Fitbit is pulling the plug on its desktop apps, which means you may soon no longer be able to sync your steps and other activities with a PC or Mac. If you have a Fitbit watch, that means you’ll also no longer be able to transfer music to your wearable unless you’re using the Deezer […]
fire os
How to use an SD card with Amazon’s Fire tablets
Every tablet Amazon Fire tablet released in the past few years has featured a microSD card slot, which is a nice thing to have if you’re using a tablet that may have as little as 8GB of built-in storage. You can pick up just about any Class 10 or UHS microSD card to add up […]
How to install Google Play on the Amazon Fire 7 tablet with Fire OS 8 (12th-gen, 2022 model)
The 12th-gen Amazon Fire tablet is the first device to ship with Fire OS 8, the latest version of Amazon’s tablet operating system, and it’s now available from Amazon for $60 and up. While Fire OS continues to put an emphasis on Amazon’s apps and services, making Fire tablets most useful for customers who stream […]
Amazon Fire 7 (2022, 12th-gen): First look at Fire OS 8
The 12th-gen Amazon Fire 7 tablet is now available, and it’s the first of Amazon’s tablets to ship with Fire OS 8, the latest version of the company’s Android-based operating system for tablets and smart TVs. As we reported when Amazon announced the new tablet in May, Fire OS 8 is based on Android 11 […]
Amazon Fire OS 8 debuts this summer (Android 11-based software for Fire devices)
The new Amazon Fire 7 (2022) tablet brings a better processor, more memory, and longer battery life to Amazon’s entry-level tablet. The $60 tablet will also be the first to ship with Fire OS 8 when the new Fire 7 begins shipping June 29, 2022. Fire OS is the Android-based operating system Amazon uses for […]
Turn Amazon’s First TV Stick into an unofficial Android TV device with LineageOS 18.1
Amazon’s Fire TV devices run a custom version of Google’s Android software called Fire OS that feature Amazon’s app store, Amazon Prime Video, and other Amazon apps and services instead of Google’s. But hackers have found a way to replace Fire OS on Amazon’s 2020 Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite with an […]
Lilbits: Steam for Chromebooks minimum specs revealed, Galaxy Book Pro 2 360 leaked, and handheld gaming PCs benchmarked
Google’s been working to bring Valve’s Steam game client to Chromebooks for the past few years, and it looks like the effort is, umm… picking up steam. A recent code commit suggested we could see Chromebooks with the RGB keyboards often found in gaming laptops. And now the folks at 9to5Google have spotted a list […]
How long will my Amazon Fire tablet get security updates?
Amazon recently announced that it will provide at least four years of software security updates for Fire tablets following the last date at which the tablets are available for purchase as new products from Amazon.com. For example, if you buy a current-gen Fire 7, Fire HD 8, or Fire HD 10 tablet in 2021, it […]
Amazon Fire tablets: How to disable Amazon apps and features
So you’ve installed the Google Play Store on your Amazon Fire tablet. What’s next? While you can’t yet root Amazon’s latest tablet or replace the operating system with a custom ROM, you can disable a bunch of Amazon apps and features. Don’t need the Amazon Appstore, want to disable the Weather, Prime Video, or Kindle apps? […]
Amazon releases Fire OS 7 update for some older tablets (Android 9)
It took almost a month longer than expected, but Amazon has released an operating system update that brings the company’s latest software to some older tablets. The company has released a Fire OS 7 update for the 2018 Amazon Fire 7 and 2019 Amazon Fire HD 8. This is the same software that ships with […]