How Do You Load Apps On An Amazon Fire Tablet

While Amazon Fire tablets may not be the most powerful devices on the market today, they can now handle media consumption, browsing the internet, playing games, and of course, shopping. As a result, they are a great alternative to pricey tablets for the consumer on a budget.

Can You Mirror Your Amazon Fire Tablet to Your Television?

Suppose you managed to pick up one of Amazon's latest Fire devices recently—the 2019 Fire HD 10 (Ninth Generation), 2020 Fire HD 8 (Tenth Generation), or the 2020 Fire HD 8 Plus (Tenth Generation). In that case, you're probably enjoying watching some of your favorite Netflix or Amazon shows around the house or on a long car ride.

The larger device has dual-stereo speakers that make watching movies, or TV shows, an absolute joy. Of course, crowding around a 10″ tablet doesn't make for the best of experiences—that's where mirroring your tablet comes into play. Mirroring makes it possible for you to pull something up on your Fire tablet and have it show up on your TV.

There are two types of mirroring, and both have their potential uses. Whether you're looking to stream a movie from your tablet to your television, or you want to display the entire tablet interface in your living room, here's how to mirror your Fire tablet directly to your TV.

Two Types of Mirroring

Your Fire tablet runs Fire OS, an operating system built using the Android OS that functions similarly to the original.

This structure means that your tablet is complete with many of the features that you'd find on Android, but they are customized to fit Amazon's ecosystem properly.

On a standard Android device, you typically have the option to stream your content to a Chromecast-enabled device along with several other devices, depending on the app you're using. Netflix and YouTube, for example, can both stream directly to Roku or smart TV apps despite not being directly built for Google Cast.

Amazon has developed its own form of screen mirroring.

The company offers two distinct versions of display mirroring on their devices:

Second Screen: Second Screen allows you to push your content to a Fire TV or Fire Stick device. Some apps, including Netflix, also allow you to push your content directly to non-Amazon devices.
Display Mirroring: Display Mirroring allows you to stream anything displayed on your device, from your Facebook feed to a displayed recipe. Essentially, this turns your television into a wireless computer monitor, controlled through your tablet.

Which of these options is best for you?

Well, it depends both on your device and your use case. Most tablet owners will probably be looking at using the Second Screen options on their devices, though if you own an older tablet, you may be able to mirror your device on your screen.

What Devices Can You Stream to?

The only device you can directly mirror your Fire tablet display to is the Fire TV or Fire Stick.

Without one of these devices, you won't be able to mirror your tablet, stream video through Amazon Prime Video, or push your music to your smart TV unless your television itself is running Fire OS.

There is a fair amount of devices that certain apps can share their content through, depending on which app you're using to stream.

Netflix, as mentioned, is the big one. Netflix allows you to mirror the video on a Fire TV, Roku Express, Vizio smart TV, and more. Netflix tries hard to make themselves available on every platform in the world, and it's clear that they also work to make sure their apps work with as many devices as possible.

YouTube, on the other hand, didn't seem to want to work with any of our devices, including Fire TV.

The YouTube app on the Amazon Appstore is a portal for the mobile website, and not the official app, so needless to say, this was a bit unsurprising. There is a workaround available to install the official YouTube app on your tablet through Google Play, and that app did allow us to stream to any of the platforms mentioned above (as long as there was a YouTube application on the device, we were able to stream).

What you can and can't stream to your smart devices seems to depend on the platform you're using, and the app developer implementing the ability to stream content over the web.

Device Requirements and Limitations

Not every Fire tablet can properly mirror content on another device. If you aren't sure whether your Fire tablet, you'll need to dive into the settings of your tablet and select "Display." Look for the option labeled "Display Mirroring" in the settings menu.

If you see the option to mirror, congratulations—you can use device mirroring. However, you need an Amazon Firestick or TV in order to mirror your tablet, unless your Fire tablet supports Play Store sideloading. Then, the device can install third-party apps that support Google casting to Chromecast, Android TV, etc.

How to Stream Content to Your TV

So, if you're ready to start streaming content to your television, you'll want to grab your tablet and make sure you have an internet-ready device.

If you want to get the most out of your tablet, purchase a Fire TV or Fire Stick device; they're cheap and small enough that adding it to your existing technology should be rather easy.

For this example, we'll be primarily looking at how to stream content to a Fire OS-branded device.

Using the Second Screen or Cast Experience

Whether you own an older tablet or one of Amazon's newer models, you'll be happy to know that streaming your favorite Amazon videos to your Fire TV or Fire Stick is easy to do.

Grab your Fire tablet and make sure your Fire TV device is on and active, and, unlike a Chromecast, ensure that both devices are connected to the same Amazon account.

If both of your devices are not connected to the same Amazon account, you will not be able to make this work. Therefore, don't skip this step!

