I am the recent recipient of a Nook HD+ tablet. My understanding is that Nooks don’t access the full capabilities of the Android OS, but I have very limited experience with either Android or tablets, so I don’t really know what I’m missing.
Anyway, the question is what would I gain by rooting my Nook?
If you root it, you can install the Android Kindle App and read Kindle books on it. You can also install a wide range of other Android Market Apps on it - utility stuff, office document editors, etc - even games - the full range of Android apps.
I got one (the Nook simple touch) last week for £30 and rooted it the same day - quite impressed with what it can do, for such a cheap unit.
I’m not sure what “rooting” it means, but I got a Nook HD a couple of months ago, and since they all now have access to Google Play, I just downloaded the Kindle app from there. I didn’t do anything special – just accessed the Play Store through the apps screen, searched for the Kindle app and downloaded it. Amazon recognizes my Nook as a Kindle device.
So what DOES “rooting” it mean?
Too late for edit - mine (the Simple Touch) is an e-ink screen, so games with mostly static display are good (puzzle games, card games, etc), but anything with animation (i.e. Angry Birds), although it works, is unplayable.
Same as ‘jailbreaking’ on an Apple device - essentially, unlocking the device so it can run a different operating system (or version) than that with which it was supplied, or to enable it to access applications that are outside of the supplier’s ‘walled garden’.
Gotcha. I just did a Google search, and it appears you can buy an SD card loaded with Jelly Bean and ready to go for the Nook HD or HD+.
THE place for info on Android devices is XDA-Developers. Here is their Nook HD/HD+ start page. Look thru the forums for what odd things people are doing with them.
Bookmark this page and go for it.
(I used their info to root my Nook Simple Touch. Which is a must for that device, not so much for the HD models.)
I’ve been looking around at getting a “real” tablet. The main contenders were Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, 10" and the Nook HD+, 9". After looking at reviews, features and test driving them, I have gone with the Nook HD+. Waiting for it to arrive.
It has a faster processor than the Samsung, is much cheaper and only slightly smaller screen size. But comparable in physical size, unfortunately.
Looking at the XDA forums, there seems to be three levels of modding for the HD+:
The main advantage of the 2nd option that I am looking forward to is to install my own choice of apps, not being limited to the Google store or B&N’s. E.g., an adblocker or app limiter. (To keep an app from using resources like WiFi.)
Among the claims for CyanogenMod is that it is faster and can be better set to save battery life. It also keeps up with the latest Android release which is helpful for a lot of reasons, not the least of which are the security holes in the older versions.
I finally settled on the Nook HD+. It arrived Friday and it was clear that the B&N limitations weren’t for me.
But do note that I was downloading and testing out things like MX Media Player, ES File Explorer and they worked very nicely on the stock software. I was just looking for a lot more control.
It is a really nice tablet, played HD media very well even over WiFi. A bit on the large and heavy side for a 9" tablet. (Note: no camera, no GPS, no 3G/etc.)
I also bought a case/keyboard from Amazon. Paired nicely and works fine. The keyboard sticks with magnets so it’s trivial to take out if you want to use just the case.
Of course, well after it was shipped I found out that OfficeMax had a $50 off sale on it. $99 for this tablet is amazing. B&N has an interesting problem with these. They subsidized them in hopes that people will buy books/videos from them. So they are cheap. But people don’t realize that they are powerful, general-purpose tablets so they haven’t sold well.
It really doesn’t matter to me what B&N does with their Nook division now. I’ve installed an alternate Android OS (4.2.2) which will be kept up to date for a while. I can install apps from any source. Etc.
I used the info in this thread to install CyanogenMod. Took hardly any time at all to do the actual install. But finding, downloading, backing up, configuring, installing new apps, etc. took a while.
Next up: Making it into a WiFi VoIP “cell” phone.
Or weed out bloatware apps the manufacturer puts on the device that you might consider a waste of storage space you’d rather use for your purposes.