Database Users

Go Launcher EX fails to update

Interesting, installed Go Launcher EX from amazon's marketplace and it is version 3.51. There is of course a newer version out and the google market wont let me see it. It says not compatible for some odd reason. Managed to get the newest version apk and it will not install. Anybody have suggestions?

This has something to do with either the DPI or some provisions in the app itself. There are a lot of apps which you won't be able to install such as;
Wifi File Explorer PRO
Citibank
etc....

That is a bummer, I went ahead and switched over to ADW Launcher. Noticed that the font sometime freaks out and turns really big. Tilt the device to switch orientation and it fixes it. Anything else better than ADW Launcher? It seems just a tad on the simple side compared to Go Launcher.

Funny... setting up a second Kindle Fire, and the Go Launcher EX is no longer available in the amazon market. Actually, it is in the market, just doesn't know on the KF now.

Changing off that stock launcher!!

Okay so I ran across something interesting today. I got ambitious and tried to replace the current launcher.apk file in system/app with a go launcher all I got from the Internet. I renamed it to Launcher.apk and I changed permissions to rw- r-- r-- and renamed the stock Launcher.apk to Launcher.apk1 and rebooted.
The kindle restarted fine and the first unlock flickered but TADA!!! GO LAUNCHER APPEARED! I was super happy. DO NOT DELETE THE OLD LAUNCHER APK!!!!!!!!!!It's the only back up after all lol
But I've tested this with other launchers as well and they worked!
:good::good::highfive::highfive::victory::victory:

All I had to do was drop Nova Launcher into my /sdcard folder and install it from there. Then when glyph click home... it asks which to use for default. Select the launcher and click "use always" and I've been good to go ever since.

drugfreejonnyxxx said:
All I had to do was drop Nova Launcher into my /sdcard folder and install it from there. Then when glyph click home... it asks which to use for default. Select the launcher and click "use always" and I've been good to go ever since.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you have to do this on a rooted device?? Received my Kindle HD 7" for Christmas and wanting have some fun!

Go Launcher EX and HD
mattamous said:
Did you have to do this on a rooted device?? Received my Kindle HD 7" for Christmas and wanting have some fun!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mattamous, I have not tried this on a unrooted Kindle. Most of the launchers are available through Google Play not Amazon App Store, so this is really the problem.
I do have the APK's on my machine and since these are free, there is no problem distributing them to you.
I will give you two choices (you may install both without conflict):
1) Go Launcher EX Download: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/54456659/GO_Launcher_EX_3_19_1.apk
2) Go Launcher HD Download: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/54456659/GO_Launcher_HD.apk
Once you download them, go ahead and Open them which will initiate an install. You do not need root to perform this task.
Next go into your Kindle Apps, you will see the new Icon, click on it to open the new launcher. Then click on your Kindle "Home" button, you will be asked which launcher you want to use by default. You may choose now and check the box or decide latter (leave the box unchecked) after you have tested the new launchers.
Wala, a new facelift. Enjoy!

prokennexusa said:
mattamous, I have not tried this on a unrooted Kindle. Most of the launchers are available through Google Play not Amazon App Store, so this is really the problem.
I do have the APK's on my machine and since these are free, there is no problem distributing them to you.
I will give you two choices (you may install both without conflict):
1) Go Launcher EX Download: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/54456659/GO_Launcher_EX_3_19_1.apk
2) Go Launcher HD Download: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/54456659/GO_Launcher_HD.apk
Once you download them, go ahead and Open them which will initiate an install. You do not need root to perform this task.
Next go into your Kindle Apps, you will see the new Icon, click on it to open the new launcher. Then click on your Kindle "Home" button, you will be asked which launcher you want to use by default. You may choose now and check the box or decide latter (leave the box unchecked) after you have tested the new launchers.
Wala, a new facelift. Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those didn't work on a unrooted 7.2.3, both apps don't show up in the app draw & "Open" is greyed out on initial install.
Seems only way is by rooting first.

Gilly10 said:
Those didn't work on a unrooted 7.2.3, both apps don't show up in the app draw & "Open" is greyed out on initial install.
Seems only way is by rooting first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bummer, used to work on 7.2.2
This is how I got Go Launcher on my device. Although I blocked it from future updates. Glad I did!
Thank you for the feedback.

