5 cool things you probably didn’t know Amazon Fire tablets could do

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A common mistake people make when shopping for a new tablet is spending way more money than necessary by buying way more tablet hardware than they will ever use. But with its Fire tablet line, Amazon offers a wide variety of models that each offer a certain value for money. That’s partly because these tablets can do a lot of things.

Their most basic features make them perfect for streaming movies, reading e-books, browsing the internet, and sharing with family. They even make sense for buyers on a budget, as there are entry-level models available and plenty of free apps for Amazon Fire tablets. But Fire tablets are more capable than many people give them credit for. Although they’re often seen as basic, no-frills devices, Fire tablets can do some pretty cool things.

The types of features we’re talking about here are often overlooked or discovered entirely. Some of these are features that Amazon simply doesn’t put at the forefront of its advertising, and others simply require digging through a Fire tablet’s settings to find them. As mentioned earlier, each of the Fire tablets in the lineup presents a pretty solid value, but we’ve noted some lesser-known things you can do with a Fire tablet that add even more to the experience.

One of the reasons Fire tablets are popular with families is that they’re great for sharing. But with so many people accessing a single device, things can get a little complicated. While streaming movies may be one person’s priority, playing games may be another’s. To better handle such situations, Amazon Fire tablets support multiple user profiles, allowing each person in the house to have their own personalized space.

Each profile has its own home screen, apps and settings, meaning the tablet can feel like a completely different device depending on which hands it’s in. Up to two adult profiles can be set up on a single Fire tablet, and up to four child or teen profiles can be added in addition. Adult profiles are linked to individual Amazon accounts, allowing different payment methods for each.

Child profiles have built-in parental controls, making this feature especially useful for parents. Children of different ages likely won’t need access to the same types of content, and parents can keep their music and streaming libraries accessible only to themselves. Setting up different user profiles can also be useful for single users who want to configure different home screens and app layouts for different use cases.

For those who value the security of their digital devices, Amazon has added a fingerprint sensor to the Fire Max 11, the premium tablet in the line. In fact, the Fire Max 11 is the first Fire tablet to feature a fingerprint reader and it can store up to 5 fingerprints at a time. Amazon even goes to great lengths on privacy with this feature, ensuring that fingerprints are only stored on the device and are never sent to Amazon’s cloud.

Since methods like Face ID and fingerprints are now used to secure laptops, smartphones, and tablets, a fingerprint reader may seem like a standard feature. But security beyond PINs and passwords is often reserved for more expensive devices. The Fire Max 11 is the most expensive tablet in the Fire tablet line, but at $230 for the base model, it’s relatively inexpensive for a tablet that offers a fingerprint reader as its primary security measure. For comparison, the entry-level iPad includes a fingerprint reader and starts at $349.

Although other Fire tablets don’t yet include a fingerprint reader, they offer other security features. The full range includes PIN and password screen lock options, each of which helps secure the device and its user profiles. But the option for a fingerprint reader is available with the Fire Max 11, and with mid-range Fire tablets like the Fire HD 10 priced at $180, there’s not too much of a price hike to access this feature.

The Echo Show is one of the cheapest Alexa devices you can buy on Amazon. It’s a smart display that combines an Alexa-enabled speaker with a touchscreen. It gives users access to weather, timers, and even video calls, and it’s one of the most popular smart home devices made by Amazon. But with an Amazon Fire tablet in tow, you can access many of these features without needing to buy an Echo Show.

Fire tablets support a feature called Show Mode, which turns the tablet into a display that essentially recreates the Echo Show experience. Enabling it only takes a single click in the quick settings panel or a voice command to Alexa. The Fire tablet’s interface will adopt the same visual presentation as that of an Echo Show, and it can just as easily return to its usual form. It’s pretty simple to use an old Amazon Fire tablet as a dedicated Show mode device, but you can also access this feature with a Fire tablet that you use for other things.

When View mode is enabled, a Fire tablet can show the weather forecast, play music, and show visual answers to questions you ask Alexa, among other things. All of this can even be done using voice commands. Show mode also turns a Fire tablet into something more like a smart home hub, allowing users to control compatible devices like smart lights and thermostats.

Apple and Samsung are often the brands people turn to when looking for a tablet that can replace a laptop, as Apple makes a Magic Keyboard specifically designed for the iPad Pro and Samsung’s DeX mode gives its tablets a PC-like interface. Many Fire tablet users may not have considered turning their device into a more capable professional tool, but the accessories available for the Fire Max 11 make it possible to use it as a touchscreen laptop.

Amazon makes a Fire Max 11 keyboard case that brings many of the features that the Magic Keyboard adds to the iPad Pro to the Fire Max 11. The case attaches magnetically with no setup or charging required, and it includes a laptop-style trackpad and cursor control. But form factor is just as important for laptops, and with the magnetic keyboard attached to a Fire Max 11, the device can fold up and fit into a backpack or laptop bag.

The Fire Max 11 Keyboard Case is available as a standalone purchase for $90. Although this accessory is exclusive to the Fire Max 11, owners of other Fire tablets can still use it in professional environments. With built-in Bluetooth connectivity, any Fire tablet can pair with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and a compatible tablet stand is easy to find.

The Amazon Appstore is the default way to install some essential apps for your Amazon Fire tablet. It only provides access to a fraction of the apps available on Android, but you might not realize that Fire tablets can also run Android apps that aren’t in the Amazon Appstore, since the Fire OS platform is built on top of Android. The process of installing an app outside of a device’s official app store is known as sideloading, and it makes many popular and useful apps available to Fire tablet users.

Fire tablet owners can take advantage of the device’s ability to load apps without any technical expertise. The process requires enabling a unique setting that allows you to install apps from outside the App Store. From there, an app’s installer file can be downloaded with a web browser and opened like any other file. This allows users to access Android apps that Amazon has chosen not to feature in the Appstore, as well as open source apps that may not be available in app stores.

Not every Android app will work perfectly on a Fire tablet, and it’s always important to determine the reliability of any place you download from. But for Fire tablet owners who want to explore more of the Android app library than what Amazon offers by default, the device is fully capable of installing apps from other sources.