If you use anything other than the original remote to control your Fire TV or Fire TV Stick, you may have run into a new annoying message appearing since the most recent software update. The message, seen above, informs you that the Fire TV cannot detect your remote and provides suggestions on how to resolve the issue. The problem is that the message seems to now be appearing when Fire TV owners are controlling their device through HDMI-CEC, an Echo, or a universal remote and have no intention of using the original remote that isn’t being detected. Read more ›

Amazon has released a new Fire TV remote and the most significant change, compared to the older remote, is the addition of four app shortcut buttons. The question of whether app buttons are good or bad often leads to a heated debate among streaming device owners. On one hand, they’re great because they give you a quicker and easier way to open apps by utilizing otherwise unused space on a remote. On the other hand, they act as a persistent advertisement for the apps they launch, which you may never use. I’d love to hear your thoughts as we understand these buttons further. Read more ›