Amazon Fire Tablet Tip: How To Install Google Play Store

Amazon sells tablets of its own called Fire tablets. These are generally cheaper than Android and iPadOS tablets. One major caveat that Fire tablets have, however, is the lack of Google's Play Store or Apple's App Store.

Although Fire tablets have Amazon's Appstore installed in them, they cannot access the vast library of apps and services offered by Google. Thankfully, there's a way to install Google's Play Store on a Fire tablet, and here's how:

• First, users should remove the microSD card from their Fire tablet. This will prevent problems that will require users to do everything all over again.
• Second, after removing the microSD card, users should enable apps from unknown sources to be installed. This is done by going to Settings > Security & Privacy, then turning the Apps from Unknown Sources switch on.
• Third, users will need to download the proper APKs for their specific Fire tablet model using the Silk browser. These APKs include those for the Google Account Manager, Google Services Framework, Google Play Services and the Google Play Store. These have to be downloaded then installed in that exact order.

Android Police, which gives an excellent, detailed, step-by-step guide on how to install the Google Play Store on a Fire tablet, indicates that the first three APKs are used for basic account services and add APIs. The last APK is for the actual Play Store itself.

Users will need to check the Fire tablet model that they are using, then download the corresponding APKs from this website. Those who do not know what Fire tablet model they are using should open the Settings app, tap on Device Options & System (or simply Device Options) and see the details listed under Device Model.

Once the correct apps have been installed, users will need to hold the power button down, then tap on “restart” to restart the device. Older devices that do not show the restart function should be turned off, then turned on again. Once the device is running, users should try to open the Play Store app, which should ask them to login with their Google account.

If the Play Store app works, allows the user to login then gives users access to the apps that Google has, then the installation worked. If it doesn't, users might've done something wrong and will need to do the entire process again from the start.

As a reminder, those who want to install Google's Play Store will need to get the right APKs for their Fire tablet model. These APKs need to be downloaded via the Silk browser.