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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
The package name of an app or APK file is a unique name that identifies the app. For various reasons, it’s sometimes necessary to determine the package name of a Fire TV app. Here are several methods to quickly and easily determine the package name of any Fire TV or Firestick app. Read more ›
Fire TV Smart TVs, like those made by Toshiba, Insignia, Pioneer, or even Amazon’s own Omni and 4-Series TVs, can end up in a weird limbo situation where the remote control isn’t fully paired but most remote functions still work. The result is a remote that works but feels strangely slow or delayed. A symptom, for example, is pressing and holding a direction button to scroll through a long list, but instead of quickly zipping through the list, the Fire TV steps through each item slowly, one by one. Here is how to figure out if your remote controller is in this limbo mode and how to fix it. Read more ›
Did you know that it’s possible for your TV to indicate that you’re watching HDR10 or Dolby Vision video but your Fire TV is actually streaming plain old standard dynamic range SDR content? This is due to how most streaming services ramp up and down the type of content that you’re receiving based on available bandwidth and connection speed. If you ever find yourself questioning whether what you’re watching is actually in HDR or Dolby Vision, here is how to tell on a Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube, or Fire TV Smart TV. Read more ›
A very common question among Fire TV Smart TV owners, formerly known as Fire TV Edition TVs, is if its possible for the TV to be powered on to something other than the Home screen, since most “dumb” TVs just show the last input you used when they turn on. Thankfully, the answer it’s yes and it’s the case for nearly all Fire TV Smart TV models, including those from AKAI, AmazonBasics, Croma, Grundig, HomeX, Insignia, JVC, OK, Onida, and Toshiba. Read more ›
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