Discovery, and its suite of channels and shows, has launched its new streaming service, Discovery+, on Amazon Fire TVs and other streaming devices. The new service provides a-la-carte access to Discovery’s networks including Food Network, HGTV, TLC, ID, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, DIY, Magnolia, OWN, A&E, Lifetime, History, and Discovery. All of the content is available with ads for $4.99 per month or ad-free for $6.99 per month. Read more ›
A few Fire TV games that normally cost money to buy are currently available for free and even more paid games have gone on sale. Whether you want a game to try on the new Fire TV that you got for Christmas or you’ve just got some downtime to fill before the new year rolls in, here is a list of Fire TV games that are currently discounted. If you have digital credit from selecting no-rush shipping, they will automatically be used when purchasing apps. Go here to check your no-rush credit balance and see when the credit expires. Read more ›
Comcast has finally released an official Xfinity Stream app for Amazon Fire TV devices. The app allows Xfinity TV subscribers access to live TV, on-demand videos, and their DVR programming. The Xfinity Stream app is currently listed in the Amazon Appstore as a beta app, but the name of the app may have just not been updated yet for today’s public release. The app is compatible with every Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube, and Fire TV Edition devices in the US, all the way back to the very first Fire TV from 2014.
‘Tis the season for streaming services to make deals with streaming device manufacturers. Roku has announced that they’ve finally made an agreement with HBO to bring the HBO Max app to Roku devices. The app will arrive in the Roku Channel Store tomorrow, Dec 17. Similarly, Google has announced that an Apple TV app will be coming to the Chromecast with Google TV “early next year.” They also said that “more devices powered by Android TV” will be getting the app “in the future.” Now, if only Amazon would cut a deal with NBC to bring the Peacock TV app to Fire TV devices.
I had high hopes that the new Fire TV interface would fix the existing bug that caused the icon of some sideloaded apps to be missing. Unfortunately, the bug remains and, worse yet, it’s actually a bigger issue in the new interface than it was in the old one. Read more ›
If you’re someone that sideloads apps onto your Fire TV, you’ve probably installed an app at some point that ended up looking squashed, stretched out, or even cut off. If not, it’s probably only a matter of time before it happens to you. This is because a lot of smartphone apps rely on the device they’re installed on to tell them what screen orientation to use. Since the Fire TV expects all apps to only be displayed in landscape mode, some sideloaded apps intended for smartphones behave strangely in that unexpected environment. The solution to this is dead simple and it’s thanks to an app that I have been recommending for years and that I install on every one of my Fire TVs. Read more ›
Last week, Amazon added local news options to the News app on Fire TV devices. They’re starting with 12 major cities and have said that they expect to expand to nearly 90 cities next year. There is currently a total of 19 different channels representing those 12 initial cities and here is the full list of those channels. Read more ›
Amazon has announced that their News app on Fire TVs, Fire TV Sticks, Fire TV Cubes, and Fire TV Edition televisions now has live and on-demand local news for free from 12 major US cities. The Fire TV’s News app already offers numerous national news sources, including CBS News, ABC News, Bloomberg, USA today, and others. Now it is adding local channels to the mix, such as CBSN Chicago, ABC7/WABC-TV New York, KIRO7 Seattle, and more. Read more ›
HBO Max has some of the most compelling content of any streaming service, but it all caps out at 1080p. That finally changes this Christmas with the release of Wonder Woman 1984 on December 25th. The movie is coming to both theaters and the streaming service on the same day and it will be HBO Max’s first title available in 4K. The movie will also stream in Dolby Vision, HDR10, and with Dolby Atmos audio. HBO explicitly mentions that this “premium viewing experience” will be available on the Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Stick 4K, and 4K Fire TV Edition televisions. We’ll have to wait and see if other Fire TV models will also have access to the improved resolution and formats.
Some HBO Max apps, including sideloaded versions, have stopped working today because HBO just released a new version of their app. The app is now displaying the “Unsupported Version” message seen above. If you have sideloaded HBO Max onto your Fire TV or Fire TV Stick, rather than updating your sideload app, it’s best for you to uninstall the app and re-install the official version, which is now available in the official Amazon Appstore. Read more ›
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