How to stop Amazon Alexa’s “By the way…” suggestions on Echo and Fire TV devices

Posted by Elias Saba on — 10 Comments

Amazon’s biggest problem with Alexa, since the very beginning, has been discoverability. When you have a device that primarily has no interface, it becomes extremely difficult to inform its users of all the new features the device has been receiving. Amazon’s solution has been to have Alexa make usage suggestions after it finishes responding to you by saying “by the way…” followed by a suggestion. These suggestions walk a very fine line between being useful and annoying, with many people considering them the latter. Amazon has now made it possible to stop “by the way” suggestions but there’s a catch. Read more ›

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How to check, understand, and improve your Fire TV WiFi Speed, Signal Strength, and Network Noise

Posted by Elias Saba on — 6 Comments

Poor network quality and the issues that it causes, like buffering and degraded image quality/resolution, are the top complaints among Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube, and Fire TV Smart TV owners. That is likely why Amazon has revamped the Fire TV’s built-in network status testing utility with additional information and functionality to help Fire TV owners asses and fix network issues. This guide will help you understand the different values in the new network utility, such as signal strength, noise, and channel utilization, as well as suggest ways to improve each value. Read more ›

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How to find/show/unhide/reveal Developer Options on an Amazon Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube, or Fire TV Smart TV

Posted by Elias Saba on — 12 Comments

In recent updates to the Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Stick Lite, Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Stick 4K Max, Fire TV Cube, and Fire TV Smart TV, Amazon has hidden/removed the Developer Options menu where you can enable ADB debudding and enable installing apps from unknown sources, such as Downloader. These instructions show you how to unhide/reveal the Developer Options menu. Read more ›

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How to bypass the Parental Controls PIN Lock Code and Factory Reset a Fire TV or Firestick without the PIN

Posted by Elias Saba on — 6 Comments

Enabling Parental Controls on a Fire TV, Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Stick, or Fire TV Smart TV requires you to enter a PIN code to unlock the device before many actions can be performed. One of the locked-out actions is the ability to factory reset the device. However, if you’ve forgotten your PIN code or you’ve purchased a used Fire TV that has parental controls enabled, there is a way to bypass the need to enter a PIN in order to factory reset the device to its default settings. Here’s how to do it. Read more ›

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How to Unhide the Appstore on an Amazon Fire TV or Firestick

Posted by Elias Saba on — 2 Comments

One of the best new features brought on by the Fire TV’s newest interface update is the ability to hide apps. This allows you to clean up your app list without needing to uninstall apps, which is especially handy when combined with user profiles, since each profile can have different apps shown. Unhiding an app is as easy as going to the “Installed on this TV” section of the Fire TV’s Appstore app and selecting the “Show on Your Apps” menu option for the app you want to make visible. However, as one Reddit user unfortunately learned, how do you unhide the Appstore app if you selected to hide it, since it is the only app that does not appear in your list of apps “Installed on this TV?” Thankfully, the solution is pretty easy. Read more ›

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How to remap the App Buttons on Fire TV Remotes with Remapper — Updated March 2022

Posted by Elias Saba on — 233 Comments

The app buttons at the bottom of the newest Fire TV Remotes and Fire TV Smart TV remotes can either be fantastic or useless. They’re great if it’s an app that you use often, but they’re a complete waste if you don’t even have the app that they’re for installed. This guide will show you how to reassign the app buttons to open any app you want. This method uses my Remapper app and works for Netflix, HBO, Hulu, PS Vue, Disney+, CTV, Crave, DAZN, TVNOW, and other buttons. It works on the new remote paired to a Fire TV, Fire TV Cube, and Firestick, as well as Fire TV Edition devices from Element, Toshiba, Insignia, Onida, Grundig, JVC, and more.

UPDATE: Amazon has made changes to prevent my original remapping method from working. I have updated this guide with a workaround that should circumvent Amazon’s changes. If you previously installed any Remapper, it is best to uninstall it and carefully follow this guide from the very beginning. Enjoy this workaround while it lasts, but you should expect that Amazon will likely block it as well eventually.
UPDATE #2: The original workaround did not work on Fire OS 7 devices. The guide has been updated again to now work on all Fire OS versions. Read more ›

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How to Skip Software Updates during Initial Setup or Factory Reset on a Fire TV, Firestick, or Fire TV Cube

Posted by Elias Saba on — 22 Comments

Since the latest software update for Fire TV devices is blocking the ability to use custom launchers, you may want to avoid updating a new or factory reset Fire TV. During the initial setup process, all Fire TV models check for software updates with no option to skip the check or avoid installing the update. Normally, if you externally block updates from downloading, such as through a router filter or DNS setting, the setup process will refuse to complete until it can reach Amazon’s update servers. However, there is a method to get past all forced updates during the initial setup and here is how to do it. Read more ›

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How to identify which model, year, generation Amazon Fire TV, Stick, Cube, Edition you have – Updated Feb. 2022

Posted by Elias Saba on — 51 Comments

With all the different Amazon Fire TVs, Fire TV Sticks (a.k.a Firesticks), Fire TV Cubes, Fire TV Pendants, Fire TV Edition televisions, and Fire TV Edition soundbars that have been released over the last few years, it’s difficult for some people to figure out exactly which model, version, year, or generation device that they own. This guide will help you easily determine what you have. Read more ›

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How to fix a Fire TV or Firestick stuck on the boot start up logo screen

Posted by Elias Saba on — 27 Comments

Fire TV devices will occasionally fail to boot and endlessly display either the “Amazon” or “Fire TV” boot-up logo. If this happens to your device, it, unfortunately, usually means the Fire TV is dead with no way to fix it. This most commonly happens if the Fire TV is powered off at the wrong time, which is why plugging it into a TV’s USB port is a bad idea. In rare cases it’s possible to fix the issue, so here are the steps to try before giving up on your Fire TV. Read more ›

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Solutions for Missing Broken App Icons on Fire TVs, Fire TV Cubes, Firesticks, and Fire TV Smart TVs

Posted by Elias Saba on — 19 Comments

Fire TVs, Fire TV Cubes, Fire TV Sticks, and Fire TV Smart TVs have had a long-running bug that prevents the icons of certain sideloaded apps from appearing on the home screen or the Fire TV’s app list. This bug only affects devices running Fire OS 7, but it makes it difficult to determine which app is being launched since neither the app image nor app name appears in the newer Fire TV interface. While there is no way to stop this issue from happening, there are a few things you can do to make it a lot easier to differentiate between the apps that are affected by the issue. Read more ›

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