Setting up Google Apps on my Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9

I just bought a Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 3rd Generation. Amazon does not want you to use native Google apps, so that make it difficult to get the apps to run on your Kindle Fire, but since I use Google Drive/Docs/Sheets and have some games that link to Google Play, I needed it to work on my tablet.

Here are some instructions on how I got Google Apps to work on my Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 third generation. I was able to do this without rooting the fire but it does take work around and I had to go on a Windows PC to make it work.

Initial, I followed the instruction here, but that did not completely do the trick so instead I went to these instructions which are a little more complicated, but worked well for me. This second site also had a lot of other instructions on some extra things that you might need to do, and the instructions were quite clear.

This involved downloading a separate program on my Windows computer and connecting the Fire as an Android device. This is not for novice computer users, but if you can follow instructions and have a general knowledge of computing devices you can probably do it.

So once you have downloaded 1Mobile Market and installed it by sideloading it on your Kindle you can get most of the apps right there, but do not trust it with Google Play Services. It updated this to the wrong structure for my Kindle, so all my Google apps stopped working and it came up with an error message, something like, "Wrong architecture for you device." It said the apk was for the x86 structure, but this device needed the armeabi-v7a structure.

So instead go to this link, so that you can download the proper apk for your device. Here are the instructions that help you pick the right apk for your device.  I think this site may have all the apks that you need for Google apps you need, so if 1Mobile Market app does not work, perhaps you could download them from here and sideload them. 

Uploader's notes:

To figure out the right version of Google Play services for your Android device, go to Settings -> Apps -> Google Play services, and look at the last 3 numbers in the parentheses. You'll see something like -XYZ where:

* X defines Android version:

0 for Android <5.0
4 and 7 for Android >=5.0
8 for Android TV


* Y defines CPU architecture:

1 for armeabi
3 for armeabi-v7a
4 for arm64-v8a
7 for x86


* Z defines DPI:

0 for universal
2 for 160
4 for 240
6 for 320
8 for 480

Notes:
It seems that -7YZ builds became -4YZ with Google Play services 6.5. If you were on -7YZ before, you should now install -4YZ.
Looks like -8YZ builds are for Android TV.

Examples:
-014 for Android <5.0 armeabi CPU 240 DPI device
-438 for Android 5.0+ armeabi-v7a CPU 480 DPI device
-876 for Android TV x86 CPU 320 DPI device

• With these instructions I picked the right apk (one that ended in 034), and my google apps started working again. I will also use this site to update my google play services as necessary rather than trust 1Mobile Market for this one.

Purpose

I am a tech hobbiest and so I dabble in lots of different tech. In my household, I have almost every major operating system from Windows to Apple MacOS to IOS to Android to ChromeOS and even a few Linux Distros. I am not a programmer, but I like trying new things.

I have in the past run my own home tech business to help people clean up and fix their computers and small electronics. I have also helped to manage computers and networks in all of my small churches. So hopefully what I have learned will help someone else.

So when I try something new and have to problem solve, I will use this blog as a way to pass along the information that I learned to help someone else make an informed decision. It is also a way for me to remember how I did that thing in the past.