Android tablets — including Amazon Fire tablets, Samsung Galaxy tablets, and budget Android tablets — are a cost-effective way to run Dashie as a dedicated Home Assistant dashboard. If Dashie isn't available through your tablet's app store (or you want the latest version), you can sideload the APK using ADB (Android Debug Bridge).
What You'll Need
- An Android tablet (Fire OS 5+, Android 7+, or similar)
- Computer (Windows, Mac, or Linux)
- USB data cable (not a charge-only cable)
- Dashie APK file (download from dashie-lite page)
Part 1: Enable Developer Options
On most Android tablets, you unlock Developer Options by tapping the Serial Number (or Build Number) field 7 times in Settings. The exact menu path varies slightly by manufacturer.
Amazon Fire Tablets
On Fire OS, the Serial Number lives under Settings → Device Options (or just "Device" on older Fire OS versions). On most other Android tablets, look under Settings → About Tablet instead.
Open Settings
Swipe down from the top of the screen and tap the gear icon, or find Settings in your app drawer.
Find Device Info
On Fire tablets, tap Device Options. On stock Android (Samsung, Google, etc.), tap About Tablet or About Phone.
Tap Serial Number 7 Times
Find the Serial Number field (called Build Number on some Android tablets) and tap it 7 times rapidly. You'll see a toast message saying "You are now a developer!" or "Developer Options enabled."
Enable ADB Debugging
Go back to the previous menu. You'll now see a new Developer Options entry. Tap it and enable ADB debugging (called USB debugging on most non-Fire Android tablets).
Part 2: Install ADB on Your Computer
For Windows
Open Command Prompt or PowerShell and run:
winget install Google.PlatformTools
For macOS
The easiest way is using Homebrew:
# Install Homebrew if you don't have it
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
# Install ADB
brew install android-platform-tools
For Linux
# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install android-tools-adb
# Fedora
sudo dnf install android-tools
Part 3: Connect and Install Dashie
Connect Your Tablet
Connect your tablet to your computer using a USB data cable. A dialog may appear on the tablet asking to "Allow USB debugging" - tap OK or Always allow.
Verify Connection
Open Terminal (Mac/Linux) or Command Prompt (Windows) and run:
adb devices
You should see your device listed. If it shows "unauthorized", check your tablet for the USB debugging prompt.
Install Dashie APK
Navigate to where you downloaded the Dashie APK and run:
adb install dashie-lite.apk
Wait for the installation to complete. You'll see "Success" when it's done.
Launch Dashie
Disconnect the USB cable. Find Dashie in your app drawer and tap to open it. Enter your Home Assistant URL when prompted.
Wireless ADB
After the initial USB setup, you can enable wireless ADB for future updates.
In Developer Options, enable "ADB over network" and connect using adb connect <tablet-ip>:5555
Fire Tablet: Stop Waking to an Ad & Save Battery
A common frustration with Amazon Fire tablets used as dashboards: the tablet sleeps to save power, but when it wakes (on touch or motion) you see an Amazon Special Offers ad or the lock screen instead of your dashboard. People often work around this by never letting the screen sleep — running it at brightness 1 all day — which drains the battery and adds charge cycles. You don't need that workaround.
Step 1: Remove the lock-screen ads (ADB)
With your tablet still connected over ADB, disable Amazon's lock-screen ads and the lock screen itself so nothing sits between wake and your dashboard:
# Grant overlay permission (lets Dashie appear over the lock screen on wake)
adb shell appops set com.dashieapp.Dashie SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW allow
# Disable lock screen ads (Amazon Special Offers)
adb shell settings put global LOCKSCREEN_AD_ENABLED 0
# Disable the lock screen entirely (no swipe to unlock)
adb shell locksettings set-disabled true
Why Dashie wakes straight to the dashboard
Dashie sets itself to show over the lock screen and turn the screen on when it wakes, so the dashboard is what's on screen — not the launcher or an ad. The ADB commands above remove Amazon's ad layer; Dashie handles being on top. (This is also why you don't need a third-party kiosk browser to dodge the wake-to-ad problem.)
Step 2: Let the tablet sleep properly instead of dimming it
Once the wake-to-ad problem is gone, you can let the screen actually turn off instead of leaving it on all day. Dashie has built-in sleep/wake controls under Settings → Sleep / Wake:
- Sleep Mode → Schedule (e.g. off 22:00, on 07:00) or Timeout (sleep after N minutes of inactivity)
- Screen-Off Behavior → Power Off Screen — a true hardware screen-off that actually cuts panel draw, rather than just showing a black overlay
- Reduce Brightness While Asleep and Motion Wake — wake on approach without keeping the panel at full brightness
This saves far more power than running the screen on-but-dimmed, because the backlight is the biggest draw on these tablets.
About bloatware and charging
Two things to set expectations on. Fire OS protects much of its built-in software (the launcher and several Amazon services), so you can only trim the edges without rooting — and a factory reset re-enables it. Separately, some Fire tablets negotiate USB charging poorly on a fresh power cycle (connecting at 4–5W until the cable is physically replugged); that's a hardware charging-handshake quirk, not something software on the tablet can reliably fix. Reducing how often the screen is fully on (above) is the most effective lever you control.
Troubleshooting
Device not showing in adb devices
- Try a different USB cable (make sure it's a data cable, not charge-only)
- Ensure USB debugging is enabled in Developer Options
Installation fails with "INSTALL_FAILED_VERIFICATION_FAILURE"
Disable app verification in Developer Options:
- Go to Developer Options
- Find "Verify apps over USB" and disable it
- Try the install command again
App crashes on launch
- Ensure your tablet is running Fire OS 5+ or Android 7+
- Try restarting the tablet
Need More Help?
If you're still having trouble, contact us with details about your tablet make, model, and the error you're seeing.