A new update rolling out to Fire TV devices has restored the ability to move apps on the Fire TV home screen and on the app grid screen. An update last month replaced the move functionality with a new pinning feature. This latest update appears to roll things back because the option to pin is gone and has been replaced with the previous “Move” and “Move to front” options. Read more ›
A new option to select your default browser has been added to the Fire TV’s settings menu with the new 5.2.6.9 and 6.2.6.0 software updates that are rolling out to all models. The new option, located at the bottom of the Preferences menu, allows you to change which browser is used when launching the YouTube shortcut app, without needing to clear the app’s data. Read more ›
The new 6.2.6.0 software update that is rolling out to the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Cube, and Fire TV 3 (pendant) is adding a new third “Auto” option to the existing Color Format setting, which previously only allowed customers to select from “RGB” or “YCbCr.” When set to Auto, which is the new default configuration, the Fire TV may decide to switch its color format setting if one is better than the other for your particular TV model. Read more ›
A new feature introduced with the new 5.2.6.9 software update, for older Fire TV models, and 6.2.6.0 software update, for newer Fire TV models, gives you a bit more control over when system apps get updated. As an alternative to overall operating system updates, Amazon began the practice of updating individual system apps, such as Amazon Photos or Prime Video, separately a few years ago. This would occur silently in the background as a way to update individual Fire TV components without needing to update the entire operating system. With the latest round of software updates, it’s now possible to manually check for system app updates and force them to install. Read more ›
Depending on how you look at it, it has either been a great or really bad couple of weeks for Amazon devices with MediaTek processors. First, the Fire HD 8 tablet was rooted and then the Fire 7 tablet was rooted. Just a few days ago, the Fire TV Stick 2 was rooted for the first time and now the 2nd-generation Fire TV box is the latest device to fall. Surprisingly, the rooting method that has just been discovered for the Fire TV 2 is unrelated to the method used to root the other Amazon devices. This new method is actually much easier, as it does not require opening the device or shorting circuit board points, like the Fire TV Stick 2 and Fire tablet rooting methods. There’s also the potential for this new rooting method to work on other Fire TV devices with MediaTek processors, like the Fire TV Stick 4K, which has yet to be rooted, and even the Fire TV Stick 2, to serve as a simpler rooting method than the one that already exists. Read more ›
A new software update has started to roll out to Amazon Fire TV devices. The only change I’ve found so far with this update is a change to how apps you have installed and the channels you are subscribed to are arranged on both the home screen and the app grid. The option to move items has been replaced with a new option to pin items to the front of your list of apps and channels. This has been done because new apps you install and new channels you subscribe to will now automatically appear at the front of your list of apps and channels, making them easier to find. Pinning an app or channel gives it priority over new items and keeps it at the front of the list. Read more ›
The Amazon Fire TV Cube and Fire TV 3 (pendant) are currently receiving a new software update. The update carries the same 6.2.5.5 version number as the previous update, but has a new build number of 1628. Amazon has not yet updated their Fire TV Software Page to include this new version, but, since the version number hasn’t changed, it likely only contains bug fixes. Given the proximity of this release to the release of the Fire TV Recast, it’s probably safe to assume that this update makes improvements to the new DVR menu in Fire OS. I haven’t noticed any obvious changes myself, but if you do, please mention them in the comments below.
Older Amazon Fire TVs, Fire TV Sticks, and Fire TV Edition televisions released before 2017 are starting to receive a new software update. The update carries version number 5.2.6.7 and a build value of 623529620. This update appears to be adding support for the upcoming Fire TV Recast DVR through a new Live TV menu that now appears in the Fire TV’s Settings area. Also added by this update is a new Privacy Settings menu that consolidates several privacy options that already existed prior to this update, as well as adding a new option for turning off device usage data collection. Read more ›
A new software update has just started rolling out to Fire TV devices that restores the ability to use the voice remote to dictate what you would like typed into the on-screen keyboard. With the previous update that revamped the Alexa interface on older Fire TV devices, Amazon inadvertently broke voice dictation for the keyboard, but now they’ve made good on their promise to restore the functionality as soon as possible, by doing so in record time. Read more ›
The biggest new feature brought on by the new 6.2.5.3 software update, that rolled out to the Amazon Fire TV 3 earlier this month, is the highly requested ability to match the device’s refresh rate to the content’s frame rate. That’s not the only new feature because the update has also added the ability to configure the device to use a Network Proxy. The new options are located in the Fire TV’s hidden developer menu. Read more ›
@AFTVnews