[Q] Kiosk Mode? - Kindle Fire HDX 7" & 8.9" Q&A, Help & Troubleshoot

I'm looking to use a Kindle Fire HDX for a small project that I've been working on. The project just requires a touch screen with a web browser (it's a web app with fairly low requirements), but it requires that users not be able to exit kiosk mode (short of rebooting the thing), exit the full screen browser, or display any kind of OS chrome whatsoever. I'm wondering if the Kindle will be able to meet my needs, without rooting it / doing anything crazy advanced beyond just installing an app (or using functionality it already has built in). Additionally, is it possible to force the screen to be on 24/7, so that nothing about the browser session will ever change?
I'd like to avoid rooting it because I live in Canada - while that has seemingly no relevance to this; if I'm unable to use the Kindle for whatever reason, the device is basically worthless up here (we have no Amazon streaming video service, etc), and I'd like to save myself the potential monetary loss if it isn't able to easily do this.

Are you the creator of the app? If so, there's a way to "Override" the back, home, menu, and search buttons.

It's just a website currently, but I could package it up into an Android app that just spawns a WebView if necessary (I might do so anyways, to give the app control of screen brightness if possible).

I would recommend that. If you need any help, feel free to PM me. I have some Android App Development knowledge.

Will overriding the functionality of those buttons just prevent you from leaving the app, or can I prevent the on screen buttons from showing up at all? I'd like to prevent anything from showing up no matter where you swipe on screen.

Kioware
Tixer said:
I'm looking to use a Kindle Fire HDX for a small project that I've been working on. The project just requires a touch screen with a web browser (it's a web app with fairly low requirements), but it requires that users not be able to exit kiosk mode (short of rebooting the thing), exit the full screen browser, or display any kind of OS chrome whatsoever. I'm wondering if the Kindle will be able to meet my needs, without rooting it / doing anything crazy advanced beyond just installing an app (or using functionality it already has built in). Additionally, is it possible to force the screen to be on 24/7, so that nothing about the browser session will ever change?
I'd like to avoid rooting it because I live in Canada - while that has seemingly no relevance to this; if I'm unable to use the Kindle for whatever reason, the device is basically worthless up here (we have no Amazon streaming video service, etc), and I'd like to save myself the potential monetary loss if it isn't able to easily do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have found Kioware to work on my new $50 kindle fire. It isn't perfect, as users can exit out of the app (and see the other apps and kindle home screen), but it will reopen automatically in a few seconds. If a user tries to select a different app, it will force the kiosk browser to re-open right away. There is a free trial.

Related

[Q] Any App or Hack to play the "new" youtube with screen off?

In one of the youtube updates last fall they removed the ability to lock your phone and still have the audio (from youtube) continue to play. Instead now the video will automatically pause if you turn the phone's screen off (lock). Per the thread below on youtube help this isn't a bug - I guess they want you to have the video since all of their ads are visual
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/youtube/thread?tid=56150de8f1fa69ba&hl=en
Anyway I still have the old version and restore it back (using Titanium) whenever it updates. Recently though the older version has become a bit flaky and I get the feeling down the line it may not continue to work.
So I'm wondering if there's the potential for a hacked Youtube app that keeps it from pausing when the phone is locked? Or if not is there an app that at least will turn the screen off while allowing certain apps to run in the background?
JayBTV said:
In one of the youtube updates last fall they removed the ability to lock your phone and still have the audio (from youtube) continue to play. Instead now the video will automatically pause if you turn the phone's screen off (lock). Per the thread below on youtube help this isn't a bug - I guess they want you to have the video since all of their ads are visual
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/youtube/thread?tid=56150de8f1fa69ba&hl=en
Anyway I still have the old version and restore it back (using Titanium) whenever it updates. Recently though the older version has become a bit flaky and I get the feeling down the line it may not continue to work.
So I'm wondering if there's the potential for a hacked Youtube app that keeps it from pausing when the phone is locked? Or if not is there an app that at least will turn the screen off while allowing certain apps to run in the background?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt that would happen. Whether or not it is possible is not the point, but the people with the ability to create such a thing would most likely not take up the task.
Of course I could be wrong, but hey, I'm just trying to be realistic.
My advice, be patient. The thread you linked shows a lot of upset people and got the attention of an employee. Just sit back and hope that they release a new update with the feature reinstated. Until then, try using an app to download your music. A lot of them even have the ability to simply stream the music you searched.
Good luck~

Increase number background apps allowed?

