This seems like a bad plan. While Fire OS has always been an outdated mess of AOSP, it still supports large pool of apps with sideloading. This is also probably expensive to build and they continue losing large amounts with their Alexa stuff. I wish for a third option besides just Android and IOS ,but I'm not holding my breath for this being it.
this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2023
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Amazon don't make money from sideloading.
Yeah, the chances of them getting any serious development going on beyond the basics is pretty low. Why would a developer add yet another platform to their workload? The ones that do double duty with iOS and Android both already complain about it being a pain in the ass.
You'd be dealing with a new market, so any dev is going to be sinking time and work on spec, hoping it's going to have enough users to repay their work.
I can see the usual steaming services shrugging and adding the new platform in, but you'd need a hell of a lot more than that if they plan to switch the fire tablets away from an android base.
Even the firestick moving away from an android base is going to alienate a lot of users. That ability to sideload stuff is a bigger draw than I think amazon realizes not a majority, no; but a big enough niche matters.
I can see the usual steaming services
Freudian slip or intentional? Either way, it's perfect!
The platform is React Native.
Most programmers already know some JavaScript, even if they hate it.
The "basics" will be any full featured website. That is hardly adding to a workload. Not exactly a new platform.
If you're buying a tablet from them and side loading the play store they are losing money. They sell Fire tablets for a loss to encourage you to buy stuff from their ecosystem.
Microsoft gave up far too easily. We should have a Windows phone.
But the better alternate to iOS did not win. Google had the funds to push Android forward, where WebOS did not.
Hard pass.
Honest question for everyone. And sorry if I sound biased. But does anyone's fire tablet not run like shit? All the ones we have are slow to load, buggy, and seem full of bloat.
No, no, that's about the Fire experience in a nutshell.
Android's worst offense was accidentally increasing bloatware.
I'd blame Amazon on that one, you can get android to run pretty efficiently if you put enough time in tweaking it, look at all the custom ROMs getting modern android versions running on old phones and tablets.
Is because they run on hardware from 2013 but that's also why you can buy them for $30.
But, why?
Easier to monopolize the apps you install on their devices.
That works if you're dominant in the market, and you have companies rushing to make software for your platform. If you're not, you end up as an also-ran platform with a handful of half-baked ports (like every "smart TV").
They are dominant in the budget tablet space.
Control, greed, money.
My mind immediately went to the Fire Phone
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Amazon has been working on an in-house replacement for its Android-based Fire OS, codenamed "Vega" and built for easier app development, according to reporting from Janko Roettgers at Lowpass.
This could simplify development for Fire devices alongside other React-ready platforms, including smartphones, desktops, and other smart TVs.
Vega could start shipping on Fire TV devices as early as next year, according to Roettgers' sources.
From there, the web-minded OS could move onto Echo smart displays, Fire tablets, and then future Amazon efforts, like in-car entertainment systems.
Roettgers notes that with a custom OS, Amazon could better control the deployment of advertising and paid services to "a wide range of inexpensive devices."
There's an enthusiastic community built around buying Fire tablets for their economy-cheating low price, then side-loading the Play Store and other Google services onto them (and even restricting Amazon's advertising presence on them).
The original article contains 512 words, the summary contains 144 words. Saved 72%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Kind of off topic, but can anyone suggest an alternative to Google TV? I have an old version that is fine, but this i recently purchased one with the new UI and it is horrible. I haven't tried replacing the home app yet, but will try soon.
Nvidia shield?
Shield is stuck with the new UI too (tho alternative launchers can be installed). Honestly it doesn't bother me as much as other people tho
Maybe put kodi on a raspberry pi?
just install another launcher?
That's what I meant by home app. I haven't had the chance to do so the work necessary for it.
What is Amazon?
One of the big bad tech companies that uses various anti-competitive market practices to ensure its monopoly in various retail and technology sectors ,as well as collecting countless personal data from customers and non-customers (often without consent) for shady purposes. . That's just to say the least.
You don't want to know. I've warned you...