The Amazon Fire Tablet range of tablets provides consumers with a cheaper alternative to many Android and Apple tablets. This alternative has made the device an appealing choice if you’re looking for a tablet to take with you on vacation each year or for your young children.
The Amazon Fire Tablet is becoming an amazing choice thanks to Amazon continually improving each year and offering it at an affordable price. However, the Amazon Fire tablet still doesn’t offer support for the Google Play Store and is instead replaced with Amazon’s Appstore.
While Fire OS, the Amazon Fire Tablet’s operating system, is similar to the Andriod operating system it lacks the Google Play Store which offers a wider range of apps and also Google-owned apps like Youtube, Chrome, and Gmail.
Why Can’t I Download Google Play Store Normally?
The Amazon Fire Tablet runs on Fire OS, which is an Android-based operating system that uses the Amazon Appstore. The Amazon Appstore doesn’t have Google apps available for download, which includes the Google Play Store and a few other key apps.
Thankfully, you can there are ways to get the Google Play Store installed easily on the Amazon Appstore with a few step-by-step instructions on the internet.
How to Install Google Play Store on Amazon Fire Tablet
We’ve covered detailed instructions on how you can install the Google Play Store on any Amazon Fire Tablet. Read on to see how you can unlock many of the best Google apps and a wide range of other apps.
Enable Installation
To begin the process, you’ll have to enable the tablet to download apps from unknown sources. This step is necessary to download and use files from the internet like APK, which is how we’ll be adding the Google Play Store apps to the tablet.
To enable installation, go to the Home Screen of your device and tap Settings. From there, find the Security & Privacy option, which may just be Security if you have an older device. Turn on the Apps From Unknown Sources widget.
If you get a pop-up listing a bunch of apps, find your Silk Browser and toggle the Allow from this Source on. This will let you download app files from outside the Amazon Appstore without annoying pop-ups every time you do so.
After you’ve enabled this, you’re set to download the APK files needed to obtain the Google Play Store. It’s super easy, you don’t need a degree in engineering or anything!
Download & Install the Google Play Store
Next, you’ll have to download the APK files from the internet that let you install the Google Play Store. Specifically, there are four APK files that you’ll need to download – Google Account Manager, Google Services Framework, Google Play Services, and finally the Google Play Store.
There are four apps installed instead of just the Google Play Store due to having to download the account services and the API in addition to the Play Store since the Amazon Fire Tablet doesn’t offer these natively.
Checking Your Tablet & Fire OS Model
The next step is the most crucial – you’ll be downloading these apps to your device. However, each model of the Amazon Fire Tablet requires you to download a different version of the APK file so it is imperative that you know for certain which model of tablet you have and which version of Fire OS you are using.
You can check which model you have by selecting Settings app once more, tapping Device Options & Sytems (or just Device Options), and looking under Device Model.
To check which version of Fire OS you’re using, go back to Device Options & Systems (or just Device Options) and check under System Updates.
Downloading APK Files
Next, we’ll be downloading the APK files that you need to install Google Play Store. We’ve listed the download files that you’ll need to click to add the files to your device. Keep in mind that for the Google Account manager and Google Services Framework, you’ll need to pay special attention that you’re downloading the right one for your device.
Google Account Manager
Fire HD 10 (9th and 11th Gen) – Google Account Manager v7.1.2
Fire 7 (8th, 9th, and 12th Gen) – Google Account Manager v7.1.2
Fire HD 8 (8th and 10th Gen) – Google Account Manager v7.1.2
Fire HD 10 (7th Gen and older) – Google Account Manager v5.1
Fire HD 8 (7th Gen and older) – Google Account Manager v5.1
Fire 7 (7th Gen and older) – Google Account Manager v5.1
Fire HD 6 – Google Account Manager v5.1
Fire HDX 8.9 – Google Account Manager v5.1
Google Services Framework
Fire 7 and HD 8 (12th Gen) on Fire OS 8 – Google Services Framework 10-6494331
Fire HD 10 (9th and 11th Gen) – Google Services Framework v9-4832352
Fire HD 8 (9th and 10th Gen) – Google Services Framework v9-4832352
Fire 7 (9th Gen) on Fire OS 7 – Google Services Framework v9-4832352
Fire HD 8 (8th Gen) on Fire OS 7 – Google Services Framework v9-4832352
Fire 7 (9th Gen) on Fire OS 6 – Google Services Framework v7.1.2
Fire HD 8 (8th Gen) on Fire OS 6 – Google Services Framework v7.1.2
Fire HD 10 (7th Gen and older) – Google Services Framework v5.1
Fire HD 8 (7th Gen and older) – Google Services Framework v5.1
Fire 7 (7th Gen and older) – Google Services Framework v5.1
Fire HD 6 – Google Services Framework v5.1
Fire HDX 8.9 – Google Services Framework v5.1
Once you’ve downloaded the appropriate files for your device and Fire OS version, don’t open the files – we’ll be covering that at a later point in time. Be sure that you’re downloading an APK file and not a Bundle. Similarly, make sure to ignore any pop-ups or messages in the process of downloading them.
