Again in English – a short German version can be found below.
I think I’m the first who found out about this, so I just love to share this with the world:The Kindle Fire indeed supports various international keyboard layouts – and even without rooting! This effectively fixes the trouble that a lot of people have with the presumably English-only keyboard layout with that stupid “Quickfix” word recommendation scheme that currently can not be disabled due to a bug.
It’s hidden. It’s hidden very well. And it needs a couple of detours to get to the point where you can actually select various keyboard layouts. But if you hate the Kindle’s English “Quick Fixes” so-called “feature” as much as I do, it’s really worth the effort.
OK, keeping in mind what I said about installing Android applications in my last blog (i.e. with the help of another Android mobile, Astro and Dropbox), — or have a look at the short English version down here in the comments …
Step 1: GO Launcher EX
Let’s start with installing Go Launcher EX (it’s free). It works like charm on your Kindle Fire. When you hit the “Home” button, you will be able to select whether to run the regular Kindle Launcher or GO Launcher EX.
For the time being, I’d recommend to use it as a default – you can change back later at any time you want inside the app settings.
Step 2: AnyCut
Now install AnyCut (it’s also free). AnyCut is meant to create launcher shortcuts to often used functions that are hidden deep in menu structures. Some of the shortcuts you create won’t work or might even lead into a “Force close”, but if you find the right one, it’ll save you a lot of time.
Or, you might even find shortcuts to features that are not officially linked to any menu item. Did you know that the Kindle Fire has got a detailed battery usage statistic page – like any other Android 2.3 “Gingerbread” device? — Well, I didn’t either. 
Step 3: Create and Use InputLanguages Activity
It’s as simple as that: Start “AnyCut”, select “New shortcut”, then “Activity” – and the “Input languages”.
This is how it is supposed to look like. And now tap the “Input languages” shortcut. As you can see, there are lots and lots of different keyboard layouts! I assume these are all those keyboard layouts that Android 2.3 “Gingerbread” actually supports under the hood, which Amazon was so kind to hide from our curious eyes.
Yay! That’s how it looks like when you’re typing in German! As it’s supposed to, the German keyboard supports the usual umlauts, and the space bar is really, really in the middle of the screen. … And note: If you’ve selected more than just one keyboard layout (as seen in the screenshot above), you can simply swipe the space bar to right or left to switch between them whenever you like.
Ain’t this cool? 
— Remember: You read it here first!
… Schnell noch die versprochene deutsche Kurzfassung: Um andere Tastaturlayouts auf den Kindle Fire zu bekommen,
- installiere man GO Launcher EX,
- installere dazu noch AnyCut,
- erstelle mit AnyCut / New shortcut / Activity / Input languages
- starte “Input languages”.
Fertig: Es werden verschiedenste unterschiedliche Tastaturlayouts unterstützt. Wenn man mehrere auswählt, kann man später auf der Leertaste nach links oder rechts wischen, um im laufenden Betrieb das Tastaturlayout zu wechseln.
Immer dran denken: Das habt hier hier zuerst gelesen!
Why no chinese ? I hate amazon !
I cant download the apps. It says my device is not compatible. Is there a work around?
Das ist wirklich großartig! Super Lösung.
In that case the simple most solution is to install them on some other Android handheld, then backup them with Astro File Manager, and transfer the resulting .pkg installer files from the other device to the Fire – at first via USB, later probably via Dropbox. To execute .pkg files, you need two things: (a) Make sure that the Fire accepts .pkg installers from other sources. You find this option in the settings menu under “Device” (IIRC). (b) You need a simple file manager to traverse your files, so you can tap the .pkg file to install it. A good starting point is OI – Open Intent File Manager: http://openintents.org/en/filemanager … Simply download the .pkg file from this website and open it. If you have activated .pkg installation from other sources, it should install. Afterwards you can look into you file system and tap any .pkg you copied onto the device this way or another.
Ich würde gerne das o. beschriebene downloaden, muß ich das über den fire machen oder am laptop und es dann irgendwie rüberziehn? Vielleicht kann mir jemand helfen-wäre klasse! Danke
Meine Empfehlung: Installier einfach DropBox auf dem Fire, von hier: http://www.apkmarket.de/dropbox/#more-817 Einfach das .apk antippen – sofern Du die Installation von Apps aus anderen Quellen zugelassen hast, funktioniert DropBox hinterher sofort. – Auf die Weise bekommst Du anschließend im Umweg über die Cloud jede beliebige .apk-Datei von einem Android-Handy auf den Fire. … Hope that helps.
hi there, thanks for everything, i did all of the steps but unfortunately i found out there was no Arabic in languages, would you please help me what i should do, thanks.