HM....i'm rooted on 7.2.3 and have Play store successfully installed. I've installed both apex and nova but I can not launch either. When I click the home button I don't get the usual option to set a launcher.
I'm going to look into it more but seems there's an issue here ...
Edit: solution requires a Titanium Backup Pro Key but it works. Simply install from the Play store normally. Open titanium backup (make sure you have root and Pro license) go to the Backup tab. Long press on the launcher you want to use. Convert the launcher to a system app. The default launcher dialog box will appear the next time you press the home button.

Apex and Nova Launcher
bobloblaw1 said:
HM....i'm rooted on 7.2.3 and have Play store successfully installed. I've installed both apex and nova but I can not launch either. When I click the home button I don't get the usual option to set a launcher.
I'm going to look into it more but seems there's an issue here ...
Edit: solution requires a Titanium Backup Pro Key but it works. Simply install from the Play store normally. Open titanium backup (make sure you have root and Pro license) go to the Backup tab. Long press on the launcher you want to use. Convert the launcher to a system app. The default launcher dialog box will appear the next time you press the home button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you move the installed launchers from /data/app to /system/app and reboot?

I did. I had to convert them to system apps for them to work. Not sure why since others haven't had to.
The tablet supports live wallpapers when in a custom launcher. Just push the attached file to /system/app and then fix the permissions.
It's Livewallpaperpicker.apk pulled from a CM9 build. If you don't trust my file then download a full CM9 build and grab it from the zip file in the same location. The google provided live wallpapers don't work (framwork stuff missing?) so I haven't included them.
Now, if we can get an app switcher button on the nav bar we'd be in business.

Live Wallpaper
bobloblaw1 said:
I did. I had to convert them to system apps for them to work. Not sure why since others haven't had to.
The tablet supports live wallpapers when in a custom launcher. Just push the attached file to /system/app and then fix the permissions.
It's Livewallpaperpicker.apk pulled from a CM9 build. If you don't trust my file then download a full CM9 build and grab it from the zip file in the same location. The google provided live wallpapers don't work (framwork stuff missing?) so I haven't included them.
Now, if we can get an app switcher button on the nav bar we'd be in business.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bob, Works like a charm. Thanks!
The app switcher would be done through the build.prop file or ?

prokennexusa said:
Bob, Works like a charm. Thanks!
The app switcher would be done through the build.prop file or ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I belive the button can be enabled there but the meat of it is buried in the framework files or soemthing like that. Unfortunately Amazon has done something to the framework that causes the Recent App switcher to crash when it is called. It's going to take someone with some real skills to go in and mod/re-write that part of the framework. That's quite a bit outside the usefulness of my copypasta skillz.
If you want to see what I'm talking about you can add to your home screen a recent app switcher button under Apex Actions.

Go Launcher EX and HD
bobloblaw1 said:
I belive the button can be enabled there but the meat of it is buried in the framework files or soemthing like that. Unfortunately Amazon has done something to the framework that causes the Recent App switcher to crash when it is called. It's going to take someone with some real skills to go in and mod/re-write that part of the framework. That's quite a bit outside the usefulness of my copypasta skillz.
If you want to see what I'm talking about you can add to your home screen a recent app switcher button under Apex Actions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I see what you are talking about.
Rather than waste the time trying to redo proprietary framework, I think our energy is best spent on making a whole new custom ROM. Only time will tell.........

So I have an issue with Kindle Free Time and using a different launcher. I successfully installed Go Launcher EX, but after launching kindle free time it wants to revert back to the stock launcher. So I froze launcher.apk, but then free time doesn't even launch. Next step I renamed go launcher apk to launcher.apk to replace the stock launcher and free time still does not launch. If anyone has an idea for a resolution please let me know.

Sorry it took so long to reply. Yes my device is 7.2.3 and is rooted.

well i screwed up...
i put these instruction together with another set that said to change the name of the original launcher to "launcher.apk1" and then attempt to restart with the new nove or go launcher. well something went awry, and now my KFHD is stuck in boot loop.
any of you guys know how to get it back to normal? or if i can access it through my desktop to change the launcher name back to .apk?

Go Launcher EX and HD
turbodroid said:
So I have an issue with Kindle Free Time and using a different launcher. I successfully installed Go Launcher EX, but after launching kindle free time it wants to revert back to the stock launcher. So I froze launcher.apk, but then free time doesn't even launch. Next step I renamed go launcher apk to launcher.apk to replace the stock launcher and free time still does not launch. If anyone has an idea for a resolution please let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You really should not have to change the stock Launcher.apk - this will not make a difference.
The main problem is that Kindle Free Time is built around the stock launcher and was not designed for any other launcher.
If you setup the default launcher to be your new launcher (by pressing the picture of a house), you can always go back to Go Launcher when you are done using Kindle Free Time.

