Kindle Fire HD 8 and Amazon Music Unlimited

[singularity6]

I subscribed to Amazon Music Unlimited a while back, as it's the cheapest high quality streaming service (been a Prime member for as long as it has existed.) At any rate, listening to music through my phone or my work tablet has been draining the battery, so I thought "Let's get a Fire HD 8 while they're on sale!"

It arrived and I got it all set up. Fired up some tunes. Felt I wanted to bump the treble down a touch. Usually, that's no big deal on my laptop at home, or on my Android devices, as the app has a 5-Band EQ. However, the Kindle doesn't have an EQ!

How could they offer an inferior service from their own app on their own device?!

 

[doifeellucky]

It’s cheap. There will always be compromises. Have you not looked for a third party EQ app, in the admittedly limited, app store?

 

[singularity6]

It’s cheap. There will always be compromises. Have you not looked for a third part EQ app?

I have looked... Have you seen what's available?

Also, the Amazon Music app is free on all platforms. The Kindle Fires are Android devices... The "compromises" response makes little sense.

 

[doifeellucky]

I have looked... Have you seen what's available?

Also, the Amazon Music app is free on all platforms. The Kindle Fires are Android devices... The "compromises" response makes little sense.

Well it sounds like you found one.

The Kindle Fire OS is based on Android but heavily modified so you can’t access the Google Play store (where all the good apps are), and so any Google app like Chrome, YouTube or Gmail. You get what you pay for. It’s a cheap way of pushing you into the Amazon ecosystem. I own a HD 10 that I use for web browsing and occasional video only as I was aware of the limitations.

I doubt audiophiles were high on the agenda in the requirements gathering.

 

[singularity6]

You're still missing the point, and kinda not making sense.

They gimped their own free app on their own device. It'd be like Apple making a superior version of iTunes for Windows or Android. If a company wants you to stay in their ecosystem, they'd make sure the quality is there.

 

[Al ears]

You're still missing the point, and kinda not making sense.

They gimped their own free app on their own device. It'd be like Apple making a superior version of iTunes for Windows or Android. If a company wants you to stay in their ecosystem, they'd make sure the quality is there.

I can understand your confusion but did you not do any research before buying the Kindle Fire?
It does seem Amazon put little thought into people using one as an end point for Amazon Music unless they assume people will simply accept the recording as it stands or fine tune it by getting different headphones......

 

[singularity6]

I can understand your confusion but did you not do any research before buying the Kindle Fire?

I get your confusion... I'm not dissatisfied with my purchase, and I plan to use it as is. I'm simply pointing out that they had a to make a conscious effort to add a graphic equalizer in their Android version of the app, but leave it out in the Kindle Fire version (which is an Android device.) But to directly answer your question, it never occurred to me to look for differences within the same app across different devices. I suppose you must be much, much smarter than most if you would.

It does seem Amazon put little thought into people using one as an end point for Amazon Music unless they assume people will simply accept the recording as it stands or fine tune it by getting different headphones......

This doesn't make too much sense, considering that they do have versions with a way to modify the EQ. But again, you must be operating on a different plane of intellect than most.

 

[daveh75]

You can install the Google Play Store on Fire Tablets which would give you access to the Android version of the Amazon app.

Plenty of instructions online, such as

How to install the Google Play Store on every Amazon Fire tablet

Get the apps you want on your brand-new device

www.androidpolice.com

You could also try downloading the Android version from APK mirror and see if it runs (some apps require Google framework to run)

From personal experience of Fire tablets though, they're just e-waste imo, with their hobbled, aged and deeply customised versions of Android designed to push Amazon products and services and their low end hardware.

Which is why they are cheap!

Personally, I would return it, and look for a Black Firday deal on a 'proper' Android tablet or even phone...

 

[Al ears]

You can install the Google Play Store on Fire Tablets which would give you access to the Android version of the Amazon app.

Plenty of instructions online, such as

How to install the Google Play Store on every Amazon Fire tablet

Get the apps you want on your brand-new device

www.androidpolice.com

You could also try downloading the Android version from APK mirror and see if it runs (some apps require Google framework to run)

From personal experience of Fire tablets though, they're just e-waste imo, with their hobbled, aged and deeply customised versions of Android designed to push Amazon products and services and their low end hardware.

Which is why they are cheap!

Personally, I would return it, and look for a Black Firday deal on a 'proper' Android tablet or even phone...

Seconded. They have their place, I own one.
However, you might as well buy a cheap DAP and download the relevant app onto it as it will probably have a better dac component anyway.

 

[singularity6]

You can install the Google Play Store on Fire Tablets which would give you access to the Android version of the Amazon app.

Plenty of instructions online, such as

How to install the Google Play Store on every Amazon Fire tablet

Get the apps you want on your brand-new device

www.androidpolice.com

You could also try downloading the Android version from APK mirror and see if it runs (some apps require Google framework to run)

From personal experience of Fire tablets though, they're just e-waste imo, with their hobbled, aged and deeply customised versions of Android designed to push Amazon products and services and their low end hardware.

Which is why they are cheap!

Personally, I would return it, and look for a Black Firday deal on a 'proper' Android tablet or even phone...

I have a proper tablet that I use for my lectures. I've been streaming music while in my office lately. Kills the battery a bit, hence me buying a Kindle Fire as a cheap solution.

