I turned my modded Fire Tablet into a working terminal — here's how and what I did with it

I turned my modded Fire Tablet into a working terminal — here's how and what I did with it By  David J. Buck Published May 31, 2026, 11:15 AM EDT Former radio and TV guy (I Heart Radio and PBS). Now a writer, researcher, and musician who writes about the absurdity of our modern world and other offbeat topics. Specializes in weird music, the old web, retro video games and tech, and researching strange, yet interesting things. His work has appeared in Vice, Tedium, Star Trek.com, Today I Found Out, Tybebar, SyFy Wire, and How To Geek. Currently working on a variety of music, web, and writing projects. Visit him on the web at https://djbuckfreelance.neocities.org/ . Sign in to your How-To Geek account Add Us On Jump links Jump Links The Google Play Store said no, so I went to F-Droid Setting up Termux on the Fire Tablet Using the terminal for a quick weather report Cowsay and Fortune offered some terminal fun follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap The combination of Termux and Android devices is the perfect pairing for any home lab enthusiast or tech hobbyist. Fire Tablets, in particular, offer a unique twist on home lab experimentation. In the past, I've set up a Fire Tablet as a dedicated reading device, one as a writing terminal, and another as a portable third screen for my computers. This time, I thought to myself: “I wonder if I can get Termux to run on one of my modded Fire Tablets?” The answer to that turned out to be a little unexpected and a whole lot of fun. Related How I Use My Raspberry Pi's Terminal From My Android Phone Tired of being tethered to your PC or a portable monitor for Pi maintenance? Posts 3 By  Jordan Gloor The Google Play Store said no, so I went to F-Droid Getting Termux running on an older Amazon Fire device Credit: David J. Buck/How-To Geek Unexpected advent