Fire OS


Amazon Fire OS is a mobile operating system based on Android and created by Amazon for its Fire Phone and Fire brand of tablets, Echo and Echo Dot, and other content delivery devices like Fire TV. It is forked from the open source Android operating system and includes proprietary software, customized user interface primarily centered on content consumption, and heavy ties to content available from Amazon's own storefronts and services.
While the Kindle Fire line has always used customized distributions of Android, Amazon only began referring to the distribution as Fire OS beginning with its third iteration of Kindle Fire tablets. Unlike previous Kindle Fire models, whose operating system is listed as being "based on" Android, the "Fire OS 3.0" operating system is listed as being "compatible with" Android.
The tablet versions of the Kindle e-readers are the Fire range.

Features

Fire OS uses a customized user interface designed to prominently promote content available through Amazon services, such as Amazon Appstore, Prime Video, Amazon Music & Audible, and Kindle Store. Its home screen features a carousel of recently accessed content and apps, with a "favorites shelf" of pinned apps directly below it. Sections are provided for different types of content, such as apps, games, music, audiobooks, and video among others. A search function allows users to search through their local content library or Amazon's stores. Similarly to Android, sliding from the top of the screen exposes quick settings and notifications. Fire OS also provides integration with Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter. X-Ray is also integrated into its playback functions, allowing users to access supplemental information on what they are currently viewing. The OS features a user system, along with Kindle FreeTime, a suite of parental controls which allow parents to set time limits for using certain types of content.
Fire OS 5, which is based on Android 5.0 "Lollipop", uses an updated interface. The home screen now features a traditional application grid and pages for content types as opposed to the previous carousel interface. It also introduces "On Deck", a function which automatically moves content out of offline storage to maintain storage space for new content, the speed reading tool "Word Runner", and screen color filters. Parental controls were enhanced with a new web browser for FreeTime mode featuring a curated selection of content appropriate for children, as well as "Activity Center" for monitoring usage by children. Fire OS 5 removes support for device encryption; an Amazon spokesperson stated that encryption was an enterprise-oriented feature that was underused. In March 2016, after the removal was publicized and criticized in the wake of the FBI–Apple encryption dispute, Amazon announced that it would be restoring the feature in a future patch.

Amazon's ecosystem

Fire OS devices comes with Amazon's software and content ecosystems such as Here WeGo with a clone of Google Maps API 1.0. Amazon cannot use the Android trademarks to market the devices.
Fire OS devices does not have Google mobile services, including the Google Play Store or proprietary APIs, such as Google Maps or Google Cloud Messaging. Google Play Store can be installed, and third-party apps can still be sideloaded via APK files, although full compatibility is not guaranteed if the app depends on Google services.
Members of the Open Handset Alliance are contractually forbidden to produce Android devices based on forks of the OS, therefore Kindle Fire tablets are manufactured by Quanta Computer, which is not an OHA member.

List of Fire OS versions

Fire OS versionderived from Android versionwith Android API levelexample devicesnotes
n/a2.3.310Kindle Fire"based on" Android
n/a4.0.315Kindle Fire HD"based on" Android
34.2.217Fire HD, Fire HDXreported as "compatible with" Android
44.4.219Fire HD, Fire HDX
4.5.14.4.319
5.05.122
67.1.225
79 Pie28

The releases are categorized by major Fire OS versions based upon a certain Android codebase first and then sorted chronologically.
;precursor version of Fire OS - based on Android 2.3 Gingerbread
;precursor version of Fire OS - based on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
;Fire OS 2.4 => Android 4.0.3
;Fire OS 3 Mojito - based on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
;Fire OS 4 Sangria - based on Android 4.4 KitKat
;Fire OS 5 Bellini - based on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
;Fire OS 6 - based on Android 7.1 Nougat
;Fire OS 7 - based on Android 9.0 Pie

List of Fire OS devices