In a first by a major streaming service, Peacock is essentially telling Fire TV users, who ask about the app not being available in the Amazon Appstore, to sideload the app. As spotted by Scott Porch and covered by Jared Newman on TechHive, Peacock is replying to Fire TV users on Twitter and Facebook that complain about not being able to watch the upcoming WWE WrestleMania event to explore “sideloading options.” Before you think this is just some social media intern getting creative, Peacock’s official help article about supported devices also mentions sideloading on Fire TVs with a link to a Google search that leads people directly to my guide for sideloading the Peacock app.
Peacock is essentially giving Fire TV users a *wink wink nudge nudge* with their wording about sideloading their app. On social media, they are saying “there are sideloading options that some customers have found helpful” while also mentioning that the app is not currently supported on Amazon devices. On their help page, they say “some users have been able to sideload Peacock onto their Amazon Fire TV” and provide a link to Google search for sideloading instructions, but then go on to say that “sideloading is not supported by Peacock.”
According to cached versions of Peacock’s help page, the blurb about sideloading on Fire TV devices was added recently, within the last 2 weeks. WWE content used to be streamed through the dedicated WWE app, which is available on Fire TV devices. The upcoming annual WrestleMania event will be the first one that requires the Peacock app, where WWE content has moved. This is likely why Peacock has decided to be more upfront about sideloading with their WWE viewers.
Peacock is the largest streaming service still not officially available on the Fire TV, more than 8 months after it became widely available on most platforms. Peacock was also not available on Roku devices for quite a while, but Roku and Peacock did finally reach an agreement late last year that brought the service to Roku devices. Amazon is the last major streaming platform to not have official access to the Peacock app.
It’s probably safe to say that it’s in Peacock’s best interest to get as many of their customers with Fire TVs to sideload the app. It’s assumed that the conflict between Amazon and Peacock is over sharing advertising revenue. Every user that sideloads Peacock on a Fire TV is a user that is benefiting Peacock without needing to share any revenue with Amazon.
There’s no telling how long this standoff will last, but for now, it is easy to sideload Peacock on Fire TVs and Firesticks by following this guide and just as easy to keep the app updated by following this guide.
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Can you get peacock in the UK yet.
i got the latest version 2117 and it works its just that the icon is grey and not the peacock icon
Unfortunately, that’s a bug with Fire OS 7 devices right now. See here for more detail: https://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-fix-missing-or-broken-icons-for-sideloaded-apps-on-amazon-fire-tv/
I hope this doesn’t force Amazon to take longer look at sideloading that could lead to restricting the process. It is all about the bottom line $$$ after all. If some high up Amazon exec decides they are missing out on a piece of the action we could all suffer the consequences.
There are a lot of benefits to “flying under the radar”!!!
I believe I read an article some weeks back in which the Comcast CEO stated they are actively seeking to have Peacock on every major streaming platform including Fire TV this year.
very true, but in any case, there are hundreds of other options to download apps for streaming and anything else. Amazon is not the only player in the game. Tivo 4k streaming stick for ex. at the same price.
Well, that’d be funny of Amazon to respond in that fashion as, in some respects, they did something similar themselves when they circumvented negotiations with Google a couple of years ago. Google pulled YouTube off of the Fire TV, and Amazon released the Silk browser to Fire TV users and didn’t even give a “wink wink nudge nudge” but outright pointed users launching the at-the-time defunct official YouTube app to using Silk to open up YouTube.
They ended up working out their differences. Hopefully Amazon and NBCU do the same.
You should see some money coming your way for this.
One of the largest media companies in the world is basically saying forget Amazon, talk to Elias to get your shit working!
Agreed. But I believe Elias placed his way to sideload in the free domain, so, doubtful any royalties. However, it should be enough to propel Elias’ name even further into the developer spectrum which may equate into more money for him.
But even if your a Peacock Premium account member – you’ll only get the basic (additional advertising!)app when you sideload. I have Comcast cable and use the Peacock app and the Xfinity Beta app in a room with a cable location that doesn’t work for me. FYI
So it’s not the same.
P.S. Glad to see that the Fire TV 2 box is NOT getting the update. Color me not impressed with the new UI.