Th latest kindle software update wouldn't let me just hit the house. I had t replace stock Launcher.apk with trebuchet or another launcher before I got the select default launcher menu
Edit: I renamed the stock Launcher.apk to Carousel.apk and I can use the home softkey to switch between launchers smoothly now. I'm on 8.1.4 rooted however
Sent from my KFJWI using xda premium

I wish I was still on 8.1.2 my kfhd was brand new though
Sent from my KFJWI using xda premium

Follow Up
nickman529 said:
I wish I was still on 8.1.2 my kfhd was brand new though
Sent from my KFJWI using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you still able to get everything to work or do you still have limited functionality?

The only things that dont function(un stock launcher wise) are landscape rotation unless i lock rotation :/
Sent from my Slim Photon using xda app-developers app

Change Amazon Fire TV's Default Launcher (NO ROOT)!

Hello everyone!
In the Amazon Fire tablet community a member (BaronKiko) made a program called Launcher Hijack. It works really good on the Amazon Fire TVs. If you do not like ads and bloatware, it hides them pretty well. I installed a TVLauncher3.1.0 apk and Launcher Hijack v3 and it does the job!
Download:
https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack/releases
Official thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/amazon-fire/general/launcher-root-launcher-hijack-v2-t3561026

nyln said:
Hello everyone!
In the Amazon Fire tablet community a member (BaronKiko) made a program called Launcher Hijack. It works really good on the Amazon Fire TVs. If you do not like ads and bloatware, it hides them pretty well. I installed a TVLauncher3.1.0 apk and Launcher Hijack v3 and it does the job!
Download:
https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack/releases
Official thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/amazon-fire/general/launcher-root-launcher-hijack-v2-t3561026
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very interesting for those friends that won't/can't root. Do you know if v3 sees AppStarter/FireStarter as a Launcher or only as an app ?
---------- Post added at 06:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:19 AM ----------
Well just tried it on a non-rooted FTVS1 & the single Home press worked great with AppStarter. Now Launcher Hijack v3 & AppStarter did take a long time to start from a device manual restart. And it did not go into AppStarter by itself at bootup (had to press Home). But once I had let enough time pass. After hitting Home AppStarter started to load from that device restart. But there was no way to tell when it was ready (when LHv3 had started).
Very good non-rooted option. Only minor tweaks left to make it great.

Y314K said:
Very interesting for those friends that won't/can't root. Do you know if v3 sees AppStarter/FireStarter as a Launcher or only as an app ?
---------- Post added at 06:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:19 AM ----------
Well just tried it on a non-rooted FTVS1 & the single Home press worked great with AppStarter. Now Launcher Hijack v3 & AppStarter did take a long time to start from a device manual restart. And it did not go into AppStarter by itself at bootup (had to press Home). But once I had let enough time pass. After hitting Home AppStarter started to load from that device restart. But there was no way to tell when it was ready (when LHv3 had started).
Very good non-rooted option. Only minor tweaks left to make it great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The default launcher does not show up. Other apps installed that are launcher-eligible will pop up as options. It works good and is basically an adblocker.
As soon as it is on, I just hit the hone button. It works 1/10 times, if you see fire launcher just press home again. It is very lightweight and doesn't take much time at all for me.

Works well when it detects a launcher app (TVlauncher and Unwind launcher, does not detect HAL). TVlauncher works best but I need to exit it everytime I need to watch something through Prime Video. Other launchers dont work well (Unwind does not show half of the apps that I've got installed). Will have to wait for root if that ever comes in order to get Leanback launcher.

The default launcher does show up if you uncheck hide system apps in the settings .
This app takes about 15 seconds after fully booted to kick in and that's fine by me. Thank you very much.

JUSTINMARMER said:
The default launcher does show up if you uncheck hide system apps in the settings .
This app takes about 15 seconds after fully booted to kick in and that's fine by me. Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, the only thing I might request the author is to add an option for auto-Home press when it is activated or specially when it boots up when a device is turned on or restarted. Since other then waiting 10-15 seconds after restart/activated there is no way to know when it is fully on. There should also be a way to a way to control the double/long home presses. But this is a SOLID App as is.
Tested choosing non launchers (Kodi, Downloader, etc.) & that never worked. So I am not sure what is the purpose of letting you see the other non Launcher Apps if they can't be used. I did installed the SPMC Launcher APK & that worked perfectly. You can get the latest SPMC Launcher option from:
http://spmc.semperpax.com
Just go into the "More downloads at: link " & choose the launcher version for your device.
Most of us (FTV1, FTVS1 & FTVS2) need the ARM v7a (32bit) & only the FTV2 & FTV-TV need the ARCH64 Launcher versions.

can i find a way to make it work with halauncher?? any ideas to make it work with this??

