How to Factory Reset an Element or Westinghouse Fire TV Edition Smart TV without a remote or access to the OS

Posted by Elias Saba on — 2 Comments

It has been just over 6 years since Element and Westinghouse released the first ever smart TVs running Amazon’s Fire TV operating system built in. While they’re certainly not up to par with modern Fire TV Smart TVs in many ways, they are still perfectly functional TVs and I still use mine every day. When needed, it’s usually straightforward to factory reset any Fire TV Smart TV through the “Device & Software” menu on the Settings screen, but if your TV has encountered an issue that is so bad that you can no longer use the remote or access the operating system, there is a way to factory reset these early Fire TV Smart TVs using nothing but the physical buttons on the TV itself. Read more ›

Posted in Article Tagged with: , ,

How to Install a Custom Launcher like Wolf Launcher on Fire TV, Firestick, or Cube — New July 2023 “Forever Loop” Method

Posted by Elias Saba on — 8 Comments

This guide will walk you through the steps of installing and setting up a custom alternate home screen launcher on your Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube, or Fire TV Smart TV. This is a new method developed in July 2023 by several XDA Forum members that is currently the simplest way to bypass Amazon’s recent blacklist block of the Launcher Manager app. Read more ›

Posted in Article Tagged with: , ,

How to identify which model, year, generation Amazon Fire TV, Stick, Cube, Edition you have – Updated Feb. 2023

Posted by Elias Saba on — 57 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 ›

Posted in Article Tagged with: ,

How to remap the App Buttons on Fire TV Remotes with Remapper — Updated January 2023

Posted by Elias Saba on — 378 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.

Updates

4/16/2021: Support for Disney+ buttons has been added

2/25/2022: 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.

3/3/2022: 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.

1/26/2023: Support for ABEMA, DirecTV, and Peacock TV buttons has been added.

2/15/2023: Amazon has blocked the use of this remapping method on select Fire TV models. See the section below for more details.

Read more ›

Posted in Article Tagged with: , , ,

How to Sideload APK Apps on the Amazon Echo Show 15

Posted by Elias Saba on — 54 Comments

The Echo Show 15 now has access to most of the Fire TV apps in the Amazon Appstore, but, unfortunately, Amazon has blocked the regular ways used to sideload apps on Fire TV devices. Thankfully, a workaround has been discovered by AFTVnews reader Super Street Racing. Using that discovery, here are full step-by-step instructions for sideloading APK app files on the Echo Show 15. Read more ›

Posted in Article Tagged with: , , ,

How to connect and pair a Fire TV Alexa Voice Remote to the Amazon Echo Show 15

Posted by Elias Saba on — 1 Comment

The new Fire TV interface on the Echo Show 15 is best used with a physical Fire TV remote. It may not be entirely clear how to pair a Fire TV remote to the Echo Show 15, especially since the usual Fire TV settings menu where you connect remotes is missing on the Echo Show 15. Here are detailed step-by-step instructions for how to pair Fire TV remotes to an Echo Show 15. Read more ›

Posted in Article Tagged with: , ,

How to trigger the Remote Finder Alarm on the Fire TV Alexa Voice Remote Pro

Posted by Elias Saba on — 5 Comments

The Fire TV Alexa Voice Remote Pro has a lot of great features, all of which you can read about here in my review. One of the best features is the built-in speaker that can be triggered to beep in order to find a lost remote. There are several ways to trigger the remote finder feature, so here they are in order of easiest to hardest. Read more ›

Posted in Article Tagged with: , , ,

How to enable Apps from Unknown Sources on an Amazon Fire TV or Fire TV Stick

Posted by Elias Saba on — 99 Comments


Turning on Apps from Unknown Sources on an Amazon Fire TV, Firestick, Fire TV Cube, or Fire TV Smart TV allows you to sideload app APKs onto the device from within another app, like Downloader. These instructions show you how to find Developer Options and allow the installation via side loading. Read more ›

Posted in Article Tagged with:

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

Posted by Elias Saba on — 24 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 ›

Posted in Article Tagged with: ,

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

Posted by Elias Saba on — 8 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 ›

Posted in Article Tagged with: , ,

NEW AMAZON DEVICES

2nd-gen Fire TV Stick 4K Price: $49.99
2nd-gen Fire TV Stick 4K Max Price: $59.99
Fire TV SoundbarPrice: $119.99

Fire TV Shortcut Apps

Free Movies & TVView content that is free from numerous apps at once.
Manage Installed AppsQuickly quit apps and clear app cache.
Recently WatchedJump back to what you're watching without scrolling down the home screen.
Bluetooth DevicesEasily pair/unpair headphones. keyboards, mice, and more.
... and over 30 more!

Get AFTVnews articles in your inbox!

Get an email anytime a new article is published.
No Spam EVER and Cancel Anytime.

FOLLOW