I bought a first-generation Nook shortly after they were released and it soon became one of my favorite possessions. No matter where I was, my favorite books and magazines were always available! My Nook library eventually grew to contain almost 100 books. A few weeks ago my Nook died, leaving me without easy access to that library.
This week, I replaced the Nook with a Kindle Fire. The Fire is a beautiful reader, but there’s no native way to access the Nook library that I’d spent hundreds of dollars to build. Each platform uses proprietary DRM and the Nook’s Android reader isn’t available in the Amazon App store. The Nook reader can be installed on a Fire, however, and you don’t need to root it. All you have to do is visit another Android app store in the Fire’s browser, download the Nook for Android reader, and run the installer.
The Nook application is available in several Android markets but I had the best results using Handango.com to email myself a link to download the file, which I then opened in the Fire’s mail reader. This CNET article, which generated a lot of buzz, suggests using GetJar.com, but the Nook app is no longer available there. Google’s own app store won’t work because the Fire can browse to, but not download from its Android Marketplace. Once you’ve found the Nook application, here’s all you need to do:
- Enable installing android apps on the Fire: Go to Settings—>More—>Device—>Allow Installation of Applications From Unknown Sources and select “on”.
- Download the Nook reader to the Fire: I had Handango email me a download link to the application, which I opened in the Fire’s email app. Clicking the link opens the Fire’s browser and begins downloading the app to the Downloads folder in the Fire’s file system.
- Using a File Browser, navigate to the Download directory, and click the Nook reader’s .apk file to launch it: I installed “ES File Explorer” from the Fire’s marketplace, but other browsers should work. The file should be easy to find because its icon is a Nook logo.
- Launch the Nook Reader, log into your account, and enjoy your library! The Nook reader will appear in the Fire’s application menu and carousel.
The only limitation I’ve found so far is that the Fire seems to be storing the Nook books in its Application Storage, which only has 1.7 GB of space, instead of in it’s internal storage, which contains 5.36 GB of space.
