Amazon Fire Tablets: Navigating Google Play Store Performance and Features

Key Takeaways

• A simple workaround still allows you to install the Play Store on Fire Tablets despite occasional updates causing issues.
• The Play Store still has significantly more apps than the Amazon Appstore, making it a more attractive option for users.
• While installing Play Store on Fire Tablets is possible, it’s recommended to buy a device with the Play Store pre-installed, like the Walmart onn. series, for a better user experience.

Amazon Fire Tablets are loved for their extremely low prices, but bargains don’t come without sacrifices. That’s why people have been manually installing the Play Store on Fire Tablets almost since the beginning. It’s 2024 now, and some things have changed. Is this still a reliable hack?

It Still Works (Most of the Time)

Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek

People have been sideloading the Google Play Store on Amazon Fire Tablets since at least 2015. Fire OS looks a bit different these days (though not much), and the Play Store looks a lot different. But all these years later, the core is the same—Fire Tablets run Android, and the Play Store works on Android.

However, every once in a while, an update will temporarily throw a wrench into the situation. That’s what happened in 2022 when Amazon released the 12th Gen Fire 7 with Fire OS 8. This brought Fire OS up to Android 10, and with that came changes to how permissions work. The good news is a simple workaround was quickly found , and the Play Store can still be installed.

So, if you’re looking to install the Play Store on your Fire Tablet, be sure to follow the instructions in our full guide closely . The files you download and the order of operations really matter.

The Play Store Still Has Better Apps

Now, you might ask, why are people still going through the hassle of installing the Play Store on Fire Tablets? After all, the Amazon Appstore has been around for over a decade. Surely it has all the same top apps as the Play Store by now. Sadly, that’s not true.

The Amazon Appstore is estimated to have around 500,000 apps, whereas the Play Store is getting close to 4 million. Quantity is not quality, but when there are that many more apps and games to choose from, you’re much more likely to find what you’re looking for. It also means developers are gravitating much more toward the Play Store.

The good news is Amazon does have many of the most popular apps. WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook Messenger, OneDrive, Netflix, Spotify, and even TikTok are available on the Appstore. However, big apps such as Telegram, Gmail, Snapchat, Chrome, Tasker, and many others are missing . Simply put, the Play Store is better. Period.

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Don’t Buy a Fire Tablet for the Play Store

Walmart

Installing the Play Store on a Fire Tablet is actually pretty easy if you follow the instructions closely. However, you shouldn’t buy a Fire Tablet specifically to access the Play Store. It’s very tempting when you can snag a Fire Tablet for the same price as a few large pizzas, but there are better options.

The Fire Tablet equivalent in the Google world is the Walmart onn. series . They’re priced very similarly, but they’re equipped with the full Play Store and Google suite of apps. That means you can get a much better experience with the Play Store and still download the Kindle , Prime Video , and other Amazon apps you may use.

Sideloading the Play Store is a nice option if you already own a Fire Tablet or you were gifted one, but if you’re looking for a “best of both worlds” situation, you’re better off with the Play Store being the default. It’s much easier to install a few Amazon apps from the Play Store than to fiddle around with Google Play Services on a Fire Tablet.