The Kindle Fire is arguably one of the most popular tablets out there. This mini tablet was conceived from the computer version of Amazon.com’s Kindle e-book reader and has evolved from a black and white portable e-book reader into a 7-inch tablet with a colored screen that sports almost the same physique of the popular slates in the market. The Kindle Fire, with its integration with Amazon, makes the process of buying and downloading e-books streamlined, if not easier. It lacks just one thing to make it the tablet of choice and that is the lack of access to an extensive market like Google Play for Android OS. While the Kindle Fire runs a forked version of Google’s Android operating system, there is no direct access for app downloading to take place. The only way you can do so is via side loading.

Here is a quick guide on how to load your favorite Android app to your Kindle Fire:

Step one: Have your devices ready

By devices, this means not only your Kindle Fire but also an Android device such as a smartphone or a tablet, as well as a computer. The Android device will be used to get the APK file (with the file extension.apk) of the Android app of your choice, while the computer will serve as the middle man for the file transfer from the Android device to the Kindle Fire.

Step two: Download your chosen Android app to your Android device

Download the app of your choice to your Android device if you still haven’t got it in your gadget. Make sure that you know where your APK file is saved on your Android device for easy retrieval upon transferring it to your computer.

Step three: Connect your Android device to your computer

Connect your Android device to your computer. Find the folder where the.apk of your chosen app is and copy the said files to your preferred location on your computer.

Step four: Change the necessary settings on your Kindle Fire

Allow other applications from unknown sources on your Kindle Fire by going to Settings>Devices and changing the item “Allow Installation of Applications” to ON. This setting exists for security reasons. Even Android devices have this setting for applications.

Step five: Connect the Kindle Fire to your computer

Connect your Kindle Fire as a USB mass storage device. Before copying the.apk files, create a directory first. After creating the directory, you can finally copy the.apk files to your Kindle.

Step six: Install the app to your Kindle Fire

With the Office Suite installed on your Kindle Fire, load the.apk files by using the Browse function in your Office Suite app. Tap the app of your choice and a prompt will ask if you want to proceed in installing the app. You can also use a file manager to facilitate the install of the.apk files.

Step seven: Run the app

Now it’s time to open the app and enjoy it with your Kindle Fire!

 

Sarah Paulsen contributed this guest post on behalf of FactoryFast.com.au.  Sarah is a freelance tech writer and avid Kindle User. Her articles mainly appear on tech blogs.

By Techwacky

Editor-in-Chef of TechWacky.com