I already installed Google Play. It sees Amazon Music as already installed.

Fortunately the Play Store actually has decent EQ apps that work fine.

Fosi Audio is also sending me a K5 to try out

 

[doifeellucky]

You're still missing the point, and kinda not making sense.

They gimped their own free app on their own device. It'd be like Apple making a superior version of iTunes for Windows or Android. If a company wants you to stay in their ecosystem, they'd make sure the quality is there.

“as it's the cheapest”

"Let's get a Fire HD 8 while they're on sale!"

“their own free app”

Your words. Are you noticing a pattern?

I know what you’re saying. “How dare they take away that feature I’ve used in other places. Why would they do that? It doesn’t make sense (to you).”

What I’m saying is that concepts such as free, cheap, and compromise, have implications on a product.

It just so happens your device is missing a feature you’d find useful. There are dozens of features that are omitted on cheap products. That’s why they’re cheap and often free. Why have premium when you get everything for free? I know you’re already paying for prime. Amazon are just dangling a carrot, and you took it.

A key factor is audiophiles probably make up a tiny percentage of market share, so that’s probably (I’m speculating) why it was omitted. If it was missing on proper Android (as I stated it’s not Android but a modified version, try emailing Jeff) or iOS more people would notice and likely complain, hence why you have EQ on other devices on different platforms. Premium features require support. That costs money. There will be other features omitted that different people will notice but aren’t important to you.

If Toyota put all the premium features from their Lexus models into their budget models they’d probably go out of business. Would you expect auto braking, lane correction, self driving, etc to be available on a bottom of the range model? It still came out of the same factory.

Compromise.

You’ll probably find the battery isn’t that great either.

 

[doifeellucky]

I work for a company that built and supports an app for adults with learning disabilities. (I await your patronising comment on that).

Creating an Amazon Fire version is completely separate from an Android version. It was not cost effective, based on expected user base, so we didn’t do it. Many organisations don’t have Amazon Fire versions of apps. Look on posters. It’s always Google Play (Android) and Apple App Store (iOS). Look on your Fire device App Store. There is no Chrome, Gmail, Google Photos, YouTube etc.

To clarify Amazon Fire and Android is not the same.

The Fire version is probably stripped down with regard to features to reduce the overall development cost, in this instance due to them not expecting enough use of the feature in question to spend time incorporating it.

 

[singularity6]

If Toyota put all the premium features from their Lexus models into their budget models they’d probably go out of business. Would you expect auto braking, lane correction, self driving, etc to be available on a bottom of the range model? It still came out of the same factory.

If you'd like to have an appropriate analogy, it'd be Toyota putting premium features in a competitor's car.

I work for a company that built and supports an app for adults with learning disabilities. (I await your patronising comment on that).

As a college instructor, I take accessibility quite seriously.

Creating an Amazon Fire version is completely separate from an Android version. It was not cost effective, based on expected user base, so we didn’t do it. Many organisations don’t have Amazon Fire versions of apps. Look on posters. It’s always Google Play (Android) and Apple App Store (iOS). Look on your Fire device App Store. There is no Chrome, Gmail, Google Photos, YouTube etc.

To clarify Amazon Fire and Android is not the same.

In all fairness, you're a third party developer creating apps for multiple platforms. One would think a company would put themselves above the competition.

Also, the cost for Amazon products is largely mitigated by advertisement. Their devices are cheaply made, but even then, they are artificially cheap.

 

[doifeellucky]

If you'd like to have an appropriate analogy, it'd be Toyota putting premium features in a competitor's car.

I bet you voted for Trump and believe in election fraud.

 

[singularity6]

I bet you voted for Trump and believe in election fraud.

Your ad-hominins do not do not lend nearly as much to your argument as you may think. Let's keep things civil.

 

[doifeellucky]

Your ad-hominins do not do not lend nearly as much to your argument as you may think. Let's keep things civil.

My argument is simple. Cheaper products provide reduced functionality, In this instance no EQ on your device. My only concern is why you continue to not understand that fact, despite others also saying the same, hence my previous comment.

 

[singularity6]

My argument is simple. Cheaper products provide reduced functionality, In this instance no EQ on your device. My only concern is why you continue to not understand that fact, despite others also saying the same, hence my previous comment.

The app is free, regardless of the platform. It's also not a third-party app. The cost of the device the app is used on is irrelevant (when it comes to tech, the initial device is frequently a loss-leader anyway. Companies make their money on peripherals, software and services.)

 

[bigboss]

The app is free, regardless of the platform. It's also not a third-party app. The cost of the device the app is used on is irrelevant (when it comes to tech, the initial device is frequently a loss-leader anyway. Companies make their money on peripherals, software and services.)

I would suggest you contact Amazon directly to ask. It's clear that the teams who made the Android version and the Amazon Fire version are different. It may have been an omission or they may have realised it's not often used.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

No politics or personal comments please.

Thanks, one and all.

 

[singularity6]

I would suggest you contact Amazon directly to ask. It's clear that the teams who made the Android version and the Amazon Fire version are different. It may have been an omission or they may have realised it's not often used.

I looked into doing so, but couldn't find an appropriate channel of communication. I plan to look into it again after the holiday.