Sorry – I’m afraid I can’t help you. The method I found doesn’t actually add keyboard layout, it simply shows a way to select between those that are already installed in the Android system that Amazon pruned, and not even all of them are working properly.
So I guess if you need Arabic, you will need to root your device to add support for this. I can’t help you with this, I never did that.
thanks
Wow, cool! Hat super geklappt.
Und ich dachte schon, ich müßte auf ein Firmwareupdate warten oder ein Jailbreak durchführen.
Außerdem ist der Hinweis mit dem APK-Market sehr zu gebrauchen, der Amazon-App-Shop verlangt ja selbst bei Free-Apps einen Account mit Adresse.
Das funkelniegelnagelneue 6.3er Firmware-Update kann endlich die QuickFix-Funktion abschalten.
… Hier klicken – es geht nach amazon.com auf die Kindle Fire-Update-Seite …
Coole Sache. Ich danke dir. Habe alles installiert, aber frage mich, wieso hat das eigentlich funktioniert? Was macht die App Go Launcher und AnyCut? (Will nur verstehen, was ich gemacht habe).
Vielen Dank aber trotzdem!!
Ky
Den genauen technischen Zusammenhang kenne ich leider auch nicht, ich bin kein Android-Programmierer. Meiner Kenntnis nach sind sämtliche Menüeinträge, so genannte “Activities”, einer App und auch des Systems registriert und können anderweitig aufgerufen werden. Beispiel: Eine App kann eine URL aufrufen, und dann öffnet sich der Default-Browser, ein Druck auf “Back” führt zurück zur normalen App.
Das heißt, sämtliche auch tief verschachtelte Funktionen kann man theoretisch auch auf dem kurzen Dienstweg aufrufen, sofern man eine App hat, die exakt diese Activity aufruft. AnyCut (und andere Tools dieses Genres) machen sich das zu Nutze und produzieren Homescreen-Shortcuts, die nichts anderes machen, als eine selbst gewählte Activity aufzurufen.
Der Trick ist nun, dass Amazon bei der Modifikation des Android 2.3.x zum Kindle Fire OS zwar verschiedene Masken entfernt hat, die Activity zur Wahl des Tastaturlayouts aber im System belassen hat – streng nach dem Motto: Wenn kein Menüpunkt dorthin zeigt, kann ihn ja auch keiner aufrufen. Falsch: Mit AnyCut & Co. kann man sich sehr wohl einen Shortcut dorthin generieren.
… Reicht Dir das als Erklärung?
Could I write in modern greek (elliniká)?
I have install Anycut, I create a shortcut, but I do not see where it is now. Please, could you explain to me? Thank you in advance.
You can write only in those languages that are supported and afterwards hidden. If you use Go Launcher, AnyCut should be in your App Drawer.
No Japanese, either… -_-
Not sure, but my guess would be you can’t. You can only activate those keyboard layouts that the firmware supports, and most of them are incomplete. Sorry!
hi
I just got a fire in the US for my 9 year old niece.
your instructions a’re just what I need’ to fix thecsthe Swedish keyboard and get rid of the ads and get her favorite games onto the kindle. so I am happy and thankful to find the solution!
my problem is that go launcher downloads and installs but doesn’t open.
anyway and ios works fine, meaning the open and show in apps when done.
my question did I miss one step or do you have any idea what I am doing wrong?
thanks Sus
Hi,
I could manage to install a Thai keyboard on my wife’s Kindle HD Fire. I couldn’t install the GO Launcher Ex, though. here is, what I have done:
1. Installed DropBox on the Kindle and my Android mobile as described above (apkmarket.de)
2. Installed the Astro file manager on the mobile
3. Got the DroidSans Thai keyboard from the Google Playstore and installed it on the mobile.
4. Started the Astr file manager and made a backup of the droidsans thai keyboard. A bit hard to find: whipe the screen to left, select application-manager, select the droidsand thai keyboard and back it up.
5. Find the backup file (an apk) in the directory /sdcard/backup/apps, press it and hold it down for a menu to open, then select share (teile), select dropbox. Now the file will be uploaded to the cloud.
6. Now take the Kindle, open dropbox and download the file, that you just have uploaded. It will install on the Kindle.
7. Whipe from up to down on the kindle and a menu will open. Select “more” . Find the Language and keyboard option, then keyboard, then standard. Now, you can select the DroidSans Thai Keyboard as a standard.
Maybe it is also possilbe to just email the file and don’t use dropbox. I haven’t tried it, yet. It is also possible to install other apps like this. It works with some, but not with all. In case there are apps for other keyboard, I would try it in the same way.
Our kindle fire hd was bought in November 2012 and the systen version is 7.2.3