I have always had this issue on every cm9 rom I've tried. I can't remember if I had the same issue on stock. If I start a process like a download in browser or any app really, and then switch to other apps, I find that my downloads will freeze or come up unsuccessful. Today I was downloading an offline map in Google Maps and while waiting I launched a browser, Ventriloid (voice chat app) , and a bunch of other apps. Eventually the maps download "paused" and wouldn't resume, forcing me to start the download over and Ventriloid disconnected me from the server I was on.
Is there a way to increase background process limits? I see in developer options the max I can pick is 4. Unless I'm mistaken, this means if I start a fairly large download then check the XDA app, look at weatherbug, check my email, watch something in YouTube and check Facebook, my original download will fail if it hasn't finished. The only way I've found to deal with it is to be sure to switch back to my most important apps before loading a new program so that the important ones don't get bumped/interrupted. If I force myself to keep just 3 apps in use, my downloads never fail, and I never get kicked off of a server, but this seems restrictive.
Is this just a limitation of Android, a rom issue, or user stupidity? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Sent from my MB855 using xda app-developers app
Am I the only one with this issue, or was my post too long to read?
Short version: Is there any way to allow for many apps to run in the background, rather than the default 4? If I work in an app and switch tasks to 4 others, the original app closes and whatever I was doing is lost/canceled/disconnected/failed. Would messing with minfree values help?

[Q] Various Kindle Fire Questions

So I've had the HDX 8.9" for a while and in general I love it. But there are some things about it that I don't like, and find myself wishing that I'd picked up an iPad Air instead of the HDX. I'm not sure what the current status of things is, but the fact that there's still a sticky post here saying there isn't a good way to recover bricked units doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence. OTOH, maybe the problems I face are resolvable without having to root the unit entirely.
1) Restricted to the Amazon App store. There's a bunch of apps that are just way out of date (Trillian, looking squarely at you...) or not present on the Amazon app store. I've worked around this to some extent by loading up the 1Mobile Market store. This allowed me to get the newer version of Trillian, Chrome, Bluejeans, and such installed. But even apps that work in general have some gaps; for example Chrome works fine as a browser but I can't sign in to sync up my bookmarks and such... it crashes the app when I try to do that. Perhaps there's a better market than 1Mobile that I should be trying instead, since getting Google Play up and running would require a full root to my understanding?
2) Notifications. The notification system on the Kindle sucks. On the iPad I had, which I was using before I got the Kindle, an incoming IM or such would flash a banner across the top of the screen before going to the standard system bar up top as an indicator. This doesn't happen on the Kindle. Worse yet, if I'm doing something like watching a TV episode, I often will not actually hear any sound come through for a Trillian notification, and will only realize that I got a message after the episode ends. I'm not sure if this is specifically a Trillian-related sound issue, and perhaps I should try another IM client on the Kindle, or if there's possibly an app that will work that will help me get an on-screen display for incoming notifications when I'm doing something that hides the notification bar, like reading a book/Marvel Unlimited or watching a video.
3) Growl support. On the iPad I ran an app called Prowl that would receive forwarded Growl events from my Mac. This allowed me to get notifications from IRC/Hipchat/etc that come from my laptop but ping my tablet. As I'm partially disabled due to arthritis, I take various breaks throughout the work day when my back or such starts acting up, and I try to stay connected to my coworkers and family using the tablet. I found a few assorted Growl-related apps around, but can't seem to find any that work on the Kindle.
4) Google Authenticator / Authenticator plus. I used to use GA on my phone (Droid 4) and then switched to Authenticator Plus, as it stores the info for the accounts in Dropbox so you can have multiple devices generate codes. However, I can't find that even on 1Mobile. (The plugins for it seem to be there but not the main app?) Thoughts around this would be helpful, though it may tie into #1.
5) Email. I really dislike the native email client. The Android and iOS Gmail apps are really solid and do what I want them to do. At one point I found out how to sideload enough APKs to get the Android Gmail app working, but that kept generating weird app crashes (some of them the Google libraries like Google Service Frameworks, some of them actual apps, like it was crashing Trillian when the library crashes popped up). Eventually I uninstalled those and went back to using the native client. I'm not sure if there's a better way to get Gmail sideloaded at this point that doesn't do that (as this was something I did right when I got the device, not long after they came out), or if there's another app that works well with Gmail. Specifically, I don't want it to take forever to download my mail. I'd rather have a list of sender/subjects with no message preview and have the message get pulled up when I touch it, than have to wait for it to download the message contents for everything up to the message I want before I can tap into it and have the message display. (If you tap into the message before the download completes it seems like the native client won't refresh the message when it is downloaded, which is just... crap.)
I'm no slouch with tech (I'm a Unix Systems Administrator by trade), and I have access to Win 7, Linux, and OSX Mavericks machines to do whatever is needed, but I'm definitely not an Android wizard. I did root my Nook Color back in the day, and the wife's, so I'm familiar with the kind of process to go about things, but I'm very wary of bricking a very expensive piece of hardware. (I've got the 64G model, ostensibly so that I could have video content downloaded locally if desired, to have lots and lots of books loaded on the device, and for games. However, several of the games that I was playing on iOS aren't available on the Amazon store but do have Google Play versions. When all is said and done, I really like the Kindle as a device, but I am getting rather annoyed by some of the software side of things that just are non-existent issues on the iPad.)
stormerider said:
4) Google Authenticator / Authenticator plus. I used to use GA on my phone (Droid 4) and then switched to Authenticator Plus, as it stores the info for the accounts in Dropbox so you can have multiple devices generate codes. However, I can't find that even on 1Mobile. (The plugins for it seem to be there but not the main app?) Thoughts around this would be helpful, though it may tie into #1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I found that this was available as a native app (surprisingly so!), so this item is a non-issue.
stormerider said:
OTOH, maybe the problems I face are resolvable without having to root the unit entirely.
1) Restricted to the Amazon App store...
...I'm no slouch with tech (I'm a Unix Systems Administrator by trade), and I have access to Win 7, Linux, and OSX Mavericks machines to do whatever is needed, but I'm definitely not an Android wizard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quit being afraid of root, there's no reason for it.
People are getting in trouble here because they haven't done much reading before they plunge in, and because they are messing with Safestrap and trying to install ROMs on a device with a locked bootloader. This is different than rooting, which is actually a pretty trivial and non-risky procedure, even for a nonslouch, nonwizard,
Follow instructions here and most of your problems will vanish:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2787813
earlgrey_44 said:
Quit being afraid of root, there's no reason for it.
People are getting in trouble here because they haven't done much reading before they plunge in, and because they are messing with Safestrap and trying to install ROMs on a device with a locked bootloader. This is different than rooting, which is actually a pretty trivial and non-risky procedure, even for a nonslouch, nonwizard,
Follow instructions here and most of your problems will vanish:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2787813
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Went ahead and did that, and got the play store working. Any thoughts about the notification system post-rooting?
stormerider said:
Thanks. Went ahead and did that, and got the play store working. Any thoughts about the notification system post-rooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congrats. A firm step on the way to wizardom!
Native heads up notifications are a feature of a more advanced version of Android than the one we are chained to here. Otherwise, there are many apps that provide notification enhancements, but I don't have much experience to offer. Perhaps others may chime in to help with that.

