UKH

Another tech question that I am ill-equipped to deal with.

You can tell I am visiting the elderly parents...

Dad has a new Kindle Fire

Parents have a nest thermostat

There is a nest app, but it is available only from Google Play Store. 
Dad has no Google Account.
I have one but when I try to install the app, the only option I am given for installation is the last Google/Android device I used, my ancient Nexus 7.
My mum has one but when I try to install the app, the only option I am given for installation is her Moto G phone (which already has the app installed anyway)

I am puzzled as to what to do next. 

Any advice welcomed. 
Thanks

 

 

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Well, the obvious answer would be for your dad to get a Google account...

In reply to Oceanrower:

Certainly yes. But I don't get why I can't log in as me or my Mum, to the Google Play Store on his Kindle Fire, and install an app onto that device, whilst logged in on that device. 

Also, I don't think they are THAT bothered about having the nest app on his Kindle, we all just thought "oh might as well put it on there" without realising that in 2018 these things still have lots of obstacles put in the way.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

You need the Google accounts logged in on the device you want to install on.

I think Next is owned by Alphabet (who own Google) and you need a Google account to get it to work anyway.

Lots of advice online if you (ironically) Google "next app kindle"

 

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Only a few days here and we are approaching this...

https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/science-technology/son-close-to-murderi...

In reply to Philip:

Do you mean "nest", or "next"? Again, not being snarky but in this case for once I did consult Google before posting here and got the usual "advice that doesn't make sense or that doesn't match up with what is on screen in actuality"  e.g. "download the Nest app from the Amazon app store", maybe possible 2 years ago but it doesn't seem to be there now; there are third party paid ones and Dad probably doesn't mind paying but I don't know if they are any good anyway.

Thanks

 

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Google's website version of the Play Store that you're visiting on the Kindle Fire isn't designed for downloading and installing apps directly, it's for remote installation onto other devices that you own. Logging in using your own Google account will, by design, only display devices that are associated with your Google Account (i.e. Android devices with the Play Store app installed on them and your Google account logged in on the device).

The simplest option here would probably be to install the Nest app from a direct download from APK mirror: https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/nest-labs-inc/nest/nest-5-30-0-10-release/

The downside of that option is that the app won't update automatically so you would have to go back to APK mirror periodically to check for new releases. If you didn't, it would probably stop working eventually. That might be an ongoing frustration for you as designated family tech support!

Another option would be to install the Google Play Store. There are some instructions here: https://www.howtogeek.com/232726/how-to-install-the-google-play-store-on-yo...

It's a much more involved process but it might make other apps easier to find in the future as well.

It's frustrating but it's the business model that lets Amazon sell their tablets so cheap. They do their best to keep you largely confined to their own ecosystem of apps so that sales through those effectively subsidise the tablet.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Nest.

Google and then use "search tools" on the bar at the top (after all, images, video, etc) and set it last year.

You'll get this

https://www.reddit.com/r/Nest/comments/8je8rp/nest_app_with_amazon_fire_7/

That leads to instructions to install Google play on Amazon fire

https://www.howtogeek.com/232726/how-to-install-the-google-play-store-on-yo...

Then from there you can follow normal advice, but as I said you'll need a Google account.

In reply to Philip:

Thank you for your help, it is appreciated. 

However, it is frankly not my problem and in fact I tried very hard to deter my mother from buying anything like a Kindle for my father, because I totally predicted these kinds of niggles and I don't really want to spend my Christmas break sorting out all this

The latest joy is that they have asked me to copy photos from his PC to the Kindle. 

1) he's managed to lose the photo directories
2) he's asked me to trawl through a load of CD-r discs none of which have any photos on
3) The brand new Kindle Fire, when connected via USB cable to my Dad's PC and to my work PC, just shows an empty root directory called "Kindle", which I can't copy to. When connected to my MacBook Pro, it is not picked up at all

I am going to the pub!

In reply to Blue Straggler:

btw just in my defence, at work I occasionally have to sort out very fiddly connectivity issues involving hacking into the BIOS of a portable digital x-ray detector, and all that old-skool command-window pinging and such like. I'm not fluent at it but I muddle through. 
Yet with "easy" consumer electronics, I seem to be jinxed!

In reply to Blue Straggler:

 

Having a Google account is not an obstacle, really.  It's more creating an obstacle for yourself if you have an Android device and *do not* have a Google account.  I keep hearing people, for example, moaning about having lost their contacts when they lost/changed their phone - well, if they had a Google account they would have synced seamlessly.

The only vague excuse is "I don't want them to have my data" - and if that is the case you do not want an Android device of any kind, whether logged into a Google account or not - get a Windows or Apple device, as their business model is different and they are much less interested in your data as a result.  Data harvesting is basically the entire business model of Android.

In reply to Neil Williams:

Good point, thanks.