6/1/2021: De-bloating Amazon’s Fire tablets

Make a Fire tablet Amazon-free

Plus: Old phones expiring, a space-saving Google Photos trick, and a like-free Facebook

Jared Newman

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June 1, 2021

When you buy an Amazon Fire tablet, there’s a certain expectation that comes with it.

In exchange for cheap hardware, you’ll have to tolerate some of Amazon’s money-making tactics, including ads on your lock screen, a home screen that heavily promotes Amazon content, and the use of Amazon’s own Appstore instead of the Google Play Store. Compared to other Android tablets or Apple’s iPads, the experience is more bloated and less useful, especially since you can’t use any Google apps.