If you’re an Amazon Kindle owner, you know that using Google apps on your device is a breeze. But what about other Google devices? How do you use them on the Amazon Fire Tablet? First, open up the Amazon Fire Tablet’s Settings app and select “Applications.” Then, scroll down and find “Google Maps.” Tap on it and select “Open in Maps.” Now, open up Gmail and type in your address to get started. Once you’ve opened up Gmail, type in “Amazon” to get started with finding products from Amazon. You can also search for specific products by keyword or product name. Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, tap on it to open it up in a new tab. Then, tap on the three lines at the top of the new tab and select “Edit.” On the left side of the screen, there will be a list of options such as “Add to Home Screen,” “Add to Menu Bar,” and “Share with Others.” Choose one of these options and then tap on it to add it to your home screen.
Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Contacts
To do so, open the “Email” app icon on your home screen. It’ll open to the “Add Account” screen by default — enter your email address and tap Next. (If you’ve already added an account, tap the menu button at the top-left corner of the Email app and tap “Add Account” to add a new one.)
The included “Email” app will now allow you to access your Gmail email account, the “Calendar” app will show your Google Calendars, and the “Contacts” app will list the contacts you have associated with your Google account.
While these apps aren’t quite as slick as Google’s typical Android apps, they do work fairly well for watching a few YouTube videos or poking around on Google Maps. Install the apps and these web apps will get their own icons on your home screen. This is the big advantage over simply loading these websites in the Silk web browser.
The Appstore may also have third-party, unofficial apps for accessing services like YouTube and other Google’s services. As with the third-party apps available for Windows 10, where Google also doesn’t provide apps, these apps will be a mixed bag and some will work better than others. Be careful before spending any money on an app that may or may not work well.
Normal Web Apps
You could also open the “Silk Browser” app included with your Fire tablet, head to Google.com, and use the web-based versions of these services.
To make it easier in the future, you can tap the bookmark icon in the address bar and bookmark Google’s different services for quick access in the future. Just open the Silk Browser app, tap “Bookmarks,” and tap the website you want to go to. The Silk Browser can’t add home screen icons for websites, so you’ll have to go to the browser first.
Change the Silk Browser’s Search Engine to Google
By default, the Silk Browser app uses Microsoft’s Bing search engine to search the web. You can make it use Google instead.
To do so, tap the menu button at the top-left corner of the Silk Browser, tap “Settings”, tap “Search engine”, and select “Google”. You could also choose Yahoo, if you like. These are the only three available options.
Get the Google Play Store and Google’s Apps on Your Fire Tablet
While Google hasn’t made its own apps available for Fire OS yet, you can still have a great experience with Google’s services on a Fire Tablet. It’s possible to simply access your Gmail and watch videos on YouTube without hacking around, and you’ll have a fine experience.
If you want more of Google’s apps — or just other Android apps — you may want to install the Google Play Store. After you do, you should have the same experience with Google’s apps that you would a typical Android tablet.
