Tag Archives: Freetime

Amazon releases new update for FreeTime Oops problem (But it may not work)

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Here is another update on the “Oops! Something went wrong with FreeTime” problem. Prior posts on the problem are here and here.

Amazon has released what they say is “a fix for many of the issues that lead to this error.” They are asking customers to  update to the latest version of the FreeTime app (FreeTimeApp-fireos_v3.17_Build-1.0.210214.0.26452).

Per Amazon’s post, here are the instructions for updating:

Please follow these steps:

  • Confirm that your device is connected to a wireless network.
    • Connected devices have a Wi-Fi or 4G LTE icon with signal bars near the battery indicator.
  • Sync your device.
    • Swipe down from the top of the screen to open the quick actions menu and then tap the Settings (gear) icon. Tap Sync Device. Large files may take time to download.

If you want to ensure FreeTime updated to FreeTimeApp-fireos_v3.17_Build-1.0.210214.0.26452, go to:

Fire OS 5 Tablets (4th – 7th Generations):

  1. Settings > Apps & Games > Manage All Applications.
  2. Find the Downloaded tab (yellow bar), then swipe the entire screen to the right (see All tap).
  3. Scroll down until you find the FreeTime app. All apps are in alphabetical order.

Fire OS6 – Fire HD 8 – 8th Generation:

  1. Settings > Apps & Notifications > Manage All Applications.
  2. Scroll down to FreeTime app.

Amazon added several troubleshooting tips, according to the post on the Kindle device forums:

If the issue continues after updating,please follow the below troubleshooting steps:

  1. Reboot/restart the impacted Fire Tablet, then check if the issue is resolved.
  2. If the issues persists after a reboot, clear the application data for FreeTime.

Please note: Clearing the application data may delete customers content on customer’s FreeTime profiles.

Be aware that this fix may not work for all customers and additional improvement will be released in the next few weeks. [Emphasis added]

One person already posted on the forum that the update did not work for them.

The frustration level on this issue seems to be off the charts. Tech issues are aggravating enough, but the primary users of FreeTime are small children, who neither have the skills or the patience to deal with the issues. As a parent, seeing my kids repeatedly upset by this would make me extremely angry. Amazon needs to come up with a working fix for this, ASAP.

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.

More Fire de-registration issues for children’s tablets

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kids_freetime_xSeveral times this year, owners of Fire tablets have had issues with Amazon Fire tablets spontaneously unregistering. This happened in back in April and in June (see here and here). The problem seemed to be especially prevalent in Fires that had Freetime installed.

Well, it seems that the issue has been happening again over the past week. I’ve had a number of Fire users reach out to me here on the blog trying to find out if there has been a fix for the problem. Just like in June, the problems seem to be related to Fires running Freetime under child profiles. The Fires de-register and all app data is lost. Since most of these are tablets used by children, it is particularly frustrating for parents and children alike.

The bad news, from what I can find, is that Amazon still does not seem to have an explanation for the problem.

While your best bet for assistance is to call Amazon Kindle support, there are several threads on this issue on Amazon forums that may be helpful:

You can stay updated on the issue by clicking the “Track this discussion” button located on the right side of the screen on any of the forums.

Many parents are complaining that Amazon isn’t being helpful on the issue. More on this to come….

Freetime update causes problems for children’s Fire tablets

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freetimeFurther information has surfaced in the Amazon forums on the latest issue with Fire tablets de-registering themselves. Earlier today, I noted that this seemed to be affecting Fire tablets with Freetime installed. According to the latest messages on an Amazon forum thread, that Freetime update is the root cause of the issue.

According to a poster on one thread:

Just got off the phone, received confirmation that ALL content and progress is lost. It sounds like it is something to do with the update to FreeTime, and that update accidentally de-registered the kindles.

Others report being told the same thing. While Fire tablets have a backup and sync function, content in Freetime on children’s accounts is a separate backup setting. (You can set Freetime to default to a backup on the cloud under the Freetime settings tab.)

There are also an increasing number of reports (like this one) that many Fire tablets with Free time will not stay registered when the own re-registers them again. In some cases, the tablets are not even showing up on the account owners Manage Your Kindle page. One customer reported being told that the problem was caused by the home’s slow wireless connection!

This problem sees to be affecting a very large number of Freetime users. That means a lot of upset children who have lost not only any personal data, but also all their progress in games like Minecraft. That also means a lot of upset parents who are trying to figure out what is going on. As a parent, I would be pretty upset if this happened to my kids’ devices. Kids tend to take this kind of thing very personally.

Last time, it took a while for Amazon to post an official statement on the issue. We’ll see who soon we hear something. More to come on this.