Head to the home screen on your device and swipe along with the menu until you reach the "Videos" tab. Then, select the "Store." This will load your rented, purchased, and Prime-capable films (assuming, of course, that you're a Prime subscriber) that can be automatically streamed from your device. Select any title on your device, and you'll see the typical options to watch your movie.

Your device will list both the "Watch Now" option, which will play the film or TV show on your tablet, and the "Download" option that stores the film for offline watching.

Between both of these options, you'll see an icon that reads "Watch on Fire TV/Fire TV Stick," depending on the device you have plugged into your television.

If you aren't using a Fire TV, and you don't have the same account linked to both devices, you won't see this option. Unlike Airplay or Chromecast, Amazon's Second Screen requires you to share an account between both devices. When you tap on this option, your tablet will load a Second Screen interface that provides additional information on the movie. You can scroll through the cast, jump to scenes like a DVD, view trivia about the scene, and more. You can also turn off the screen on your tablet once the video has begun playing.

As we mentioned above, some apps—including the Netflix app and the YouTube app available in the sideloaded Google Play Store—have the ability to stream not just to the Fire TV, but to any device with their apps installed.

To do this, load the application and select the Cast icon in the top-right corner of your display. A menu to select your streaming device will appear in the corner of the app, and you can use your device to select a specific playback device, like a smart TV or a Roku player.

This is on an app-by-app basis and depends entirely on who developed the app you're using.

Mirroring Your Device

If your device matches one of the device models mentioned above, mirroring your device to your television can be done quickly and on a system level.

Simply select the option, ensure that your Fire TV or Fire Stick is on and enabled, and select your Fire TV from the device list that appears on your display. Amazon states it may take up to 20 seconds for your device image to appear on your display, but once it does, you'll be able to view the image on your tablet from your television directly.

Of course, anyone who's picked up a Fire tablet since 2017 will be unable to access this option since it's been removed from recent generations of the devices.

Fortunately, we have a bit of a workaround for this — AllCast, which has an app on both the Play Store and the Amazon Appstore. Upon opening the app, you'll be able to view a list of players you can use on your network.

In our tests, Allcast managed to pick up both Roku devices on the network, as well as the Fire Stick also connected to the device. Using the app depends on you having the Allcast app also installed to your device, though some players (including Roku) can use AllCast without having a separate install.

There are a few notes for AllCast. First, you shouldn't expect AllCast to directly mirror your device. Instead, AllCast will allow you to stream photos, videos, music, and more directly to your player, as opposed to just being able to mirror your display.

Most users looking to mirror their tablet will be doing so to display content like photos or personal videos, and in that sense, AllCast does the same.

Second, the device on the receiving end and your Fire tablet must be connected to the same network. If it's not connected, you won't be able to use AllCast as intended.

Third, the free version of AllCast is limited. You'll only be able to stream content for five minutes at a time. To get the most out of AllCast, you'll need to purchase the app.

The AllCast listing on the Amazon Appstore has a wide range of one-star reviews, with users complaining the app wouldn't connect to their Fire Stick or Roku.

In our experience, we were able to stream to both platforms, so we can give this app the thumbs-up. Before paying for the full version, make sure you test the free version out on your tablet to make sure the app does what you need it to do.

We have one final workaround for those willing to get their hands dirty with installing the Play Store on their device. This last solution installing the classic Google Home application on your tablet to properly mirror the tablet.

You'll need a Chromecast for this, so if you're using a Roku or Fire Stick, you can probably forget it. But since the Fire tablet line is running a forked version of Android 5.0, installing the Google Home app on your tablet is as easy as finding its listing in the Play Store.

You cannot directly download this app from the Amazon Appstore, so you'll have to download the Play Store. If you need help figuring this out, make sure to check out our post on How To Install the Google Play Store on an Amazon Fire Tablet.

You can also view more information about mirroring your device with the Google Home workaround here since the app follows the same procedures it would on any other device.

Just note that you may receive a warning stating that mirroring is not designed for this device. That is to be expected as the Fire tablet is not a proper Google-approved Android device.

You may experience problems when mirroring your display with this method, but it is available to any users willing to put in the work.

Final Thoughts

Amazon Fire tablets are great, affordable alternatives to some of the more expensive tablets currently on the market.

However, it's unfortunate that Amazon made the decision to remove the ability to directly mirror their devices to the Fire Stick or Fire TV from newer devices.

While their tablet line has become more and more focused on the budget-focused shopper, the 2015 Fire HD 8 was no more powerful than the 2017 lineup of devices. With Fire OS 6, based on Android Nougat, coming to tablets sometime over the next few months, we'll have to wait and see if Amazon adds back the ability to mirror your screen to a Fire TV device.

Still, with Allcast and Google Home both existing as workarounds, not to mention the general second screen experience, it's not too difficult to find a middle ground capable of streaming exactly what you want when you want it.