Just published a new release with full support for Fire TV's: https://forum.xda-developers.com/fir...ck-v4-t3877467
This post still redirects 10+ people over every week so thought it was worth mentioning.
Y314K said:
Yeah, the only thing I might request the author is to add an option for auto-Home press when it is activated or specially when it boots up when a device is turned on or restarted. Since other then waiting 10-15 seconds after restart/activated there is no way to know when it is fully on. There should also be a way to a way to control the double/long home presses. But this is a SOLID App as is.
Tested choosing non launchers (Kodi, Downloader, etc.) & that never worked. So I am not sure what is the purpose of letting you see the other non Launcher Apps if they can't be used. I did installed the SPMC Launcher APK & that worked perfectly. You can get the latest SPMC Launcher option from:
http://spmc.semperpax.com
Just go into the "More downloads at: link " & choose the launcher version for your device.
Most of us (FTV1, FTVS1 & FTVS2) need the ARM v7a (32bit) & only the FTV2 & FTV-TV need the ARCH64 Launcher versions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bit late to respond but It should also work with any app now, the non-launcher option was there before because some launchers don't get filtered correctly when they work just fine.
Also it does perform a home press at boot. Always has done if you enable the accessibility service. Thinking about it on the version you have been using that's probably not the best idea but now it should all be good.

nyln said:
Hello everyone!
In the Amazon Fire tablet community a member (BaronKiko) made a program called Launcher Hijack. It works really good on the Amazon Fire TVs. If you do not like ads and bloatware, it hides them pretty well. I installed a TVLauncher3.1.0 apk and Launcher Hijack v3 and it does the job!
Download:
https://github.com/BaronKiko/LauncherHijack/releases
Official thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/amazon-fire/general/launcher-root-launcher-hijack-v2-t3561026
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does this process work on the latest 4K firestick ? Does it require running of any ADB commands ?

xhostluv said:
can i find a way to make it work with halauncher?? any ideas to make it work with this??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can see a step by step guide here

Uh oh... 5.6.2.0

I woke up today to find my tablet on the table with the screen on and a weird new lockscreen with some spam about hints on how to use Alexa. I guess my tablet had updated a few minutes before I got up and so the screen was on.
Because my tablet was previously rooted and I disabled the stock launcher and was using Nova, I was unable to get out of the lock screen. Pressing home did nothing nor did swiping from any direction. Funny enough too, the lockscreen was saying how to use Alexa but on my device purchased in Japan, Alexa i completely missing even from a stock install which is just insult to injury.
Anyway, I am looking for a way to remedy this hopefully without a reinstall. My initial thought was to re-root and re-disable the stock launcher giving Nova control again, if possible. However, I am unsure if the usual rooting method works on this version. I can't even re-enable the stock launcher without root (I think) so I guess if I lost root I will have to do a reinstall to get back to stock?

Does yours have your home buttons/top bar? Mine disappeared with the update and now the only way to get back to my home screen is to reboot my fire entirely!

taiyoko said:
Does yours have your home buttons/top bar?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I was still able to use the device with those functions but it's incredibly inconvenient. Would a reboot help with anything?

I was looking at another thread in the help section, and apparently my nav/notification bars being missing is some sort of compatibility problem with 5.6.2.0 and Nova Launcher.

uninstall nova via adb

I think I figured it out but this won't work for everyone. After opening settings using the pull down notification menu, this reenabled the recent apps which allowed me to open Nova launcher. I rerooted using the offline method here https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/general/hd-10-2017-offline-rooting-t3734860 which thankfully still works. After that I was able to use Titanium backup to freeze the new "Launcher 1.0........".
Everything is now running like before the update.

yoflo said:
I think I figured it out but this won't work for everyone. After opening settings using the pull down notification menu, this reenabled the recent apps which allowed me to open Nova launcher. I rerooted using the offline method here https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/general/hd-10-2017-offline-rooting-t3734860 which thankfully still works. After that I was able to use Titanium backup to freeze the new "Launcher 1.0........".
Everything is now running like before the update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not able to disable the stock launcher with the old method, pm disable, once you have root?
EDIT: Was finally able to try some stuff on my tablet. I was able to get root due to your method you linked, which BIG thank you by the way as that method is way less fishy than Kingroot nonsense, and was able to disable the launcher with the "pm disable com.amazon.paladin" command. Seems like they gave their new launcher the name Paladin.
And I'm back to Nova launcher! Thanks so much.

