What works without root

This page is worked out from reading the Glass source (master as of 2026-10-10). It was not run on an unrooted stick: the only test stick is rooted. Treat the “Needs” column as the code’s intent and tell us if your stick disagrees (device report).

“Needs adb” means a one-time command from a computer with ADB debugging switched on. It needs no root.

Area	Unrooted	Needs
Glass as the home screen	Partly: a bounce, not a takeover	the accessibility toggle, or adb to disable Amazon’s launcher
Intercepting the Home button	No, on any unrooted setup	Fire’s key policy takes it before any app
Control Center from Home (status pill)	Yes	nothing
Control Center over other apps	No	the remote’s Settings button, which only reaches Glass with root
Remote app buttons, Recents, Settings button	No	root key remap (rooted install)
App switcher	Yes, from Control Center	one adb grant for the full list
Fire TV app art, Continue Watching	No	root
Icon packs	List and apply: yes. Installing a downloaded pack: no	install it with Downloader instead
Rows, featured shelf, folders, move/hide, themes, widgets, Aerials, updates	Yes	nothing

Home screen: a bounce, not a takeover

With Home Button Takeover on, Glass watches for Amazon’s launcher coming to the front and starts itself over it about 800 ms later. Pressing Home still goes to Amazon first, so expect the stock home to flash briefly. Nothing better exists on Fire OS: the system takes Home presses before any app or accessibility service sees them.

The reliable no-root route is the adb command in Install + one command, which disables Amazon’s launcher so Home resolves to Glass. If Amazon’s launcher comes back (an update, a factory reset), repeat the command.

Control Center

Opened from the status pill on Glass’s home screen it works without any permission. Tiles that work: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Settings, Launcher Settings, App Switcher, Smart Home (if the package exists). Some Fire TV settings sections fall back to the plain Android settings page. Ask Alexa opens something that closes at once, so treat it as not working. Alexa Settings, Performance and Free Memory are root only and hidden when unrooted. The AirPlay tile needs the separate PhairPlay app.

Remote buttons

Fire OS handles the four app buttons, Recents and Settings inside the system, so no app sees them. Remapping them needs a root Magisk module (glass-remote-keys, part of Glass Pro, which works today from source). Unrooted, the accessibility service can still give you “hold Back for 1.5 s to go Home” and app-switcher preview screenshots.

Closing apps

The app switcher’s close button ends the app’s background processes only. A normal app cannot truly force-stop another, so the system may restart it. The card still leaves the switcher.

Optional one-time grants (no root)

Feature	Command or page	Without it
Aerials as the system screensaver, Home fallback on	WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS grant	Glass starts Aerials from its own idle timer while Glass is in front (Fire OS only runs Amazon’s screensavers anyway)
Full recent-apps list	GET_USAGE_STATS appop	only apps opened from Glass
Wi-Fi name in Control Center	ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION grant	shows “Connected”
Now Playing card	Notification access, in system settings	no Now Playing
In-app updates	“Install unknown apps” for Glass	prompts each time

The exact commands are in Install + one command.