How to turn your Amazon Fire tablet into a smart home control hub

Amazon Fire tablets aren’t your typical Android devices. Aside from focusing on media consumption over games and productivity, they turn to Amazon services first and foremost. You’re mean to quickly access Amazon Shopping, Kindle e-books, Audible audiobooks, Amazon Music, Prime Video, and more.

Alexa can be used to control your tablet and smart home devices, and if you know what you’re doing, you can turn your Fire tablet into a dedicated smart home hub — making it simpler to do things like turn lights on and off or view security camera footage. Here’s how.

Requirements 

Some important points before we get started:

• You’ll need a Fire tablet from 2018 or later.
• For hub control, smart home accessories must be compatible with both Alexa and Device Dashboard (a Fire tablet feature). Only lights, plugs, switches, thermostats, and cameras will show up in the Dashboard, so you’ll have to resort to voice control for accessories like smart locks.
• Smart home devices should already be connected to your Alexa account and listed in the Alexa app.
• Your Fire tablet needs to be linked to the same account as Alexa.
• All devices must be on the same Wi-Fi network. If you have separate 2.4, 5, and/or 6GHz SSIDs (network names), you’ll either have to merge them into a single SSID or connect every device to a single band, preferably 2.4GHz since it has better range and compatibility.
• Update your Fire tablet, Alexa app, and smart home devices to the latest software available.

How to turn your Amazon Fire tablet into a smart home control hub

• Turn your Amazon Fire tablet on and tap on the Device Dashboard button. It’s located in the bottom of the screen, to the left of the navigation buttons.
• A Tile view of all your smart home devices will become visible, with buttons to operate them.
• Tap on the Edit option to pin your favorite tiles to the top.
• If you have compatible devices, you’ll also see buttons for turning all lights or switches on or off.
• Other shortcuts include routines, device categories, and managing devices within the Alexa app.

To break things down further: 

1. Make sure your Amazon Fire tablet, Alexa app, and smart home devices meet all the requirements in the previous section.
2. Turn on and unlock your Fire tablet.
3. Tap on the Device Dashboard button located in the bottom-left corner of the screen (to the left of the navigation buttons).
4. The Device Dashboard includes category views, options to turn all plugs/lights on or off, tiles for controlling specific smart home devices, and shortcuts for routines.
5. Next to Pinned and Recent Devices, tap on Edit to pin your favorite tiles to the top.
6. Tap on Manage Devices in Alexa App to dig deeper into configuration options.

If you’re running Fire OS 7  or later, you can access the Device Dashboard straight from the lockscreen. Press the power button, tap on the Device Dashboard button in the bottom-left corner, and swipe away from it.

If you’re going to use a Fire tablet as a dedicated hub, consider mounting it with a tablet holder in a central location, such as a hallway or the entrance to your kitchen or living room. While some people may object to the aesthetics of that, there’s not much point to a control panel you have to make a long detour for. You may even want multiple tablets so they’re never more than a few seconds away.

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