REMOVED

I'm just hoping the new version doesn't make it even harder to root the 8. It's already seeming hopeless. I had updates blocked at the router level. It updated at work.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

stew1411 said:
I'm just hoping the new version doesn't make it even harder to root the 8. It's already seeming hopeless. I had updates blocked at the router level. It updated at work.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DeviceSoftwareOTA.apk will update the tablet even if blocked at that level. Amazon uses several IPs which change often. You have to disable that apk or completely removed it. You can try NetGuard firewall. You have to buy the features, but it allows you to block individual IPs. On my HD 8, before I posted a guide on how to disable system apps on 5.4.0.0, at one point I had a dozen or more IPs blocked through NetGuard. It will take time to tinker with all it's features, but I don't regret buying them.

Ugh, me too!
No notification bar.
I'm unclear as to what I can do to remedy this.
I have Nova Launcher running and I am a novice.
Can someone please tell me what to do?
---------- Post added at 03:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:07 PM ----------
OK, update...
So, I restarted a couple of times, and like the third time I restarted, another update applied and a video about "Show Mode" displayed. I sped to the end of it.
I also (previously) turned off "Show Mode" on the lockscreen.
Then, I backed-up my Nova and shared it via Gmail.
Suddenly, the navigation buttons on the bottom appeared and the notification bar showed.
Does that mean it got fixed (somehow) with that orange-screened update that showed upon restarting?
Also, how can I halt any further updates?

When I received the 5.6.2.0 update, I had the same problem of no pull-down menu and no navigation buttons. I had previously installed Google Play, Nova and LauncherHijack. I did not have root. I called Amazon tech support and the guy connected with their MayDay remote assistance program, so I'm sure he could see I was running Google and Nova. We went thru several reboots and checked settings, but he was still stumped. Finally we did a factory reset and reapplied the 5.6.2.0. update and it started working. I have since reinstall Google Play, Nova and LauncherHijack and everything is running fine. My suspicion is that LauncherHijack is blocking the complete install. I read another post that exactly described this issue. In that case the user uninstalled Nova and LauncherHijack and powered off and back on. The installation then continued and when completed, the Show Mode video ran. I contacted the author of LauncherHijack and he said he would check it when he got the update.
Bottom line--if your tablet updates to 5.6.2.0 but the Show Mode video does not appear, the installation has failed/hung before it completed (even if it says the update completed). If you have LauncherHijack installed, try uninstalling it, cycle power and see if that fixes the problem.

I know this won't work for everyone but I was lucky enough to manage to access the Play Store when I noticed this happened on my HD10 and saw that the last app updated was amazon alexa under "Recently Updated" in the "My Apps and Games" section. I hit uninstall and rebooted. Show mode setup then came up normally after reboot and after the setup process for that everything worked normally again. Re-updated alexa and everything is working perfectly now. This worked for me so it's worth a shot but I might have just gotten lucky.

I got the orange screen, rebooted, still had it, tried several times locking and unlocking and kinda fiddling around, from the lock screen pulled the little "tag" icon (swipe for offers I think?)
At some point I was able to get into my email client (type mail) but only had a back button, no home or task buttons. Restarted again, same kind of fiddling around, and somehow it ended up playing the video. Skipped to the end, disabled Alexa when prompted and ended up on my normal home screen with all three nav buttons. Everything seems to be back to normal now. FYI, I'm running Nova, launcher hijack, all the standard Google apps including play store, and I didn't have to uninstall anything. I wish I knew the exact sequence that got it to work, but I'm really not sure... Maybe it wasn't even anything I did? Maybe it was just taking time downloading that obnoxious video?
It is nerve-wracking when something like this comes up knowing that they could push an update that messes everything up and there's basically nothing we can do about it.
I really really hope we can get root on this device

NFSP G35 said:
I really really hope we can get root on this device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can just re-root it.

autobulb said:
You can just re-root it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought there wasn't any root on the HD 8? Did I miss something???

