So far, Amazon’s new Fire TV interface has only been pushed out to the Fire TV Stick Lite and Fire TV Stick 3 that were released last year. It won’t be that way for much longer because we now know that the Fire TV Stick 4K, the Fire TV Cube (both 1st and 2nd gen), and the 3rd-gen Fire TV (pendant) are next in line to get the interface update, according to Protocol. Those four Fire TV models should be updated to the new interface in March.
This means that, by April, all stand-alone Fire TV models released since 2017 should be eligible to receive the new interface. All Fire TV Edition televisions, the 2nd-gen Fire TV, and the 2nd-gen Fire TV Stick will receive the interface update sometime after March. As previously stated, the 1st-gen Fire TV and the 1st-gen Fire TV Stick, both released in 2014, are the only models that will never receive the new interface. If you’re not sure which Fire TV model you have, either install my Informer app and it will tell you, or see this article for unique characteristics of each model.
The new Fire TV interface will arrive through a standard over-the-air software update. Fire TVs automatically check for and install software updates while they aren’t being used, so you’ll likely wake up your Fire TV one day and find that the new interface has been installed. There is no way to manually install the update early, but you can manually check if it’s your device’s turn to receive the update by going to Settings > My Fire TV > About > Check for Updates.
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Thanks Elias. But if you ask me this has taken a ridiculously long time to roll out. I’ve checked daily and finally gave up and installed Wolf Launcher which has a lot of customization. On one of my FireTV’s I was able to hide every singe thing except the Netflix thumbnail. Why? When my mom visits she uses this FireTV in the Master Bedroom and she gets lost in the menu’s trying to find her beloved NCIS. I think this will fix that finally, hopefully. She has cost me money in the past by accidentally purchasing movies and tv shows, even signed me up for CBS All Access once, lol .. but hey, she’s 80 so you have to cut her some slack …
Indeed ridiculous. As it it ridiculous that the less powerful Stick Lite and Stick 3 run on Fire OS 7 while the Stick 4K is still on Fire OS 6. Either update the Stick 4K to Fire OS 7 or release a new Stick, for heaven’s sake!
I think the two new FireTV 3 sticks have the same benchmark as the 4K stick.
Because it’s how they get desperate consumers to spend on their newer products. And regardless if a company comes out with a more inferrior, in this case, display resolutions, and whatever else I forgot, a company’s newer product will usually have the newer product that was already design for them. And it’s Android, great OS like Android takes a lot of time. Haven’t you notice, we barely get bug fix updates while a certain fruit company does. haha. And btw, chill
Because it’s how they get desperate consumers to spend on their newer products. And regardless if a company comes out with a more inferrior, in this case, display resolutions, and whatever else I forgot, a company’s newer product will usually have the newer product that was already design for them. And it’s Android, great OS like Android takes a lot of time. Haven’t you notice, we barely get bug fix updates while a certain fruit company does. haha. And btw, chill
I am not that upset that they tested the NEW UI on a much smaller population of Fire TV devices before beginning to push it out to the millions of other devices already installed. I own Roku TV’s, which typically get major OS updates last, and after watching standalone Roku device users months ahead of me complain about bugs and things just plain broken after an update, I don’t mind being later in the queue.
Have you considered turning on PIN PROTECT PURCHASES under PARENTAL CONTROLS when your Mom is visiting? Might save you on a few inadvertent purchases or subscriptions.
I do believe you are onto something here.
I have the same issue with my 86 Y.O. in-laws.
There should be a (pin protected) “Home Screen Lite” setting to minimize the amount and intensity of audio/video that hits you in the face straight away. It can certainly cause confusion for the older set.
Of course a few Amazon adverts must be let through…got to “pay the man!”
I am 66 and it didnt say it was going to charge me. I called amazon and I had to pay for this month.
Connie, something is wrong with being charged unless you signed in for a streaming service like Amazon Prime , Netflix or Hulu.
There is no charge to own and use an Amazon Fire TV device.
Amazon’s default is a one-click Buy, regardless of account settings at Amazon.com. I needed to enable 1) parental controls and 2) set a pin to be able to disable auto-buy. The pin is driving me nuts, asked for every little thing, multiple consecutive times (tip: pick a pin that’s all on one of the two wheels).
No kids or grandchildren, and I’m a bithead, so Amazon’s “answer” is a little offensive. For this, and for weighing down my 4K Stick’s limited space with gigabytes of child apps that I can’t uninstall. Faugh.
the fire tv stick 4k ultra hd works fully in australia now
and still not released yet
amazon australia is a complete shit market
I’m getting tired of waiting. I have a toshiba fire tv & nothing so far. Everything else in my house is roku & I have no complaints. The current fire tv interface just plain sucks & if they dont update soon I intend to replace this tv with a samsung or lg.
Stop overreacting. you know we’ll that a Roku don’t have a browser, so you can’t stream from websites like you can on the Amazon Silk Browser. Roku games are inferrior if you ever wanna just play a game for some random reason, even if you don’t game. You can sideload (install apps from websites) apps. and do so much more, and it doesn’t even lag or freeze with general usage unless you got the Fire TV Cube first Gen which was under powered or some old Fire TV device like the Fire TV Stick 1st gen or First Gen Fire TV. Also, ever thought about how useful those ads and recommendations can be when you don’t wanna watch what you’ve been watching. And the best thing, ex can control your home if you have a smart plug or strip, or compatible security, etc, or simply give you the weather when you wake up and watch the news
Im sorry but this interface is terrible IMO. It completely pushes content vs apps. Why are you people looking forward to an interface that blocks half of the screen with a giant Ad? I mean am I missing something? If they wanted a lesson in UI design they should have copied the Shield.
