Ordered it during the recent prime sale and getting delivery in a couple days. Think it has association with my prime account (seems to be default unless you uncheck that box) but have read some recommendations to not do that to prevent OS updates or something that may interfere with some of fire toolbox functions. Planning on using this as a UI for home assistant and very new to all this so wondering what the best course of action is for setup. Some recommend updates and some don’t. I could block internet access at my pfsense box. I didn’t get the no ads option but understand I can turn them off (or at least most of them?) with the toolbox. What are recommendations without getting too deep into a rabbit hole of setup? Not sure it’s really needed but thinking I could remove the association with my amazon account by turning off my home wifi, then starting the tablet for the first time and going into settings and clearing the account info. Then turn off auto updates. I could also block internet access by pulling the internet feed to my router, turn on wifi, and get MAC address and block at router while setting up fixed IP. Sound reasonable?
Sure does. You could also do a factory reset once you get it up and running. I have internet blocked to all of mine. Only issue is that the clock on the tablet itself will drift and you can’t use local NTP. So, I occasionally lift the block for 30 seconds or so to let them resync. You can use Fire Toolbox to install the HA app. I use WallPanel which has similar functions to FKB but is open source. The tablets have their own non-admin account for HA access
Would doing a factory reset first thing remove the link to the amazon account? On the non-admin account - that’s just a sub account within the tablet? Do I need to worry about the OS update limiting what I can do with fire toolbox or is it likely they already come with updated OS that limits those things? Need to do a bunch more reading…
I’m honestly not sure. I would expect that to be a yes, but I bought all mine from Best buy so haven’t tested.
I added a non-admin user to HA and use it on the tablets.
Some of the features for Fire Toolbox haven’t worked for quite a while, but I wouldn’t sweat it. My recommendation:
- Power it up.
- Skip connecting to WiFi (you have to select a WiFi network, then hit cancel when it asks for the password, and you’ll get a prompt to skip connecting)
- Get the MAC address and factory reset.
- Skip WiFi setup again.
- Use Fire Toolbox to do a full debloat, install the HA app, and install WallPanel (if you’re going that route).
- Set the time, connect to WiFi, and block Internet access.
Fire Toolbox will tell you when you connect the tablet that the “block OTA updates” does not work anymore. You can block some DNS entries to help prevent it, but I find it easier to just completely remove Internet for them.
For the HA and any kiosk app, make sure you disable battery optimization for them from the tablet settings menu or it will kill the app from running in the foreground after a while.
How do I load Wall Panel or any other apps if I block internet? I suppose I could download them with a PC and then transfer them to the tablet via USB?
Correct. You just download the APK files for the apps. Fire Toolbox has a function to install them for you.
I don’t seem to be able to see MAC unless connected to wifi but I can connect to an isolated network I have to get the MAC.
If I make modifications and declutter it and want to use it as regular tablet later I can just reset to factory and update like normal?
Absolutely. None of the changes with Fire Toolbox are permanent.
But the updates that Amazon would do to the OS ARE permanent? I.E. if I was to let the tablet phone home and update would that make permanent updates to the tablet? Not planning to do that at this point but just wondering about this.
That is also correct.