Amazon Fire Tablet Beginner’s Guide for Dummies, Beginners, & Seniors
The Amazon Fire tablet, often called the Kindle Fire or Fire HD, is a popular, affordable tablet. Its best feature is how tightly it connects to everything Amazon: movies and TV shows, Kindle books, music, and shopping are all a tap away.
Using a Fire tablet is different from using other tablets. It runs Amazon’s own version of Android, called Fire OS, with its own layout and navigation, and it uses Amazon’s Appstore instead of the Google Play Store. It’s also closely tied to your Amazon account, which you need to set it up. So we recommend that new Fire owners get comfortable with their Amazon account first to get the most out of the tablet.
What to learn first on a Fire tablet
- Getting around: the home screen, swiping between the For You, Home, and Library screens, and the quick settings menu that opens when you swipe down from the top
- Your Amazon account: signing in, Prime benefits, and where your purchases appear
- Apps: finding and installing apps from the Amazon Appstore
- Reading and watching: Kindle books, Prime Video, and downloading content for offline use
- Safety and settings: screen lock, parental controls with Amazon Kids, and Wi-Fi
The book we recommend: Fire HD Manual for Beginners
The Fire HD Manual for Beginners by Joe Malacina is a complete guide to using a Fire tablet.
- It explains everything in simple terms, so a complete beginner can follow along.
- Color illustrations show exactly what your Fire’s screen should look like at each step.
- Chapters on apps and Amazon services help you get more out of the tablet.
- A tips-and-tricks chapter at the end covers features many experienced owners don’t know about.
Fire tablets change with each generation, so check that the edition you buy matches your model.
Prefer to watch instead of read?
Infinity Guides also offers a video course, How to Use the Amazon Fire Tablet for Beginners, for people who learn better by watching.