Hack Barnes & Noble's Nook app on to Amazon's Kindle Fire

When Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet was announced, it seemed like the ecosystem of the device would be locked down fairly tightly. The Google Android Marketplace wasn't made available on the device and while some apps could be side-loaded, it seemed like it would be tough to load apps Amazon doesn't provide. A workaround has been found that will let users load some third party apps onto the Fire, including Barnes & Noble's Nook app.

Image courtesy of Mashable

Christina Warren, at Mashable, figured out a way to get third party apps on her Kindle Fire with a relatively simple process. While sifting through the settings on the Kindle Fire Warren noticed a setting to “Allow Installation of Applications From Unknown Sources” in the Device section of settings. This setting exists in pretty much every Android device, but Warren claims that Amazon made it very clear to her that the device would not allow Google's Android Marketplace even with this setting turned on.

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While you can't access the Google Android Marketplace even with this setting enabled, you can still get third party apps on your device via other marketplace applications. GetJar can be loaded onto the device even though it does not have the Kindle Fire listed as one of the devices it supports. You need to go to the GetJar site, select the device you wish to install to as any Android 2.3 device they list, and download the GetJar.apk file.  All of this can be done directly from the Kindle Fire via GetJar's mobile site.

Once the GetJar.apk file is downloaded, you can install it and immediately browse that collection of apps. The Nook app is available via GetJar and can easily be downloaded and installed without any issues whatsoever. Some other apps will refuse to install and others will redirect to Amazon's app store so they can be purchased that way.

The ability to install the Nook app, even if it is a bit of a workaround, gives the Kindle Fire even more value as a tablet device. Now you can have access to the Nook library of books as well as all of Amazon's content. What's more interesting is that other third-party apps can be downloaded and installed by this method, no device rooting required. More apps mean more functionality for Amazon's inexpensive tablet.

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Did you get a Kindle Fire? Is the device more interesting to you now with the news that some third-party apps can be installed with this workaround? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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