Lafayetteflyer

Apparently united now has an android application for their personal device entertainment now offered on flights were the video screens were removed, However it will not download directly to a kindle fire (which is an amazon modified android system) because it says you done have any compatible devices.
Does anyone have work around for this? Have Benn able to get this app to work on a kindle fire? If so how did you do it & and how well does it run on kindle fires?

cornfedcowboy

I have the same issue. I think they said you could install Google media player but that didn't work either.

Lafayetteflyer

Has anyone ever got the United personal device app to work on a kindle fire?

WineCountryUA

Have you downloaded the UA app for the Kindle Fire (from the store)? It downloads and runs for my Kindle Fire HDX.

tyroner

I have the United App installed on my android phone and my Kindle Fire and both are up to date. If you go to the 'entertainment' menu item on the android there are two options: Sudoku and WiFi & entertainment. On the Kindle Fire HDX it is only Sudoku.

There is clearly something wrong (or a deliberate blocking) with the Kindle Fire version that is not allowing entertainment.

This is a big issue given the growth of this service.

mduell

It's a pretty minor issue given the market failure of the Kindle Fire.

Since cornfedcowboy says it works in Google media player, I'd guess UA is using some Google provided APIs for network/video/security that aren't available on the Amazon version of Android. In other words it's not an Android feature, it's a Google Android feature.

tyroner

The kindle fire tablet is among the best selling android tablets on the market. This is not a minor problem.

docbert

I suspect you're thinking of the Kindle Fire Phone, which is a flop. The Kindle Fire range of tablets is probably the top selling single brand of non-Apple tablets.

(Which doesn't actually make them as popular as that statement might make it sound due to market fragmentation, but even so...)

jstigall

I'm going to agree with others and say I'm perfectly happy that United isn't wasting development resources on the single worst available tablet.

Buying into Amazon and its 'appstore' is the single worst investment you can make when buying a tablet. The interface is ridiculously bad, the software support is non-existent and they are slow and laggy. Having to maintain a separate version of the United app just for the Amazon app store and maintain support for budget Android tablets would be a waste of time.

In 2013 Amazon was 4.8% of the tablet market, making it almost the worst selling brand next to Lenovo for android tablets.

Not even kind of true, both Samsung and Asus sell more a combined 25%, compared to amazon's 4.8%.

JC1120

You can probably side load the standard google android app with a bit of internet searching and technical know how.

Need

Maybe on amazon.com? I don't think amazon tablets are even remotely close to the top selling tablets worldwide. I had an Amazon fire tablet and will never ever buy another one again. Outside of myself, I don't know anyone else who has an Amazon fire tablet.

Cargojon

Have to agree with you here. Wife and I were able to "test drive" a Kindle Fire HD for about a month or so. We loved it. The display was excellent, much better than the Samsung tablets we eventually bought.

What was a non-starter for us was not having access to the "real" Google Play store and "real" Android apps. Amazon counted on beating or equalling Google and Apple, and it was a gross miscalculation.

Despite its excellent features, the tablet went back and we both bought Samsungs.

jstigall

The amount of self-promotion that amazon does seems to make people think it's selling really well. Those that own them seem to think they sell really well, but I don't think I've ever seen one being used..

mduell

It's a very minor problem -- Kindle Fire tablet market share has imploded from sub-5% in 2013 to ~1% in 2014 per IDC.



iOS with ~30% of the market? Worthwhile.
Google-enhanced Android with ~30% of the market from major vendors? Worthwhile, although delayed due to fragmentation.
Amazon Android under 2% and dropping? Not so much.

tjamba

The original question was ... has anyone been able to get the in flight entertainment app to work on a Kindle Fire HD tablet. I have been able to get the app side loaded on my kindle fire from the Google Play store and the main screen loads OK and shows the movies that are available; however, except for one or two foreign movies, the rest have a key icon superimposed over the movie icon and clicking on any one of them results in an error message that says that a "browser plug-in is required". It doesn't say which plug-in is required. On the plus side, you can see the map and in-flight information and it's updated in real time so I know that the app has been loaded and is trying to work. There needs to be a way to load the app and test it before you get on the plane.