Targeting the Kindle Fire using Adobe Digital Publishing Suite

On November 15, 2010, Amazon launched the Kindle Fire, a 7" inch, multi-touch tablet. The goal of this article is guide you through the process of creating, testing, and submitting an Amazon Kindle Fire application using the Adobe® Digital Publishing Suite tools.

Assuming that you have your folio file successfully built and imported into the Adobe Digital Publishing Folio producer, it’s time to create a custom multi-folio viewer application (.apk) to submit to Amazon. (Currently, Amazon does not support single-folio apps.)

Let’s get started. The following steps will guide you in the creation of your custom viewer:

1. Use your Adobe ID and password to sign into the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite dashboard: DPS Dashboard.

2. Under the Publishing Tools, select Viewer Builder (Figure 1).

3. In Viewer Builder, click "New" in the lower right corner of the Manage screen to create a new custom viewer app (Figure 2).

4. For the Amazon Kindle Fire, select the Android option as the targeted device. Once selected, click Next to proceed to the Viewer Details panel.

5. In the Viewer Details Panel, follow these steps:

• Viewer Name: Provide a viewer name that appears below the App icon. As a general rule, use 13 characters or fewer to avoid truncating the name.
• Viewer Version: Select the latest version
• Viewer Type: currently, the Amazon Appstore only supports multi-issue apps.
• Marketplace: To test your application prior to submitting it to Amazon, you must select “None” for Marketplace. This is because Amazon requires that the .apk file is wrapped before it can run properly on the Amazon Fire. If you sideload the .apk file to the Amazon Fire, the viewer app crashes when you launch it. (This crash occurs because the app is enabled for retail content and the app crashes when it cannot find the sandbox.) However, you can go to the Amazon Developer Portal and download a JSON file that lets you test your .apk file in a sandbox environment without crashing. (Read more on how to add a JSON file.) Amazon now supports In-App Purchasing and once your testing is completed, you should select “Amazon Appstore for Android” in the Marketplace drop-down.
• Title (Library View): Provide the title that will appear at the top of the Viewer Library. It’s advised to use no more than 35 characters. Please see the Viewer Details panel Help for more information.  Viewer Details panel Help.
• Title ID and Password: Use the same Adobe ID used for publishing the folios for this application.

Use the Icons and Splash Screens panel (Figure 5) to upload app icons and splash screens that will appear in the Amazon home screen and the Amazon Kindle Fire device. All icons must be in PNG format, using 72ppi, RGB, flattened, and high-quality files. Hover your mouse cursor over the information icons to see specific image requirements.

Note: Always include a PNG extension in your image filenames.

For more information on the required dimensions and PNG file quality level, please go to the Digital Publishing Suite documentation: Icons and Splash Screen panel.

The Navigation Toolbar panel is available to Enterprise Customers only and allows you the ability to customize the toolbar that appears in your viewer at the bottom of the library. For more details on the requirements, see the Digital Publishing Suite documentation: Navigation Toolbar.

Use the Provisioning panel (Figure 7) to specify an Application ID that is unique to the application. If possible, use the reverse domain syntax, such as com.publisher.publication . Use only periods, hyphens, and basic alphanumeric characters (a-z, A-Z, and 0-9).

Note: You are required to use the same Application ID you create now later in the process when you create the p12 Certificate.

Use the Build Details panel. The final step in creating your custom viewer app is to confirm that you have entered all required information or files have been entered. Click Submit Build. Once it’s completed, click on Finish to return to your list of application builds in the Viewer Builder.

Now let’s test the new app on your Kindle Fire device. For demonstration purposes, in the Builds listed in Figure 9, I only have one application build ready to test. To download and test my new custom viewer application, I click on the Amazon Appstore Installer (.apk) link circled in red (Figure 9).

When you download the generated .apk file, the Adobe Digital Publishing Server prompts you to specify certificate information.  Google requires all applications to be signed by a valid certificate before you can run them on Android devices. If this is your first time creating a p.12 certificate, and you need more information creating and signing applications, please see the documentation: App-Signing Instructions.

After you have successfully downloaded and signed the file, you are ready to test it.