For the last two files, download the file version which sits the closest to the top (just make sure that it isn’t one of the beta versions (it’ll have a beta in its name). As with the previous downloads, don’t open these files just yet.
Google Play Services
Fire 7 and Fire HD 8 (12th Gen, 2022) – Google Play Services (64-bit ARM, nodpi, Android 11+)
Fire HD 10 (9th and 11th Gen) Fire HD 8 (10th Gen) – Google Play Services (64-bit ARM, nodpi, Android 9.0+)
Fire 7 (9th Gen, 2019) – Google Play Services (32-bit ARM, nodpi, Android 6.0+)
Fire HD 8 (8th Gen, 2018) – Google Play Services (64-bit ARM, nodpi, Android 6.0+)
Fire HD 10 (7th Gen and older), Fire HD 8 (7th Gen and older), Fire 7 (7th Gen and older), Fire HD 6, Fire HDX 8.9 – Google Play Services (32-bit ARM, nodpi, Android 5.0+)
Google Play Store
Any model – Google Play Store (universal, nodpi)
Installing downloaded APK files
Once you’ve downloaded files, you make sure that they’re on your device by looking within the Files app on your device (this may be in your Docs or Document folder based on your device). From there, navigate to your Downloads folder and you should see all four of the APK files there.
If you’re missing one or two, scroll back up to see which files you’re missing and download them.
Before we can install the files, remove the SD card from your Amazon Fire Tablet if you have one. It’s critical that you install the files in a specific order, otherwise, your Google App Store won’t work.
Here’s the order you’ll need to install them:
- com.google.gsf.login
- com.google.android.gsf
- com.google.android.gsf
- com.android.vending
Once the installation is complete for each of these, only click Done, not Open for all of them. And when you’ve done this for each of the four files, restart your tablet by holding down the power button and tapping on Restart. If your tablet doesn’t have the option to Restart, a simple Shut Down is also fine.
When your Fire Tablet has restarted, you’ll be able to open the Google Play Store from your home screen if you’re done everything correctly. From there, all you need to do is log in to the Google Play Store and you should be able to download apps to your heart’s content.
Make sure to test if you can download applications, Roblox and Adobe Illustrator are good ones to start with but it’s also good to try some Google-exclusive apps like Youtube.
FAQs
We often see the same questions pop up repeatedly when it comes to installing the Google Play Store onto an Amazon Fire Tablet device. We’ve compiled the most common ones we’ve seen and answered them for you here!
What does APK stand for?
An APK stands for Android Package Kit and is a file format that’s used for Android Operating Systems. The APK file contains all of the assets and coding elements that you need in order to run a certain piece of software.
In the case of installing the Google Play Store on an Amazon Fire Tablet, you needed files that not only run the Google Play Store but the framework and the account manager programs that support it. These files are based on the Android Operating System and so require the use of APK files to download.
Can Fire OS run Android apps?
Yes, absolutely. From apps that involved 3D modeling to reading comics, Fire OS supports a wide range of Android apps for you to download.
The Fire OS was built from Android’s operating system so the Amazon Appstore offers users to download and use apps you’d find on the Google Play Store but to a lesser extent. For example, you are unable to natively download certain apps owned by Google, like Youtube or Gmail.
Can you put any app on a Fire tablet?
You can’t put any app on an Amazon Fire tablet, but the Amazon Appstore allows you to choose from a wide range of applications for your device. And although you won’t have trouble downloading something like Netflix to your device, there are certain apps that you can’t get natively on the Amazon Appstore like Youtube, Google Chrome, or Gmail.
Similarly, since the Fire OS is based on the Android Operating System, any Apply OS exclusive apps are also unable to be added to your Amazon Fire Tablet.
Parting Shot
There you have it, following these instructions should unlock a suite of apps that you would not have access to on your Amazon Fire Tablet normally. If your teenager or child was gifted an Amazon Fire Tablet for their birthday, it may be a good idea to follow up and add the Google Play Store to their tablet so they can add useful apps like Youtube and Gmail,
However, if you want your Amazon Fire Tablet to be a purely learning tablet filled with programs like ABC Mouse, then perhaps it’s best to avoid adding distracting apps like youtube.
Whether you want to add the Google Play Store to your tablet is up to you, but we highly recommend you do so you don’t miss out on some of the best apps that Google has to offer!
Writer Graham Grieve brings two decades of technical communications experience to The Holy Tech coverage. Isaac contributes articles on laptops, tablets and PCs, alongside various software and hardware guides. Isaac is a former newspaper journalist who also worked in tech communications for some of the country’s biggest corporations. He also counsels and creates material for other technology publications and hosts a podcast.
Isaac’s in-depth reporting and knowledge of hardware and software issues helps The Holy Tech’s readers learn how to choose the right products, or solve tricky problems.