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YOUR UNOFFICIAL KINDLE FIRE MANUAL
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2. What You Should Know About Rooting the Kindle Fire
Although there are steps listed in this guide explaining how to add software from alternative locations to the Amazon
App Store, you will have noticed that the Google Play store is not among the options.
This is because of the security that Amazon imposes on Kindle Fire tablets. Fortunately, this can be undone using a
process known as rooting.
(Full details on rooting the rst generation Kindle Fire can be found on the MakeUseOf website: http://www.
makeuseof.com/tag/root-kindle-re-access-google-play/.)
There are several things that you should be aware of when rooting your Kindle Fire, however.
It makes your device less secure.
Subsequent Amazon updates can undo the rooting process.
Additionally, the idea of rooting (similar to jailbreaking an iPhone) is to lower the security settings on system les and
folders on the Android operating system. This can be very useful in many cases – it enables the installation of the
Google Play store – but also poses a security risk, as other apps can gain access to these les and folders and poten-
tially wreak havoc.
As such, you should spend some time considering whether you consider it to be worth the risk. Be aware that there
are many Android device users who have rooted their phones or tablets, just as there are many that have had prob-
lems with particular apps. If you choose to root your Kindle Fire, make sure that you have rst done as much research
as possible into the implications, and when you have done so get a good account of each app that you plan to install
by checking reviews and ratings in the Google Play store and further aeld.