How to Make a Kindle Fire Share With an Android Phone

By John Arkontaky

Kindle Fire is an Android gadget, albeit a limited one.
i David McNew/Getty Images News/Getty Images

The tricky thing about Kindle e-readers is that they use an Android operating system, but they are not full Android devices. Amazon repurposed Android’s OS, replacing the Google Play Store with Amazon's Appstore and implementing proprietary user interface features such as the home page Carousel, among other changes. Because of its hybrid OS, Kindle pigeon-holed itself into working extremely well between Kindle devices while creating barriers that makes it difficult to share content with an Android device. However, Kindle and Android devices aren’t completely isolated from each other.

Line of Demarcation

Apps, music, movies and most other media -- except books -- cannot be shared between your Android and Kindle fire gadgets. Because you can install the Kindle app on Android devices, you can take advantage of Whispersync. Documents can be sent from an Android device to your Kindle, but not the other way around. You can do this by downloading Send to Kindle to your Android phone or tablet. Send to Kindle works with many popular apps and supports popular file types such as Microsoft Word, PDF and image files.

Whispersync

Whispersync is the tool that automatically updates your book library. This includes the last read page, bookmarks and notes for any e-book in your Kindle library. If you download the Kindle app on your Android device, your Kindle library along with all your personal insertions will automatically appear on your Android device’s Kindle app. This service works through Amazon’s cloud, so your Android phone or tablet needs to be connected to Wi-Fi to receive updates and you need to use the same Amazon account on the Kindle and the Kindle app on your Android.

Manual Sync

If you don’t want to use Whispersync to update information for all of your Kindle books, you can perform a manual sync while within a book you are currently viewing on your Kindle. With Whispersync deactivated, you can manually sync your last read page by tapping the “Menu” icon while looking at your last read page. From here, tap “Sync to furthest read page.” Now when you use the Kindle app on your Android device you can resume reading where you left off on your Kindle. Other information, such as bookmarks and notes, won’t synchronize.

Rooting

To have access to apps and other features that you’re Android device has, some people turn to rooting their Kindle. By rooting your Kindle Fire, you can install the Google Play Store -- among other Android features. With the Google Play Store on your Kindle, you can use your Google Play account on your Kindle. From using your Google Play apps on your Kindle to downloading cloud apps to share media across your devices, all sorts of options open up for sharing between your Kindle and Android. After rooting your Kindle Fire, its warranty is void. However, this isn’t considered illegal.

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