Apparently these can be rooted and regular android can be installed. XDA has discussions about it.
Here is the link for XDA Forums, Rooting ThinkSmart View
I purchased one of these the last time they were on sale. I was able to root it and put android on this thing in about 10-15 minutes… I just followed the tutorial above and everything worked out. I am using it to do some gaming… I purchased another one because why not? once rooted it because so much more usable and the chip being used is more than capable to being a nice little media device.
Once rooted, Is there a way to add a music player app or jukebox app? Could add on an external Bluetooth transmitter…
Anything that you can install on android could be installed at that point.
I love rooting stuff and I totally get the appeal in general, but I’m struggling to figure out how rooting this makes sense. How is rooting this thing for $28 better than getting an 8" fire tablet for $25 and “rooting” that to add the google play store? They both have the same display. The fire tablet has way more storage, same RAM, and doesn’t need to be tethered to the wall. I get that the ThinkSmart has a legit speaker built in, but and anyone rooting things already has a bluetooth speaker or headphones, so I don’t see how the speaker is enough of a selling point to outweigh the storage and portability of a cheaper tablet that does nearly everything the ThinkSmart does without even needing to add the play store.
link to 8" fire tablet:
is this for people that are terrible w/ computers? I’ve been using various messenger apps since the pandemic started and haven’t needed this. Actually, long before the pandemic. Why is this even a thing?
Not that I’m leaning either way about what’s “better“ but the form factor would be one consideration.
The fact that this thing can just sit around on the countertop doesn’t need a stand or a case. Yes it’s tethered… I’m considering it but like you said there might just be better options out there.
And thank you as when I searched rootkit on GIPHY this is the only image that comes up 
I think I saw in one of the previous woot forum threads on this an IT guy from a big corporation say that there were a thing for a while for companies that were leaning heavily into MS Teams, or at least it was for his company. It allowed people to be in calls very easily without taking up any real estate on their computer screen and since it was self contained, the old fogeys didn’t have as many issues. It’s either obsolete or end-of-life for MS Business Teams, so that’s how woot got several truckloads of them.
A few reasons…
The form factor is amazing on this thing… its weighty can be used without a stand.
The speakers are actually pretty decent.
This is brand new, not a scratch and dent item that you are linking to.
You would have to root the amazon tablet if you want to use play store anyway.
I like to tinker with these kinds of devices
Now there are a few negatives
No Battery- so it needs to be near power at all times
Very low space, but I am mainly using this to play classic video games and watch media/listen to music
not every app will work with this but the majority of what people will want to do with this will
Anyone actually use this for teams? I am in teams all day off and on and wouldn’t mind moving it off my main laptop screens so I can actually be productive during the endless meetings.
ohhh. I’m just focused on my own little world. I wish I could listen and do work at the same time. I have to pay attention to our calls or it will screw up my work if I miss something from the call. Everyone else gets calls where they can listen and work at the same time.
In any given meeting there are like 6 or 7 words that I actually need to hear. The rest is mostly just noise.
Just so other people don’t get the wrong idea, the amount of effort it takes to get the play store on a fire tablet is WAY less than it takes to root this thing. I shouldn’t have referred to “rooting” the fire tablet in my first post. That’s not what you have to do. There are dozens, if not hundreds of youtube videos of people putting the google play store on their fire tablets in real time in less than 10 minutes. Good luck rooting this thing in less than 2 hours.
True, but woot has refurbished fire tablets all the time in the $25-30 range. That link was just what’s on the site today. And they have ones bigger and smaller than this as well.
These seem like the only good reason to get one of these things. And the speaker thing is easily solved by connecting a bluetooth speaker, which we all have, to a fire tablet. I can see the positive behind not having to turn on and connect a speaker every time you want to use it. But since this is something you have to sit in front of or bend over to operate, that’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like it’s voice activated like an echo show (which I would argue, for most people, is a much more versatile tabletop/bedside device for 90% of what people would do with a rooted one of these).
I get the form factor part, but that’s not really a positive, it’s a trade off. The only time the user experience with one of these is better compared to a tablet on a stand is the moment you are touching it. But the moment you pick the tablet up, that positive for the ThinkSmart disappears. And if the tablet thing makes no sense because you already have one, or you know you would never pick the tablet up from the desk or table, you really should think first what you plan on doing with this and consider if an echo show is a better option. I don’t have/want a TV in my bedroom, but I have an echo show on my bedside table. There are times I want to watch something while in bed, don’t need the TV experience, and still want to be able to scroll on my phone. The streaming platforms on the echo show cover most things I watch, so I find myself using that. Add that to the fact I can use my voice to have it tell me the weather, traffic, etc and control my smart home devices. Echo shows go for under $40 all the time on here. And I bet the speaker is better at music/shows than the ThinkSmart’s (which is probably optimized for voice calls)
All I’m saying is that its $28 price tag might look like a value for it’s rooted potential, but it really isn’t great deal for what you get and what it will likely be used for IF YOU ARE A WOOT SHOPPER. If you are only ever going to use it as a smart home assistant that you never want to leave the spot where it is plugged into the wall and you like rooting stuff, the ThinkSmart is arguably a better option than a cheap tablet.
according to this post, i would say no
someone else on another thread mentioned that your employer needs to allow external devices to access your microsoft account. if they don’t this won’t work.
I literally had this thing rooted in 10 minutes. The instructions are pretty easy to follow. Do you even own one? Why would you say 2 hours if you have not done the research?
Why do you think this is a popular item right now? Its easy to root, looks and sounds great and has many use purposes
I have one of these that I bought on eBay a while back, serves’ purpose which in my case is a kitchen YouTube player so I could watch Three stooges while making breakfast. Even wrote a clock /stream site app just for it. You never have to worry about It’s charge because it’s always plugged in, and I already had plenty of tablets. I like it.
LineageOS is surprisingly good on this thing. I even installed Kodi and Jellyfin. 1080p H264 was fine. However, you lose the proximity sensor waking up the device which was very convenient. I actually have one as a sign in kiosk for my wife’s daycare. It’s perfect for this. I could definitely use one in the kitchen for recipes or music.
Love seeing all the discussion about rooting and different uses. Reminds me of the wooters of old!