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Amazon’s new Fire Max 11 is the company’s biggest, most powerful, and most versatile tablet thanks to an updated design, upgraded processor, and support for accessories including a keyboard and pressure-sensitive pen.
But the $230 tablet is also a little trickier to hack than some older Amazon tablets, because it ships with a newer version of Amazon’s Android-based Fire OS that locks down some apps and features. You can pretty easily install the Google Play Store on the tablet, but you cannot easily disable most of Amazon’s pre-installed apps unless you’re lucky enough to have a model running Fire OS 8.1.3.5 or earlier. Want to make other changes though? Fire Toolbox v32.0 is here to help.
Fire Toolbox is a free, unofficial application for Windows and Linux computers that automates the process of modifying some of the apps and settings on Amazon’s Fire tablets.
Developed by xda-developers forum member Datastream33, the app has been around for years, making it easy to plug an Amazon tablet into a computer and make changes with just a few mouse clicks. Among other things, you can use it to install the Google Play Store, make a backup of your apps and settings, sideload apps, and (on supported devices) disable Amazon apps, load alternative home screen/launcher apps, and hijack the home button so that pressing home opens those launchers instead of the default Fire OS launcher.
Datastream33 added initial support for the Fire Max 11 in version 31 of the toolbox, which was released in June, 2023. But Fire Toolbox v32.0, which was released on July 20, 2023, brings better support and improved functionality.
Here are are some of the Fire Max 11-specific features:
- When a Fire Max 11 is detected, the Toolbox will treat it as a “restricted” device and offer workarounds for some modifications that work more easily on earlier versions of Fire OS.
- When you install a Custom Launcher, the Launcher Hijack method is applied so that pressing the home button will open that app rather than the default Fire OS launcher
- Tablets running Fire OS 8.1.3.9 cannot currently block OTA updates, but there’s a restrict OTA updates tool that “restricts background network and memory usage for the OTA packages,” which may help prevent future over-the-air-updates from being downloaded and installed.
There are also some changes in Toolbox v32 that affect all Amazon Fire tablets and not just the Fire Max 11. Those include bug fixes, support for ADB Logcat filters to make it easier to find messages from specific applications or features, and some user interface tweaks.
You can find more details in the announcement post and changelog.