We know a new Fire TV interface is coming soon, but the big questions are which devices will receive the new interface, and what does it have to offer? Tucked at the bottom of Amazon’s press release for the new Fire TV Stick 2 are partial answers to both of those questions. Amazon says the new interface “will be available for all Fire TV customers” through an over-the-air update. Later this year, the Fire TV Stick 2 and the Fire TV 2 will receive the update first, and the Fire TV Stick 1 and Fire TV 1 will follow.
As for new features, apart from the complete interface overhaul, the press release says there will now be “a customizable apps list on the home screen,” which is a feature that so many of us Fire TV owners have been wanting for a long time. Amazon also says the new interface “will present a cinematic experience” and let “customers access the content they want more quickly – without the need to open and close multiple apps.” I’m not entirely sure what that means, but my guess is they’re referring to a tighter integration of Amazon Channels, which do let you view content from other networks through the Fire TV’s default interface, instead of individual apps.
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“will present a cinematic experience”
Finally! It needs to looks sleek and stylish and like a formal home entertainment UI ala the Apple TV. Not a Kindle with a bunch of columns and rows of content going every which way, spread-out across the entirety “launcher” creation.
Great news. Maybe they realized that forcing their content front and center only creates the desire to not use the home screen at all. Here’s hoping they are coming closer to the Android TV interface.
I love it!! Soo much better.
Wow. It took them this long!!!
And what is this about OTA updates taking several days to get pushed to all installed devices. Compare that to Apple doing an IOS update in a matter of a couple of days … and their installed base is several magnitudes larger. The irony would be if Apple is using Amazon’s own AWS servers to accomplish it!
In any case, I am tired of this infinitely scrolling interface. Looking forward to a more sensible UI.
Pushing the updates slowly is certainly not a resource limitation. It’s a decision they choose to make to detect issues with an update early before it affects too many customers.
Looks like Android TV. Can’t believe that the Fire TV blows away Android TV even though it is just a fork of Android.