Category Archives: Apps & Active Content

Oops! Something went wrong with FreeTime

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Users on the Amazon device forum are complaining about issues with FreeTime on their devices. Users are reporting getting the “Oops! Something when wrong” error message. This issue has been going on for the last few weeks.

Several common threads among the complaints:

  • The problem seems to have started for most people after the most recent update for FreeTime and the latest Fire OS update.
  • Sometimes, rebooting temporarily fixes the problem, but it keeps coming back.
  • Amazon is recommending a factory reset (which does NOT seem to be fixing the problem.
  • Several people have noticed that they get the error message when WiFi is not available or has disconnected.
  • The FreeTime app is also causing a severe battery drain problem.

Amazon has been working on the problem. A user on the device forum was given the following fix by Amazon support (NOTE: there seem to be reports that this does not work for everyone):

I opened a chat with customer service a few minutes ago. Apparently there is a patch that gets pushed out if you do the following. It’s similar to what outnumbered_by_boys posted above. I can’t confirm it fixes the problem yet but it seems promising.

1. Swipe down from the top of your Home screen and tap “Settings.”
2. Tap “Apps & Games,” then “Manage All Applications.”
3. Swipe left until the “All” tab is displaying.
4. Tap “Freetime.”
5. Select “Force Stop” and then “Clear Cache.”

Please sync the device.
1. Swipe down from the top of the screen to open Quick Settings, and then tap the Settings (gear) icon.
2. Tap Sync Device.
Please sync both the devices and keep still for 2-3 hours and connected to WiFi.
It will auto update the new patch files and the freetime will work on both of the devices then.

Some people are saying the above fix worked for them while others are continuing to experience problems.

This is not the first time an update has caused a problem for FreeTime users.

More to come on this an more info becomes available. You can follow the discussion on the topic on the Amazon device forum here.

Note that because of the similarity between FreeTime (a free app) and FreeTime Unlimited (a premium app), it is unclear which app is having the problem.

SEE AN UPDATE ON THIS STORY HERE WHERE AMAZON HAS RELEASED A TEMPORARY FIX.

Amazon Free Apps Bundle for 2-12-2015

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officeproAmazon is giving away 37 free apps in their appstore today. The bundle includes games and productivity apps. While many of these have been offered before for free, there are a few gems in the bunch like the Doggcatcher Podcast player and OfficeSuite Professional 8 (a $19.99 value).

This offer seems to be for today only.

HBO Go now available for the Fire TV

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hboAmazon announced today that the HBO Go app is now available for the Fire TV. The app is said to be completely compatible with the Fire TV’s voice search feature. The app will be coming to the Fire TV Stick this spring.

To celebrate, the Fire TV will be on sale until December 28, 2014. The free HBO Go app is available at the Amazon App store.

Please note that in order for the HBO GO app to work, your must subscribe to the service through your cable or satellite provider. Your provider must also provide you mobile access to the app. To see if your provider is listed, check here.

HBO has announced plans to release a streaming app for non-cable subscribers in 2015.

 

Daily Links: Grooveshark Guilty of Mass Copyright Infringement

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From Digital Music News, Grooveshark has been found guilty of massive copyright infringement. The details of what the company did are pretty shocking. I am the wife of a talented musician whose music was illegally used by Grooveshark, We not only lost music sales income, but had to go as far as to hire an attorney to deal with the company’s infringement. Here’s a link to his wonderful holiday jazz album.  🙂

The FCC is considering rules that will change Television, from Mashable. This has the abiltiy to breathe new life into a company like Aereo. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t been able to get certain channels since they made the change to digital broadcast!

From Teleread, R.I.P. Eugie Foster. The Nebula award winning writer and editor died on September 27, 2014. Here is a link to her books. 

The Kindle app for IOS has been updated for the iPhone 6, from The Digital Reader. http://the-digital-reader.com/2014/09/29/kindle-ios-updated-iphone-6/

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news.

Free Amazon apps – limited time offer

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app sale 914For a limited time, Amazon is offering 27 apps for free in the Amazon App store. The offerings include tools for productivity like OfficeSuite Professional and Swype keyboard as well as camera apps and games. Many of these have been offered free in the past, but I did manage to find a few new ones.

The offer says limited time and I couldn’t find a end date for the promotion.

Problems with installing the Amazon Instant Video App?

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instant videoLast week, Amazon finally released its long-promised Instant Video app for Android. (There was a previous app a few years ago available for the Sony Dash, but that one was removed a while back.)

The new app is designed for phones, although it is working on some tablets. It is a somewhat complicated install procedure because you first must install the Amazon Shopping app, then download the one for Instant Video.

I was able to install the app on my Samsung Note 2 with no problem. I could not, however, get it to work on my Samsung Note 8.

Both Teleread and The Digital Read have posted workarounds for the flash video problem in the past. Today, the MobileRead forum led me to another install method detailed on the Droid Life site. This install involves directly downloading the Instant Video .apk file from Amazon.

I tried the Droid Life method and it installed correctly on my Samsung Note 8 with no problem. 🙂

Hopefully, one of the methods will enable you to get the app working correctly on your device.

Daily Links: Heirs get digital access to accounts

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From Ars Technica, Heirs get digital access in Delaware 

Tom Hanks’ typewriter app a hit, from Techcrunch.

From Lifehacker, Paranoid Paul monitors terms of service and alerts you to changes

Apple promote free magazines for UK Bank holidays, from Talking New Media

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news.

 

 

 

$100 worth of Android Apps for free via Amazon App store

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freeappsAmazon is giving away over $100 worth of Android apps in their app store. The apps, which Amazon dubs “Essential,”  are free Thursday, July 31, 2014 and Friday, August 1, 2014.

There is a nice variety among the 30 apps offered.  These include productivity programs such as an alarm clock, a PDF viewer, a photo editor, a calendar, even workout and travel apps, There are also apps for math and music, games, and language coaching. Instapaper and the Oxford Advanced Learning Dictionary are included among the selections.