Picked up a used FireHD8

SharpTools for Android
#1

So grabbed a second Fire HD8 to use in my basement, first one is in my family room.

I thought I recalled seeing a dummies guide to setting up Dashboards and Fully on a Fire tablet, but can’t seem to locate it. Was it a thread?

Also, I restored from my “backup” when asked with the new HD8, but it didn’t bring over any of the apps like Fully, Ring, etc. Is that because those apps are not available on the amazon store so I need to sideload them? It’s been so long since I set the other one up, I’ve literally forgotten everything! :slight_smile:

#2

@S_D, I think this Fully setting list from @josh might be what you are looking for.

I’d suggest you to download the Fully apk for FireOS directly, instead of side loading Google Play Store, because I have experienced the degraded performance over time when side loaded.

https://www.fully-kiosk.com/en/#features

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#3

Thanks. Not sure why, but the dashboard graphics are messed up, and I have that bluebar stuck at the top of the screen. Seen this before?

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#4

In case you’re wondering, that’s a weather ribbon. Also the pixelation is at various points around the screen (can see it in the Family Room icon).

Only shows up on the dashboard in Fully. Some dashboards are ok. Everything looks fine when I look at it through Chrome.

Got rid of the blue bar at the top (forgot to put ?kiosk=true at the end of the URL). But still have that weird pixelation/smudging??

#5

Okay doesn’t appear to be a settings issue. Copied the Fully settings from my other Fire HD8 device (same Gen 7),same issue.

Oddly, when I press down on the weather strip and hold it the picture looks fine. But when I let go of us either a completely white box on one dashboard or what you see above on a copied dashboard.

#6

Does this issue only occur on one of the HD8 devices, but not the other? If so, what are the differences between them? OS version, Fully Kiosk Browser version and etc.

#7

Yes just on one. Believe they are both in 5.6.8.

Fully kiosk 1.36.1 on the older one vs 1.42.1 on the recent one.

I tried installing that one from an apk I found. Same issue. Though not sure if the apk was a FireOS version.

#8

Actually my first tablet is on 5.6.6, the “newer” old tablet is 5.6.8.

#9

I’d suggest to remove Fully Kiosk Browser and reinstall the latest version (1.42.5) and make sure it is for FireOS on the new tablet. If the issue still remains, I’d probably do a factory reset.

#10

Thanks, nothing seems to fix it. Did a factory reset, reinstalled everything… Same issue.

For now I’ve just removed that weather media tile/link from the dashboard and it seems to otherwise work fine.

So odd?

#11

That is odd. Where did you pick it up used from? As unlikely as it might be, just wondering if something could be wrong with the tablet itself since you mentioned it was used in the title.

Also seems weird that it works fine in other browsers which would make me think it’s a software thing. How are you running Chrome on it? Sideloading Google Play on my older Fire 8s gave me all sorts of headaches. The new ones from 2020 seem to handle it fine though.

#12

I used a tool from XDA Developers to put the google services on the account and outside of Fully (and a Harmony app) downloaded apps from the Play store, including Chrome.

Maybe it’s a 5.6.8 thing vs 5.6.6? It is weird though, seems to be driven by the Weather.com widget tile that is causing the issues. I redid a tile and things seem to be ok. I just can’t use the same weather tile that is being used on my main Fire HD8 tablet.

#13

I was going to use my 2020 tablet, but realized it doesn’t fit the wall mount I purchased. To get a wallmount from etsy into Canada literally costs ~CAD$70-80 after shipping, which is pretty much the cost of a new tablet…nuts! Since I had an extra one lying around I went on the hunt for a cheap 7th or 8th gen tablet instead and paid CAD$35 for it.

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#14

…and darn it, now I’m having that weird issue where my screen brightness drops to 0 after a while!

#15

Are you using the screensaver feature in Fully?

#16

Yes I am using the screensaver in Fully (sorry, had to type 20 characters and “yes” wouldn’t suffice! :slight_smile: )

#17

@Chris_C Curious, with the newer 2020 HD8’s, is there still the issue of not being able to override the lock screen? I hate seeing the glow of the screensaver (even at 000000cc) in a dark room.

#18

Here is a helpful setup video. (1) Fully Kiosk Browser on Amazon Fire Tablet & SharpTools Dashboard (2021) - YouTube

#19

I have new HD 8 - no problem with Screen saver and lock screen
(have same settings on a 10, an 8 and a 7)
Have it set so if no activity after 120s it brings on screensaver (an mp4 file)
Then after 300 secs the screensaver goes off and it goes to black screen
It wakes by either Motion or in low light, a tap on the screen.

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#20

This is on a Fire HD 8, right? When it wakes after the screen is turned off from the ‘Screen Off Timer’, it takes you to the lockscreen instead of directly back into Fully, right?

I’m trying to remember if I had seen that ‘Unlock Screen’ option before, so I’ll have to give it a try. The problem historically has been that if the screen went off on a Fire OS device, it would take you back to the lock screen when it woke back up. (Whereas normal Android tablets could bypass the lockscreen altogether)