Note:  In order to download and install an app that did not go thru the app submission process first, you must first change a setting to allow installation of applications from unknown sources. On the Kindle Fire, go to:  Settings>Device>Allow Installation of Applications From Unknown Sources.  Select the On option. After the installation, you can change this device setting back to the Off option.

Guidance on how to sideload or perform a file transfer to your device for testing prior to submitting to Amazon varies. Some guides suggest using a microUSB cable to connect directly between your desktop and your Kindle Fire to upload the app, while others suggest uploading the app to a web server. For this article, I used an in-house managed web server. Here are the steps used for uploading to a web server:

1. Upload your .apk file to the web server and generate a URL. 
2. Go to your Kindle Fire and type the URL you generated. 
3. When the download completes, the Kindle Fire displays a new notification on the very top left corner of the Kindle Fire device. 
4. Slide the notification bar down and select the .apk file you created. 
5. Kindle Fire will prompt you to select the Install or Cancel option. Select the Install option. Once Kindle Fire completes the installation, it displays the message, Application Installed.
6. Select Open to test it.

For Additional information on testing your app, see the Amazon documentation: Connecting Your Kindle Fire to Android Debug Bridge (ADB).

Note:  Amazon requires that you wrap the .apk  file before you run it on Amazon Fire. If you sideload the .apk file to the Amazon Fire, the viewer app may crash when you launch it. (This crash occurs because the app is enabled for retail content, even if you intend for it to be free. The app crashes when it cannot find the sandbox.) When you create your .apk file and submit it to Amazon, you can ask them to wrap it and send it back to you for testing. However, it's easier to submit the .apk file to Amazon for approval, and then test the approved app before you announce it to the public. When submitting your app, consider adding a note asking Amazon to wrap the app if it's enabled for retail content.

Once you have completed your testing and are ready to submit your app to the Amazon Store, you will need to first publish your application from Adobe's Distribution Service. Use the following steps to do so:

1. In the DPS Dashboard, under Publishing Tools, click the Folio Producer.
2. Log into the Folio Producer with your Adobe ID, select the app you are ready to publish, and click Publish (Figure 11).

3. Folio Producer presents two choices: Public or Private. Select Public to make your publication visible to the custom viewer app you just created. You can also specify whether you want your article to be free or for retail.

Once your you successfully submit your article is successfully submitted to the Adobe Distribution server, the next step is to go into your Amazon Developer account and submit the app (.apk) for review and approval. In the following steps, you’ll learn how to submit your app to Amazon.

Use the following steps to submit your app to Amazon.

1. Create an Amazon Developer account.  If you already have a personal Amazon.com account, Amazon recommends creating a new account specifically for the Appstore Developer Program. Go to the Amazon Appstore Developer Portal and create a new account or sign in. Use the following link to Create an Account.
   

2. Once your account is created and you have logged in, you can start the submission process. Under the Home tab, select Add a new App.
   

3. On the new application form, specify the information for the required fields about your app. I would advise reviewing the App Submit requirements section in the Amazon Developer Program FAQ before you get started: Amazon Developer Program FAQ. After you have completed all required fields, click Submit app. This sends your application and all the icons, images, and descriptions specified in the application form to Amazon’s Appstore review team.
   

Note: Although not a requirement for submitting your app, if you plan to offer premium content such as subscriptions and entitlement services, I recommend that you request access to the SDK.

After you submit your app, the Amazon Appstore team will start the review process. You can track the approval status of your app by logging into the Amazon Developer Portal and finding your app in the Dashboard on the portal home page. If Amazon has a question about your app during the review process or determines it does not meet one of the Amazon Appstore's acceptance criterion, Amazon notifies you using the e-mail address that you specified with your account and provides guidance on next steps. Amazon will notify you once your app successfully completes the testing process. At that point, Amazon will publish your app and it is ready for merchandising or available for free.

For more information about this and related topics, check out the resources below. Learn more through the following resources:

• Adobe Digital Publishing Suite Help documentation: Publishing process for Android, Amazon Mobile, and Digital Publishing Suite
• Adobe TV: Colin Fleming explains how Kindle Fire Connects Magazine Publishers and Readers
• Amazon AppStore Developer Portal: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)