBoy, one of the developers on the project.
For those who own a Nook instead, not to worry, XDA has an Android market hack for that too.
The hack surfaced on renowned forum for Windows Mobile and Android experts, XDA, whose community is generally among the most audacious and innovative when it comes to creative software hacking for mobile platforms.
No sooner had the Kindle Fire source code been released, XDA developers quickly figured out how to root the device, posting a “how to” on the forum for those hoping to get Google apps like Calendar, Gmail and the Android market running on it.
The hack is not a complicated one, involving a handful of APKs to download and install, but users do need to follow the instructions about which files to drop into which folders, as well as which permissions to adjust in order to get it working.
The entire process takes no more than a few minutes, even for those relatively new to Android hacking, but XDA does note that, as with any modification to system files, there is always a chance one could cause damage to their device, and says users should root at their own risk.
There are even hacks which will allow users to modify their home screens to include the Market icon onto the Kindle Fire UI.
The XDA developers responsible for the hack said some familiar apps might be missing from the market, owing to the fact that the Kindle Fire lacks certain hardware specifications needed to run them all. “However, once custom ROMs start appearing for the Kindle Fire, it is a safe bet it will no longer be the case,” wrote JolleyBoy, one of the developers on the project.
For those who own a Nook instead, not to worry, XDA has an Android market hack for that too.
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chanj
11/28/2011 9:43 PM EST
Shall Google stop Android being hacked? Or shall they embrace the hacked hardware, allowing the users to use Google Marketplace and other features?
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SylvieBarak
11/28/2011 10:46 PM EST
I think its hackability is Android's whole appeal, really.... take that away and it's not a particularly enticing OS!
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GoStripes
11/29/2011 5:34 PM EST
No Google should just continue doing what they are doing now. Device which don't comply with certain rules don't get access to the Google apps (which have never been open source and never will be) - you get a certain assurance of hardware quality if you get a device which has the Google market on it.
This would disappear if they allowed any Android device (Hey, I've compiled Android for my toothbrush!) got the market.
normal people who don't hack or root won't really care.
The tiny minority of nerds who do care can do it, and it just adds to the saleability
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GREAT-Terry
11/29/2011 12:24 AM EST
The risk is that finally the Android will be out of control, like what we face now with the instability of the ever-blaming MS Windows.
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Dave.Dykstra
11/29/2011 12:36 AM EST
Well, my perception was that Android was already either out of control, or on the verge of being so. As Sylvie points out, the hackability makes it very attractive to hackers.
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p_g
11/29/2011 10:58 AM EST
This is not a Android hack, its adding android market back which was removed as part of customization by Amazon.
And I feel allowing customization is the most attractive feature of Android where each seller can create its own market.
I think in this case its threat to Amazon and not to Google. Amazon lost the control over market place.
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GoStripes
11/29/2011 5:37 PM EST
Its not really removed, if your device doesn't conform to the specs for the OS version Google won't let you have their apps (their apps are closed sourced and copyrighted and not part of Android).
If the Fire is using Android 2.2 for instance it must have bluetooth and GPS to name two things (why? Because that's the rule the made back then, and they are not going to go back and change it now)
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wilber_xbox
11/29/2011 12:36 PM EST
if in the end someone would hack the system as the company has provide the source code then why not company itself provide these basic facilities which make device more appealing....don't understand the logic behind such things.
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Patk0317
11/29/2011 5:20 PM EST
The whole purpose of Android is open system - the antithesis of iPad iOS - supposedly totally closed. Eventually (if not already) there will be more Android devices out there than iOS, but who will have the better end to end user experience? And will that matter more than an open system?
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Bert22306
11/30/2011 4:58 PM EST
Depends on the user. A user who has exacting requirements will have the better experience if he can make the tablet do exactly what he wants.
A user who has no special requirements is better off conforming to what someone else thought up.
Imagine how useless a PC would be, if it could only do what someone else's "app" was designed to do.
Hackability defintely puts me in the Android camp.
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