Fire tablet advice

#1

Evening all…

after some advice or help

so currently have a 2016 (I think) fire hd8, an old kids one that wasn’t being used.

I have Fullykiosk running on it with a sharptools dashboard with the dakboard screen saver…

All set up and working, however getting some “oddities”

So, randomly the blue tiles get grey bars on them (see pic) these could be when a light it activated or just at no specific point if the demo runs and motion is detected taking you back to the dahboard they “re fresh”

I have the same set up on a Lenovo 10" android tablet and don’t get this…

also getting some random “freezes” where nothing happens if you push a light button…but if I swipe over to the settings all is ok and option presses work…

also have had the screen zoom in, this could be me activating a gesture maybe, but nearly impossible to get it to zoom out…

some of these issues could be due to the age and lack of power of the tablet as don’t get these issues with the android one, however, I am wanting to persist with it as to my knowledge its the only to get my battery powered Eufy doorbell to auto show a feed when the bell is rang by using Alexa skills…considdering getting a 2020 fire tablet…

any pointers much appreciated
Tom

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#2

I think those bars on the display must be a display defect Tom and possibly same with the touchscreen activation. It looks to be associated with that Light Blue tile colour possibly (?) - what happens if you customize those tiles with a different colour? (something completely different like red) Same or no longer present?
Might be time to retire it and pick up another Fire - the latest ones have more hp and better options available (in FKB for example you can control the screensaver and auto-on from directly within FKB)
They go on sale regularly - I pad $65 for my 2020 Fire 8 - amazing value. Keep your eye out (or set an Amazon alert for price drop - also can do from Honey add-on)

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#3

I’ve seen something similar that started recently as well. I haven’t had time to dive into it as I was doing a lot of css customization but now that you mention it I will add my input as well.

You can see the artifacts in the header and the left most tile.

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#4

I agreed with @Bethel_Lane that the grey bars seem to be a display defect, and I would suggest to reset the tablet to factory and update the OS first before giving up on it.

#5

interesting, hope its not a fire tablet issue…just ordered the new hd 8 lol,

shame runs really well on my android Lenovo one, but cant find any way of getting the Dufy camera to work

#6

It’s definitely not an inherent Fire Tablet issue - just a ‘tired’ LCD display (my Keurig Coffee maker has same issue and it’s only a 1" square display! :slight_smile:

When you get it, I recommend go to xdadevelopers and download the Fire Toolbox - [WINDOWS][TOOL]Fire Toolbox V12.0 | XDA Developers Forums
Using that you can strip out all (or any) the Amazon Bloatware that you don’t want, load the playstore directly from the toolbox and even switch to a different Launcher (I use Nova Launcher and again you can do that directly from the Toolbox). You can also eliminate the ad lockscreen without paying the Amazon Premium.
Then with FKB, be sure to get the FireOS version apk from the Website - NOT the one from the PlayStore.
With the latest FireOS, you can directly control the screensaver and sleep with direct re-awake without having the lockscreen.

#7

interesting, great advice mate…does doing what you say mean the tablet thinks its android (not amazons skin version?) as if I download the Alexa app on my Samsung phone it cant display my eufy camera…

#8

yeah, I can’t display Eufy on my phone (via Alexa) either - but it’s definitely good from the Fires - I have 3, a 7, 8 & 10.
Although you CAN remove Alexa using the Toolbox (IIRC), that is one you would leave in there.

#9

cool ill give it a go (maybe on my old tablet first - getting a bit beyond my skills here)

I wasn’t sure if doing as you described made the tablet behave like the Samsung phone its say…

#10

Have a play with it - it’s pretty intuitive to use

Here’s my home screen with Nova Launcher. Even with FKB running in the Background, the screensaver and wake options still work same as if it were in foreground. (this is my 10, but my 8 is essentially the same, except I don’t load all the Smart Device apps, those I only have on the 10)

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#11

nice one…cheers for the pointers

#12

Screenshot 2021-03-15 at 20.57.04

Silly q mate…clicked on the link you posted, is the installer bit the bit I click on to install the tool box??

#13

Yes, second is same, just a zip fle. Just go directly with the Installer

You need a cable of course and allow USB Debugging from Developer Settings

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