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Amazon’s Fire Tablets are some of the cheapest tablets worth buying, especially if you can get one when it’s on sale. But part of the reason Amazon’s tablets are priced so competitively is because they ship with a custom version of Android called Fire OS that’s tightly integrated with Amazon’s app, eBook, music, and video services rather than Google’s.
While that tradeoff is fine for some users, folks who want to install apps or use features that aren’t available have been hacking Fire tablets for about as long as Amazon has been selling them. While the company has never taken steps to block all Fire tablet hacks, there are some things Amazon really doesn’t want you to do… but thanks to a recently discovered exploit, the latest version of the unofficial Fire Toolbox application for Windows and Linux lets you do them anyway.
Long story short, while users have been able to install the Google Play Store and sideload other third-party apps, in recent years Amazon has made it very difficult to do things like fully disable and replace key apps and services on tablets running Fire OS 7 or Fire OS 8, including the Fire Launcher home screen app, Alexa voice assistant, and Amazon keyboard.
While earlier versions of Fire Toolbox included workarounds, they could be a little finnicky. But Fire Toolbox v42 for Windows and Fire Toolbox v12 for Linux incorporates the latest exploit to give you system user-level control over the tablet. This isn’t the same as root access, but it does let you disable or alter system applications that are supposed to be protected.
It also includes a new method for blocking over-the-air updates, which means that once you’ve made changes to your tablet, you shouldn’t have to worry about Amazon pushing out an operating system update that will override them or patch the vulnerability that allowed you to make those changes in the first place.
That said, there are a few things to keep in mind before you start hacking your Fire tablet.
It should probably go without saying, but one is that this is not supported by Amazon, so don’t expect any support from the company if you accidentally delete something important or make some other changes.
Another is that you will need to enable developer mode on your tablet, connect it to a computer with a USB cable, and then use Fire Toolbox on your PC to make modifications to the tablet.
Third, while Fire Toolbox v42 and later for Windows and v12 for Linux will give you system user privileges, you’ll lose them if you reboot your tablet. The good news is any changes you make to the system will be persistent though. So any apps and services you disable or replace will remain disabled and replaced even if you no longer have system user access.
Fire Toolbox developer DataStream33 says that it’s actually recommended that you do reboot your device after making changes, because apps have a tendency to crash if you don’t. Just remember that you’ll need to use Fire Toolbox again if you want to make any other changes.
Fourth, if you’re using the Windows version of Fire Toolbox, there’s a pretty hacky workaround required that involves opening an ADB Shell window and then right-clicking in the window to execute a command – but in my testing, Fire Toolbox failed to click in the correct space about 90% of the time, so I had to keep running the tool over and over until it was finally able to leverage the system user exploit. Update: A fix for that issue should be available in the next version of Fire Toolbox.
And fifth, it’s highly likely that Amazon will roll out a software update soon that patches the vulnerability that lets you do all of these things. So you might want to seriously consider blocking OTA updates before you finish using Fire Toolbox. While this will keep you from getting future security or feature updates, it will also make sure that you won’t lose the ability to keep hacking your tablet.
Here’s how to get started with Fire Toolbox:
- Download and install the latest version of Fire Toolbox on a Windows PC.
- Enable USB debugging on your Fire tablet by following these steps:
- Open the Settings app on your Fire tablet.
- Scroll down until you find Device Options and tap it.
- Tap the serial number 7 times until a message pops up saying that you’re now a developer.
- Tap the back button to return to the previous screen.
- Tap the new item that says “Developer Options.”
- Slide the toggle to enable Developer Options.
- Scroll down until you find “USB Debugging” and slide the toggle so that it’s enabled.
- Plug your tablet into the Windows PC using a USB cable.
- Run the Fire Toolbox app on your PC.
- A box should appear on the tablet. Click OK.”
- Once you’ve done that, you can use Fire Toolbox on your PC to perform all of the actions mentioned above.
Of course, if you don’t want to jump through all of these hoops just so you can do things like install a custom home screen/launcher app, custom keyboard, and make other changes to your tablet, there is another solution: buy a different budget tablet like the Lenovo Tab M9 or Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+.
But if you’ve already got an Amazon Fire tablet and find the out-of-the-box experience restrictive, then the latest version of Fire Toolbox gives you more control over the software that runs on your device than Fire tablet users have had in years.
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