u/Flyingfrogs248

Thought y'all might find this cool!

A couple summers ago I was yearning for a color eReader (this was before color e-ink existed) and my little brother essentially handed me this Kindle fire from his hoard of tech in his room like "Have at it with this brick" LOL

It was a hand me down from my great aunt and my little brother nearly bricked it with how he modded it so it sat on a cluttered shelf in his bedroom for 3 years before he gave it to me

I used it for Hoopla exclusively until about 6 months ago when I got into modding obselete tech as a hobby! So I decided to mod this tablet (which runs the Fire OS version based on Android 5.0) to my taste because I had nothing to lose. Here are the details of the mod:

Custom Launcher : Niagra Launcher

(pro version... I have it on my phone too) because it's lightweight - great for breathing new life into old devices with minimal processing power

Sideloaded Google Play Store

Tor Browser with DuckDuckGo as the search engine (Lightweight browser that gives me top notch security and privacy even on hardware with limited security capabilities... I can browse without horrid lag or worrying about getting hacked for making a simple search)

NewPipe - Sideloaded youtube frontend client that allows you to watch youtube content on older devices

MoonReader for my sideloaded book library I am growing!

VLC for my MP3 library (which currently includes 83 nightcore tracks and counting pfft), and would you believe it? Jellyfin works on android 5.0! I'll be ripping my DVD collection and setting up my Jellyfin server later this summer. Really excited to be able to watch movies on roadtrips with this Kindle! Much more portable than a portable DVD player. (If you can tell I don't stream anymore. I personally like to own my media! I love acquiring it secondhand too)

I used FireToolbox on my Windows laptop and Android Debugging for side loading and changing my launcher.

I will be getting a clear case and upgrading my SD card soon :D

So a couple of summers ago I was yearning for a color kindle (this is before color e-ink was released) and my little brother essentially handed me this Kindle Fire from his hoard of tech in his bedroom like "Here have fun with this brick! Can't do much! It's useless but have at it!"

It was a hand me down to him from my great aunt and my little brother nearly bricked it with how he modded it to use it as a gaming tablet (probably a processing heavy launcher was part of the culprit) and he claimed it couldn't hold a charge for more than a few minutes so it sat on a shelf for 3 years. But yk I hate eWaste as much as he does but unlike him instead of just letting it rot on a cluttered shelf I try to put some use to it LOL

Anyway I used it like an eReader with the ancient version of the Hoopla app to read books and comics using my state library card

fast forward a year and a half I stumble across a video by DammitJeff titled something along the lines of "Your Kindle Tablet is a Scam, here's how to fix it" or smth like that and it goes into detail about how to mod a Kindle Fire using FireToolbox. A few months later, I'm chipping away at making this tablet do exactly what I want it to do.

The mod is ofc themed after my favorite dinosaur, the triceratops because the tablet is a bit of a dinosaur by spec standards

I have some downloaded videos and my entire MP3 Library on VLC (currently including 83 nightcore tracks lol), Moonreader for my sideloaded books I'm slowly collecting off of Kobo (I prefer to own my media), some downloaded videos, and I also have Pinterest and NewPipe! I have used this tablet for visual study timers while I do school a LOT.

I also prefer LCD screens over OLED for medical reasons (I have Bipolar Disorder and the blue light from OLEDs compared to LCDs messes me up wayyyy more) so that's a major reason why I'm not simply doing a trade in to upgrade. The fact that the tablet can't do much is actually the best part. It does exactly what I want it to do and nothing else.

I also love the huge LCD screen for comics lol I keep up with the issues of Transformers Skybound as they come out through my library on Hoopla as I await the next volume to come out so I can purchase it in print. I also have some "abandonware" scans of the Transformers Prime Titan Comics from the UK that I got off of a comprehensive fan archive on MoonReader (If you can tell I love Transformers LOL)

I have also unexpectedly discovered that a giant lit screen is much easier for me to read small text on. Weird.

Getting a clear case soon! (And upgrading the SD card from 32 gb to either 64 gb or 128 gb have to check the specs again)

Oh I also have the Kindle app for sending books from the county library system via Libby

Going to be setting up my Jellyfin server via my laptop at some point and ripping my DVD collection to it so this can be a portable media player!

Once my staple apps are no longer supported on android 5, I will jailbreak and install lineage OS but for now I'm still a baby modder Pfft

This is the walkman where I keep my writing/character playlist music! I've discovered that 4gb is a lot of space actually! I've got a good bit of music from two major current projects on it so far.

Gotta love it! Whimsical sparkly magical-girl on the back is Odette aka TFP Optimus Prime in a silly little AU I've been writing just for kicks pfft

I got the charm off of Etsy and the wristlet off of Amazon. The charm was so worth it! I nab any merch I can of TFP Optimus because he's one of my favorite characters of all time :D

I have one more walkman left in my collection to bedazzle. It's a 2gb pink one that I keep my Christian music collection on! Gonna make it pink-green-orange themed with butterfly frogs 💪🫦

Funny thing I actually planned the use-case and design of this walkman before I bought it. I literally sought out this exact model because I knew of it and really like my pink NWZ-e464 that I Pusheenified a while back! I got it for 25 bucks Parts-Only because the guy selling it didn't have the charger and therefore had no clue whether it worked. But guess who DOES have the charger? I DO AHA

I've had it and the wristlet and charm since February... It just took me a while to actually decorate the back LOL