Because some of us just like to try new things. Also, for a lot of people, content is king, apps be damned. I don’t give a toss about which app has certain shows when I want to watch those shows – I just care about the shows.
As for the Shield UI…I have a Shield TV (2017), and although I like the UI it is not as great as it could be. But I agree it is indeed better than the current Fire TV UI, but that’s in large part *because* it is, in a sneaky way, more content oriented. Yeah, there’s the app menu bar at the top of the home screen, but scroll down and what do we see? The “Play Next” bar, which is content oriented, pointing at the shows I just watched, regardless of app (well, at least it does that for apps that support the feature; I wish more would).
Scroll down from there, and there’s the “Channels” area of the home screen, which while putting each app on a separate row is actually all about the *content* within those apps – to the point where when you scroll down it’s the content that magnifies in size, dwarfing the app icons. The new Fire TV UI is more content oriented as the Shield TV UI is, or at least it appears to be. Which is why I’m looking forward to it.
One significant point though, spiffy, is that on the Shield, you can turn off the Play Next bar and channels. Upon that, all that’s left is a nice neat row of your applications, which you can, of course place in order of preference, ie. Netflix first, then Kodi, then… etc.
This is how I have mine set up, no garish ads all around my screen, no auto-playing video, just a simple elegant interface that takes me exactly where I want to go.
True enough, but why would I do that(turn off the channels feature) when I care *more* about the content than the apps in which the content appears? And the content featured within each channel list are, at worst, “ads” for content within each app that you may be interested in (based on tracking of your viewing habits)…which you are going to get regardless once you open any of those apps.
Disabling the channels feature, IMO, is silly. Why enter an app to watch a show I was watching earlier and have to deal with another UI, and have to exit that app and do the same in another app that happens to have a show I either was watching or want to watch there with a whole other UI when I could just, y’know, click on the show I want to watch on the homescreen with a shared UI? Just simplify things. Unified UI, content – *not* apps – as the focus.
Right, I was just commenting that the Shield has the capability, which I appreciate. I prefer not to have the random screenshot and shortcuts to the last episode I’m watching all over the screen, I have my Kodi set up the same. Just seems more pleasant to me. You prefer it the other way.
I thinks its good it gives us the option as opposed to just imposing one way.
Have they fixed the “missing icon” bug that was present when the latest sticks cam out late last year?
I’d like to join this b**** fest but I don’t have any complaints at all. Using a Fire TV 2 thru a OPPO 105 and last model Panny GT plasma. CEC control means I hit the home button twice, everything turns on. I have a FLIRC USB on the Fire TV 2 box for my Harmony Universal remote.
1/3 of the screen is my Apps. Top half of screen are Amazon ads that I ignore totally. 1/6th on bottom is suggestions that I also ignore. I use my apps. Two clicks on the remote to “SEE ALL” app where I have Kodi, Vudu, PBS, CW, Peacock, Xfinity Beta, etc. You can run some/many Amazon Apps in Kodi if you like that interface. I think the update is much worse by what I seen so far. I really don’t need Amazon to tell me what they think I should watch.
I really am not looking forward to the updates. I have a lot of older family members whomshen I showed the new interface to totally freaked out. It is not as user friendly to some as the old interface is. Also it’s so bland and the old interface has some liveliness to it. Not to mention some apps are blacked out so you can’t even see them. Sad dau!
What is happening to the DVR Tab that the FireTV Recast includes when its sync’d to a FireTV? Is this content going to appear in the Live tab now or does DVR show up in the new interface as a Tab?
The Recast content is moved to the Library section in the new interface. I think the live tv is also available on the Live section, but I don’t watch live very much, so I’m not sure. However, see my comment below for other major issues with the Recast and the new interface.
I have three FireTV 4K units and a FireTV Recast DVR. I am plagued by occasional (a few times a week) of “locking up” of the local channel I am watching with the Recast. My wifi signal is strong and fast. I have even tried connecting by wire. No dice. Still does it. I have to restart the firestick and the recast to make it work again.
I don’t see anything in this new rollout that fixes that. And I am very weary with Amazon trying to sell me more services instead of providing a tv interface that does what I need it to do. I’m wagering this new “rollout” will be just more of that same BS.
I have a Recast and a 4K stick, and added a Lite last November. The Lite got the update, and it is TERRIBLE for watching any of my recordings from the Recast. It does not show a progress bar for any episodes I’ve watched already within a program group, so I can’t tell where I was for the shows where I don’t delete old episodes immediately. If I was in the middle of an episode, I have to guess which one it was in order to resume. Also, it does not display the length of the recording and how much I’ve watched while I’m viewing an episode, so I have to estimate based on the progress bar how much is left.
Is there any way at all to block the update on my 4K? I tried reporting this issue to Amazon right away but I have no idea if it got to the right people or if they care enough to fix these issues. For me, they are ruining the Recast experience and making it very difficult to use with the new interface.
Any hope that they will ever fix this?
Is there any risk of bricking the device if power is lost during the update?
Not sure where else to post this question, but does anyone (Elias) know why my New (2nd) Toshiba Fire TV won’t allow me to play any “FREE” with Prime Videos without using a Passcode? My 1st Toshiba Fire TV allows me to watch everything, is this because I created a second “Name”? If so… how do I unlock “FREE” content to be accessed? I only wanted the Passcode to be required for “Buying” shows on Prime that I do not own. I can’t even find out where on my Account these settings are supposed to be… is it a Per Fire TV Device setting on the device itself? Thanks everyone.
It’s now the 3rd of April and my fire tv stick 4k has not received the new interface…