Naim App on Amazon Fire Tablets

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Hi all, first post (well on this new forum anyway!)

Just a quick question. Can I sideload the Naim app on to a fire tablet? Or even better get it through amazon? Does it work properly? Will it get updates or will I have to manually update it each time?

Thanks

Dave

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I think the answer is simply no.

Maybe if you can run an android emulator on the Fire tablet you could use the Naim app for Android, but I have no knowledge of whether such an emulator exists.

Best

David

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FireOS is an Android fork, so it’s possible that a side-loaded Naim app would work. You may well be the first person to try, I haven’t seen anyone here mention doing it.

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Yes you can install it.

I run it on my 8 inch fire tablet, it works perfectly.

I went the whole hog and installed the Google Play store etc. There are some guides on the web as to how to do it.

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@trickydickie
That’s useful to know thanks. I’m looking to replace an old Android tablet and the 10" Fire seems reasonable value. Do you find the Amazon take on Android as intrusive as some reviewers say it is?

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It does intrude a bit as Amazon are using it to push their services.

The home screen gets stuff come up that you have to hide and you only have one page of icons but it’s not too bad as you can group into folders like you can on most Android devices.

I got ours on a Black Friday deal and cost peanuts. It’s only used as a secondary tablet in the bedroom for controlling a Muso QB and for a bit of surfing etc.

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I bought the 8" Amazon Fire tablet but ended up sending it back because while the app works and runs fine mine didn’t give me the A-Z list down the right hand side which enables easy and rapid access to a large music library on my NAS. I also found the interface slightly less intuitive than the work ipad I had used before. In the end I decided to spend the extra £100 for a secondhand but mint ipad Air 2 (£191).

I guess if you are used to an Android phone you might find it OK. I’m actually pretty anti Apple generally and have for example only ever run high spec Windows PC’s and laptops but I must admit that compared to my wife’s Android Motorola G6 plus my old iphone SE is far far more intuitive to use and I remain convinced that Apple just do make the easiest to use phones and tablets and my experience with android is it doesn’t even come close.

Apple are frustrating in actual computers because they push you into their ecosystem, charge a bloody fortune for their products and make them a nightmare to service or get parts for.

Just my view,

Jonathan

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Thanks for the info @trickydickie and @JonathanG

On reflection I think I’ll get something that runs as close to stock Android as possible.

I’ve never owned any Apple product and I doubt I ever will. Some of the family own iphones but when I’ve tried to use one I’m completely lost, no such problems with my other half’s Motorola G6+ or my G7+ or any of our previous Android phones.

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Thanks trickydickie. I presumed to could be made to work. Does the app update itself, or when a new version comes out do you need to install it manually?

JonathanG, thanks, the fire 8 was what I was looking at. Was it quite recently you tried it? I’m thinking I can always buy one, then return it like you did if I’m not keen on it. The prospect of buying a less than the latest Apple product is off putting as it means it’s already closer to death (the end of software updates) than a brand new one!

I’m not a huge fan of the amazon system, but the price of the fire tablets is hard to ignore! I just want a tablet as a remote, it will not be used for anything else. I have an old google nexus 9 tablet with a cracked screen that is so slow it’s almost unusable! Without wanting to start or engage in the Apple/Android debate I will say as a former Apple user their hardware is becoming ridiculously overpriced for what it is (though I love the software). If I needed it for other things I could justify an iPad mini, but as it’s purely for use a remote it seems hard to justify the price. I was looking at the cheap Chinese tablets, but I think the problem with them would be the lack of software updates, both for newer versions of android and also for security updates.

Lots to think about.

Thanks

Dave

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For me it does as I installed the Google Play store so it works the same as any other tablet.

If you just sideload then you will need to update manually, the updates are not especially frequent so probably not a big issue.

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Thanks for that. I might hold out for the upcoming amazon sale and try one out!

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There is a new Fire 10 HD tablet due out at the end of the month.

If history repeats itself it may be a little hard to add Google Play to it until someone has the time to have a hack at it.

Have one on order so will update on how easy it is to side load the Naim app once it arrives.

BTW why don’t Naim just add it to the Amazon App Store? It’s hardly a difficult process.

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Yeah, if anyone from Naim can shed any light on why you can’t get it in the Amazon app store it would be interesting to know. That would solve all problems really!

Cheers

Dave

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For anyone reading this and wondering… I purchased a 7th gen refurbished Fire 10 for next to nothing. Took about 2 mins to install the play store and the Naim app works perfectly. Result.

Dave

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Dave,

I bought the Fire 8 this Summer so yes it was recently, good luck whatever you decide!

Fundamentally I really missed the right hand A-Z index which enables me to jump straight to artist names beginning with T for example rather than having to scroll down and down and down through hundreds of artists on my NAS music.

I have no idea why the Android Naim version doesn’t do this.

JonathanG

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