Amazon Fire HD 8 - Android Tablet Transformation

The Amazon Fire HD 8 is a budget tablet with quite good build quality. The only downside is that it comes with FireOS and custom Amazon launcher. What if we can reverse it to your standard Android Interface?

I have a few Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet that I got during the sales period and pass it on to my boy to use. The only download is that it comes with the FireOS launcher which is pretty restrictive. Good thing now there is a solution for that. Here will be sharing with you on the steps on how to modify your Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet to a more useful Android launcher to fully maximize the potential of the tablet itself.

1. Install Google Play Store 

Install these APKs in the following orders:

1. Google Account Manager
2. Google Services Framework
3. Google Play Services -[ 2017 Amazon Fire HD ], [ Previous version ]
4. Google Play Store

Download these APKs into a folder in your PC. There are 2 options of installing. I would prefer the 2nd option.

1st option - Install via ES File Explorer

1. Download ES File Explorer from your Amazon App Store. 
2. Copy the APKs into your device.
3. Go to Settings-> Security and Privacy, then turn on App from Unknown Sources
4. Navigate to the location on your device.
5. Install the APKs following the order above.
6. Uninstall ES File Explorer as it has lots of unknown substance.

2nd Option - Install via ADB

1. Download Minimal ADB and Fastboot then install it to your PC.
2. Go to Settings-> Security and Privacy, then turn on App from Unknown Sources.
3. Enable Developer Options - Settings -> Device Options -> Tap on Serial Number 7 times.
4. Go to Developer Options -> Enable ADB
5. Plug in the USB cable that is connected to your computer.
6. Launch Minimal ADB and Fastboot.
7. Navigate to the folder you downloaded the APKs.
8. Run this command in the order above. adb install <apk file name>. It means you will run this command 4 times to install the 4 APKs above.

After perform the steps you should see Google Play Store and Google Settings available in your Amazon Fire HD tablet.

2. Install Nova Launcher

1. Download and install Nova Launcher from Google Play Store.
2. Download Total Commander or any file explorer, I recommended Total Commander as we need to access the system file later on.
3. Download the latest LauncherHijack from XDA forum.
4. Transfer the LauncherHijack APKs to your tablet.
5. Launch Total Commander and install the LauncherHijack.
6. After install start the LauncherHijack and select Nova as default.
7. Go to Accessibility - > Under Services menu, turn on "Nova Launcher" and "To detect home button press".

3. Enable Widgets

1. Launch Total Commander and navigate to /system/bin.
2. Locate the file appwidget and copy it to your Internal Storage or /sdcard folder.
3. Connect your tablet to your PC and copy out the file to a temp location on your PC.
4. Open the file with Notepad++ and save it as appwidget.sh, remember to use file type as "All Files (*.*).
5. Copy the appwidget.sh file back to your internal storage and remove the previous appwidget file.
6. Launch Minimal ADB and Fastboot.
7. Run this command  adb shell appwidget grantbind --package com.teslacoilsw.launcher --user 0 
8. If not working try this adb shell appwidget grantbind --package com.teslacoilsw.launcher --user current.
9. Widgets should now be enabled on your Amazon Fire HD 8.

4. Install Google Assistant

1. Download and install Google App from Play Store.
2. Download and install Settings Database Editor from Play Store.
3. Download Minimal ADB and Fastboot then install it to your PC.
4. Connect your tablet to your PC.
5. Launch Minimal ADB and run this command. adb shell pm grant by4a.setedit22 android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS to enable write settings.
6. Launch Settings Database Editor.
7. Locate "voice_recognition_service" and it should be "com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/com.google.android.com.google.android.voicesearch.serviceapi.GoogleRecognitionService"
8. Add new settings via the app or easier way is via ADB.
• adb shell settings put secure assistant com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/com.google.android.voiceinteraction.GsaVoiceInteractionService
• adb shell settings put secure voice_interaction_service com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/com.google.android.voiceinteraction.GsaVoiceInteractionService
9. Now go to your Settings Database Editor, locate "alexa_enabled" and set it to 0.
10. Once everything is completed, launch the Google App then select the 3 bars and the bottom right. After that select Settings, then select Voice or Ok Google detection and follow the instructions.
11. Once you are done you can run adb reboot and voila, you have OK Google voice detection on your Amazon Fire HD 8.

5. Disable Lock Screen Ads

1. Download Minimal ADB and Fastboot then install it to your PC.
2. Launch Minimal ADB and run this command. adb shell pm grant by4a.setedit22 android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS to enable write settings.
3. Locate this line "LOCKSCREEN_AD_ENABLED"  "1" and change the value to 0.
4. Close the app and your lock screen is now without ADS.