There are currently about 180 Amazon Fire TV apps and games that are listed as incompatible with the Fire TV Stick. Many of those apps run perfectly fine on the Fire TV Stick, but for one reason or another are listed as incompatible. Minecraft, the best selling Fire TV game, is one example of such an app. It runs surprisingly well on the Fire TV Stick, but cannot be purchased and installed on the Fire TV Stick directly. This guide will walk you through the steps of copying an app or game from a Fire TV and installing it on a Fire TV Stick. Neither device needs to be rooted.
- Install the app on your Fire TV as you normally would through the Amazon Appstore.
- Connect to your Fire TV via ADB
- Run the command: adb shell
- Run this command to list all of your installed apps:
pm list packages -3 -f
If you need to transfer a system app, use this command instead to see all apps:
pm list packages -f - Locate the app you want to transfer in the printed list and copy its file path; the part between the colon (:) and the equal sign (=)
- Run the command: exit
- Copy the app’s APK file to your computer with the following command:
Note: Be sure to replace /data/app/com.mojang.minecraftpe-1.apk with the app location you copied in step 5, and replace /Users/AFTVnews/Downloads with the path to a directory on your computer where you can temporarily store the app file. - Now simply sideload the APK file you just copied to your computer onto the Fire TV Stick.
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I want to get the abc, cbs and the cw on the fire stick but I don’t have the fire TV just the stick. Is this possible? Is there an easier way to do this ie a third party. I am not real clear on doing this via a command line..though you do have good instructions.
I use File Expert HD. Choose your app on your phone, upload it to drop box and sideload it to the firetv
Thanks for your reply and advice. Just have a windows tablet and a laptop..and a cheap tracphone (non android). Don’t think this will work for me. Wanted to find a way to do this without buying another device. I can watch online but thought it’d be nice to watch on my TV.
The easiest way to do this… which is still sort of difficult is to load up the Windows command prompt, connect to your fire tv ip address (listed on your router or fire device) and then ADB connect the program compile you downloaded to your windows disk and then transfer to the fire tv. This will take a few minutes to copy about 25 megs – slow upload.
On the side note, even though some of these programs can be side loaded, I do not recommend running these apps as a end user unless you are personally trying to test a program as a developer – you could cause software / or hardware issues with your device when you side load unofficial software. I’ve seen power problems and hardware crashes from running unofficial programs.
Here is a good site – http://sideloadfiretv.com/
I STILL WOULD NOT RECOMMEND SIDELOADING as development testing can
HURT your device in different ways, such as bugs incompatible code drivers etc. I would wait until the program passes testing before you install it and the software is found in the official catalog.
All of my side-loaded apps work fine.
This website has already excellent written guides on how to sideload, there’s no need to link to an external site.
Don’t feed the users bs like it can ruin your hardware.
You are clearly not a electronics engineer. How should that ruin your hardware? Some way magically minecraft or another app overclocks your fire-stick, even without root? Or destroy another piece of psysical hardware.
Come on.. Keep your ignorant paranoid delusions to yourself.
As the other user points out you most likely just came here to promote your site. You say it can destroy your device which is BS and then at the same time promotes a sideloading site?!
No I think you would be fine. I would just check with Amazon forum to see if they have had any problems with the app on the device.
You could add a mouse keys to the fire tv and try that with different apps.
Fire TV has an adb client. It could just connect to the Fire TV Stick directly. No need to have your PC in the middle.
adb shell
then
adb connect
adb install /data/app/com.mojang.minecraftpe-1.apk
How do you get to a command prompt on the Fire TV?
You get to the command prompt on your pc.
Step #2 has a link where you can get detailed information.
http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-sideload-apps-to-your-amazon-fire-tv-using-a-windows-pc/
If you’re going to use the command prompt on the Fire TV, just sideload Terminal Emulator: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jackpal.androidterm
For those who don’t have a fire tv, are apps backed up from a kindle fire hd compatible with the stick?
Any Android app is potentially compatible with a fire-stick as fire-OS is a fork of Andriod that is compatible with just about any Android app.
It’s no different than installing a generic app to your Android phone. Especially with the “Install from unknown sources” option.
There can be versions of apps, mostly games that require a specific SoC (Chipset) to run. I’ve seen this a few times in the Amazon store opposed to the Google playstore where drivers for more chipsets are nessesary because of the many different devices depending on Google store.
In a case where it can only be controlled with a touchscreen a mouse will usually do the trick.
There is also some apps that will only run in portrait mode, and thereby look funny or be unuable.
So which apps are compatible and to which degree they can be easily controlled with a remote depends on a test.
You can NOT damage your hardware, the most that will happen is the app will not run or run slow because of the lesser SoC/chipset, or be difficult to control with a remote.
Again just like on any other Android device.
In other words the missing apps is likely about content control (money) and some missing compabilty testing.
So, do these steps make any sideloaded app appear on the firetv home menu?
No.. And this is not about sideloading apps to fire-tv but fire-stick.
Thanks for clearing that up he was wondering what the article was about just like the rest of us.
I got Minecraft PE onto my Fire Stick. I get the startup screen when I launch the app, but I can’t do anything. Do I need the Fire Game Controller? Or should the standard remote be able to do something, like press the “play” button?
Did you manage to get this working, I have the amazon game controller and I still get stuck on the home screen and cant click the play button.
Awesome! I was searching the web for exactly this. It’s nice to have backups of the AFTV version of Netflix and Youtube.
I made the mistake of uninstalling Netflix a few software versions ago, and could never find the correct version to install until I updated. This is peace of mind now. Thanks!
I have installed an app externally and I can get to it via settings/applications however I am unsure how to move it so it is in the apps section of my amazon fire stick. Can anyone help me?
when you transfer an app does it have all your game progress is. Crossy road characters ? thanks;)
I pulled the apk for Amazon Luna from my Fire TV Cube, but when I installed it on my Shield TV Pro and tried to open it, the screen just flashes and the app never opens. Any help with that ?