It was just a short while ago that my Downloader app for the Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick reached the unimaginable milestone of 1 million users. Now, just 2 months later, the app has been installed by over 2.5 million users. The recent exponential growth is in no small part due to the Kodi team declaring that my app is “the only correct way of installing Kodi on Amazon devices.” Thank you to everyone who has kept development of the app going by donating through the app and/or becoming patrons through Patreon. The next update with new features should be out very soon.
Amazon should also be commended for not blocking Downloader and allowing it to become the #1 free app in the entire Amazon appstore, despite their struggles with Fire TV resellers who unfortunately use my app to simplify their illegal venture. While it would have achieved nothing in the way of stopping piracy or resellers, Amazon could have easily just pulled my app to make reseller’s lives a tiny bit harder. Instead, they’ve recognized the legitimate uses of my app among Fire TV fans and have done nothing to impede its use, even though it steps slightly outside of their own plans for the Fire TV. Bravo Amazon.
@AFTVnews
AFTVnews
Too bad you didn’t charge a buck for the app. You’d be rolling in dough! :-)
lol 2.5 mil woot
What a great success story. What is amazing,you have the brains to put together a wonderful app. Thank you.
Meant brain.
I wish it could let you update KODI to newer version just like Firestarter.
Does Amazon hand out awards for most successful app of the year?
Congratulations!!! Well deserved!!!
When are you uploading the app for Android TV in Google Play Store ??
I’m planning to work on the port for Android TV right after the next v1.1.3 update is released. That update should be out early next week.
Obviously many Fire TV users have found your app useful; congratulations on the number of downloads. In general, I appreciate most the things that you post to the aftvnews.com website and always am respectful of the amount of hard work that you put into maintaining the site. But why would you reference some absurd claim from the Kodi Team?
Your app is most certainly NOT “the only correct way of installing Kodi on Amazon devices.”
From a convenience standpoint, Appstarter (https://github.com/sphinx02/AppStarter) does far more than your Downloader app and makes keeping both SPMC & KODI up to date as simple as clicking a button. It also serves as an excellent alternative App Launcher as well that is easily customized by the user.
Appstarter is so good that I actually use it on (running the phone/tablet OS verion of) Android TV Boxes and devices that are “officially” Android TV certified (Bravia TV, Shield, etc>) Using Appstarter I can create a U.I experience that is identical to the end user regardless of the underlying O.S. And unlike your app, the source code has been published by the author.
However, for a person who is going to spend a lot of time side-loading apps and learning how to get the most out of a Fire TV (or Android) device should install adbLink on a PC ( WIndows, OS X, and Linux versions of it are all available freely from http://www.jocala.com/ ) and connect using adbLink to that Fire TV or Android TV device. This is especially true for someone that is going to be configuring more than one device or wants to “clone” (using adbLink’s excellent KODI/SPMC Backup & Restore functions) a KODI or SPMC installation that they’ve already customized on an initial device.
And lastly, maybe you’ve forgotten this exchange from the comment section of “Introducing Downloader — My first Fire TV app which makes sideloading dead simple”
Posted on November 13, 2016 (http://www.aftvnews.com/introducing-downloader-my-first-fire-tv-app-which-makes-sideloading-dead-simple/”
—————————–
tech3475 says:
November 13, 2016 at 11:21 am
Do you plan on making this open source? While I may never get round to it, I think there are things which could be implemented to make things easier e.g. HTTP server for downloading or accepting remote URLs from a desktop browser.
Reply
AFTVnews says:
November 14, 2016 at 7:55 am
The app is so rudimentary, I don’t see the point of making it open source at this point, but maybe in the future if it grows. Besides, it’s not like there’s much there to build off of. I’m sure any real Android developer can recreate this app in an hour or two.
If anyone reading this wants to improve on my simple concept, I encourage you to make/publish your own app and I’ll be more than happy to write about.
————————————
I couldn’t agree more with YOUR own assessment that Downloader is a simple app and from my perspective has very limited functionality, so I don’t use it. If I hadn’t discovered adbLink long before Downloader was released, perhaps I might have used Downloader as an easier way (than using Appstarter’s published install method of using ES File Explorer) to get Appstarter installed, but for nothing else.
Maybe your greatest achievement has been that unlike some other apps that Amazon has perceived as being harmful to their Fire TV business model, you’ve managed to keep “Downloader” in the Amazon Fire TV Appstore, even when Amazon had temporarily suspended it and was considering removing it altogether.
So once again, congrats on the milestone, but just because the KODI Team apparently stated that Downloader is “the only correct way of installing Kodi on Amazon devices”, I think it was irresponsible of you to regurgitate such total nonsense in what is arguably a self-serving article.
I referenced Kodi’s statement as an explanation for the app’s growth. Not as a statement I agree with and/or endorse. While I would not call it absurd, I do wish they worded it differently. Obviously I do not think Downloader is the “only” way to install Kodi, since I myself still list several alternative methods on my main sideloading page (http://www.aftvnews.com/sideload). They also say “on Amazon devices” which wrongly gives the impression my app works on Amazon’s tablets, since it does not.
As for open sourcing Downloader, with a new baby on the way, I barely have time to stay on top of my one developer as it is now. Sorry, but learning how to run an open source project (which I know nothing about) and then actually managing it is not happening anytime soon. My fear is to unknowingly let some malicious code onto millions of devices because I didn’t know what I was doing. Plus, I would not feel comfortable accepting donations directly to me (as it’s obviously setup now) if other people are voluntarily helping with the app, so I’d also need to figure out how to properly make that more transparent and fair, which is something else I know nothing about.
Becker,
Not trying to be offensive but it sounds like comprehension problem. AFTV guy brought that statement as a reference to why his app is no1 on the Appstore. Rest, I agree that I find Appstarter has more functionality that Downloader.
Congratulations and thanks for everything you do!
Just bought Amazon Fire TV and tried to install Downloader. But couldn’t find the app at all! Doesn’t show when I search for it. Has Amazon blocked your app in India?
Amazon does not yet allow apps with in-app purchases in India. As soon as this changes, my Downloader app will be available in India.