NFSP G35 said:
I thought there wasn't any root on the HD 8? Did I miss something???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah sorry, my device is the HD10. You're right, HD8 doesn't have root.

autobulb said:
Ah sorry, my device is the HD10. You're right, HD8 doesn't have root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why are these devices lumped together when they are clearly very different?

n3wt said:
Why are these devices lumped together when they are clearly very different?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's just the way the XDA forum was set up unfortunately. Sometimes similar devices are put together in the same forum and the users are expected to be clear about which device they are talking about.

A Solution - At Least For Me!
autobulb said:
I woke up today to find my tablet on the table with the screen on and a weird new lockscreen with some spam about hints on how to use Alexa. I guess my tablet had updated a few minutes before I got up and so the screen was on.
Because my tablet was previously rooted and I disabled the stock launcher and was using Nova, I was unable to get out of the lock screen. Pressing home did nothing nor did swiping from any direction. Funny enough too, the lockscreen was saying how to use Alexa but on my device purchased in Japan, Alexa i completely missing even from a stock install which is just insult to injury.
Anyway, I am looking for a way to remedy this hopefully without a reinstall. My initial thought was to re-root and re-disable the stock launcher giving Nova control again, if possible. However, I am unsure if the usual rooting method works on this version. I can't even re-enable the stock launcher without root (I think) so I guess if I lost root I will have to do a reinstall to get back to stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found a simple way around it - if rooted.
I had to re-root, but that wasn't too difficult using existing resources.
Through some trial and error I figured out "com.amazon.paladin" is linked to the Alexa/Show Launcher (that's what I'm calling it at this point).
You can disable it with the following via ADB. It should revert back to your default launcher.
I also had Nova Launcher installed, so I disabled the stock launcher (the second pm line below).
Code:
adb shell
$ su
# pm disable com.amazon.paladin
# pm disable com.amazon.firelauncher

Do I *really* need to unlock bootloader and root?

I bought a Fire HD 8 (2018) for my mother, she basically uses her phone/tablet for YouTube, Gmail, browsing, pictures. What is she really going to miss out on if I give her the tablet with stock firmware? Is sideloading not an option at all on stock? I'm looking at the steps for modding the device, seems like too much trouble for how she would use it. Any insight is appreciated.

Rooting for her use sounds like it'd create more problems than it'd fix.
I'd recommend sideloading the playstore, and disabling any of the Amazon features she won't use that use system resources. You can see what's using memory in settings. I'd also recommend disabling the lockscreen ads. The windows fire toolbox can help get this all done quickly.
You could also use launcher hijack to use Nova Launcher instead of fire launcher to give a more familiar homescreen.

Sideloading works fine in the stock Fire OS. It just helps to have a file manager installed, but that can be done later.
I agree with just adding the Play Store to give her the apps not available in the Amazon App Store - like the YouTube app. Just follow the instructions for downloading through the Silk Browser and install from the notification pulldown.
In fact, I wouldn't bother doing anything else to the tablet related to the Amazon stuff. Just leave it as is. The interface, while not typical for android in general, is not difficult to navigate. It's really easy. In fact, I'm pretty sure you can add her Gmail account to the stock Amazon Email app.
My wife's HD8 (7th Gen) is stock Fire OS with just the Play Store added. Works fine.
Now, for my HD8 (8th Gen), I did add use LauncherHijack to use the Nova Launcher, but that's just me. I haven't disabled anything else Amazon related. I did add the BlackBerry Hub+ suite to use for my email, calendar, contacts and notes.

Thanks for the input. We have the Canadian model of the tablet which I believe is ad-free already. Installing Nova Launcher would be good since that's what she's used to on her phone.

fattest said:
Thanks for the input. We have the Canadian model of the tablet which I believe is ad-free already. Installing Nova Launcher would be good since that's what she's used to on her phone.
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Based on what you wrote, it seems the best solution is:
(1). Install Nova Launcher
(2). Disable Fire Launcher after obtaining a temporary root. After Fire Launcher is disabled, the newly install Nova Launcher will be the default launcher.
Here is the guide to obtain a temporary root:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd...xperimental-software-root-hd-8-hd-10-t3904595

All you really need is to install LauncherHijack and then set it for Nova Launcher. No need for any root... temporary or otherwise.
The thread on it is the following...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/amazon-fire/general/launcher-root-launcher-hijack-v2-t3561026
Although, Amazon apparently sent updates to their tablets to block that app early last month, but it didn't go out all at once. It finally disabled mine just last weekend.
But, one user was able to rename the package to get it working again. Check post #395 in that thread to get the modified package app if the latest original doesn't work.

Thanks everyone, will try this today.