Instagram like app Realm vs Cursor Loader

I have an instagram like app in which I receive data from a server(imageUrl, username, about) and I store it in a cursorLoader and after that I take the data from the cursorLoader and put it in a RecyclerAdapter. The images are being loaded using the Volley library. I recently found out about the realm library. Should I use this instead of the cursorLoader ? I'm not even sure why I needed the cursor loader, but I implemented it and it's working. I think I only need to store the user once connected so it doesn't have to connect every time the app is called if he didn t disconnect. Which would be the best approach to make this app work smoothly. Which is the best way to keep some data displaying like the instagram/facebook feed once it was downloaded(even after the user killed the app and turned it on again). Could you give me any tips ?

Firefly Mobile Intense XL

My phone was serviced "reprogrammed" and when it came back I keep getting ads. I tried resetting the phone but it still keeps getting adware silently installed. Is there any way to fix this?
You are not alone. Bought this phone for my mom since she likes a bigger screen to do social media stuff. The malware popped in after the last ota. The official wirelessupdate app included on the phone silently installs random apks that pushes full screen ads and impersonates clicks even if the the phone is not being used. This is common with generic android phones coming from CHINA
I haven't figured out a way to root the phone as most rooting methods will fail(because of the sucky spreadtrum SOC which makes it difficult to root the phone).SADLY, rooting is the only way to disable/uninstall the wirelessupdate app.
However, here's a workaround I found that works.
1) restrict your network to limit background data usage (Found in settings).
2) **uninstall the malware app: finding the app may be difficult as It normally disguises itself as a system app with names like radio, settings, wifi or some application name that doesn't even make sense. It uses a lot of data and is always active. You'll know its the fake app if it poses as a system app but you have the option to uninstall it(System apps cannot be uninstalled without root/Su access).
Buttt....
The wireless update will probably install another malware app after uninstalling the current one.
3)disable notification of the app so it doesnt send fake notifications to you that opens ad based webpages as it also fakes notification, posing as a fake notif from FB, whatsapp
4) force stop it and stop the services from settings so it doesn't load or push apps while you use your phone
Restarting the phone will make the app run again
5) Remove the app's permission. By default its granted access to location, settings, storage and sometimes camera or mic. The wireless app doesnt detect this and wont turn those permission back on
6) lastly, you can contact firefly support AND PRAY TO THE GOOD LORD they know know what they're doing. Because I did and they were completely clueless on the troubleshooting or on the issue itself and even blamed the problem on the user. Ridiculously stupid.
I haven't really tried ADB yet because i don't have the time and the phone lacks resources online to restore it in case I brick it. Frankly, this phone is not worth investing time fixing especially with the quality of support it has from Firefly and the price it asked for.

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