Amazon has launched a new app called IMDb What to Watch to help you find new movies and TV shows to watch. It does this through three different game-like interaction methods to make flipping through recommendations a bit more fun than the usual endless lists that you usually scroll through when trying to figure out what to watch. Read more ›
The puzzle-adventure game Machinarium is on sale for $0.99. This is easily my favorite puzzle game for Fire TV devices and one of my favorite Fire TV games overall. The game normally costs $4.99 and this sale matches the lowest it has ever been. Machinarium is similar to “escape” games, where you need to figure out the correct combination of items to find and tasks to complete in a given space to progress to the next area of the game. It’s perfect for casual players and even those that have never tried a Fire TV game before because it moves at your own pace with simple controls. Those basic controls allow it to work with the Fire TV remote, so you don’t need to have a game controller to play. The game is compatible with every Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube, and Fire TV Smart TV model. Other Fire TV games that are currently on sale include all Jackbox party games, all Final Fantasy games, and the Monster RPG games.
Fire TV Omni Series Smart TVs are now compatible with the Zoom app for two-way video conferencing. These TVs are only the second Fire TV models to work with Zoom, after the Fire TV Cube was the first to gain compatibility earlier this year. To use Zoom with either a Fire TV Omni Series Smart TV or a Fire TV Cube, you need to connect a USB camera to the Fire TV. Amazon recommends the Logitech C920 (1080p, ~$65), Logitech C922x (1080p, ~$80), and Logitech C310 (720p, ~$27) webcams, but any cameras that support the USB Video Class (UVC) standard with at least 720p resolution and 30fps will work. Once the camera is connected to the Smart TV’s USB port or the Fire TV Cube’s microUSB port with an adpater, like these from StarTech, UGREEN, and CableCreation, you can launch the Zoom app and login. If your calendar is linked to Alexa and your Zoom meting is on your calendar, you can say “Alexa, join my Zoom meeting” to automatically join your next meeting.
Spotify has updated its Fire TV app with the ability to display full-screen lyrics that move in sync with the playing song, like a Karaoke machine, as spotted by a Reddit user. When playing a song with available lyrics, a new button appears in the lower right corner of the screen labeled “Show Lyrics.” Selecting it switches to the full-screen view shown above with lyrics being highlighted and scrolling up as the song progresses. The background color of the lyric screen changes color to match a dominant color found in the album art of the song that is currently playing. If you’ve been using Alexa to play your Spotify tunes on your Fire TV, perhaps give the actual Spotify app a try if the new lyric feature sounds appealing. A tip is to leave the app by pressing the HOME button on your remote and then press the PLAY button to resume your music in the background. This allows you to use other apps or browse content while music from the Spotify app continues to play.
Last week, GitHub made a change to how it serves files which was incompatible with Downloader. Since many app projects are hosted on GitHub, this resulted in Downloader displaying an error that read “URL needs authorization” when trying to download files hosted by GitHub. I’ve fixed the issue in Downloader version 1.4.3 and the updated version is already live in the Amazon Appstore for Fire TV devices and the Google Play Store for Android/Google TV devices. In the past, Google absurdly would not allow Downloader to have its built-in browser included by default, even though there are plenty of stand-alone browsers already in the Google Play Store for Android/Google TV devices. I gave it another try this time and Google finally approved Downloader with the browser included, so, as of v1.4.3, the browser plugin is no longer required for Android/Google TV devices.
When popular bulk sideloading utility Filelinked was shut down by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, a piracy takedown coalition consisting of many major entertainment companies, it wasn’t long before numerous clones and replacements began appearing to fill its place. Be warned that one of the more popular clones, called AppLinked, has recently changed ownership and possibly gained malware and/or viruses in the process. Read more ›
The full-fledged TikTok app is now available for Fire TV owners in the US and Canada. The app was first released in the UK, France, and Germany earlier this year but now it has come overseas. A very underwhelming app called More on TikTok was widely released last year, but it offered nothing more than a series of compilation videos that highlighted TikTok content. This newer is the TikTok app you expect, with full access to “For You” and “Following” feeds, a Discovery page, and more. The app is compatible with all Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube, and Fire TV Smart TV models.
Amazon’s free ad-supported streaming service, IMDb TV, is now available in the UK, according to Deadline. Currently, you can only access its content through the Prime Video app, but a Fire TV app for UK customers is said to be coming soon. Last month, IMDB TV finally launched standalone mobile apps for Android and iOS devices, so those may soon become available to UK customers as well. This marks the first time IMDb TV has been available outside the US.
Plex is giving the interface in its app a slight refresh. The new “Modern Layout,” as Plex calls it, shifts the focus slightly away from a dull grid of poster art to a richer layout that better showcases artwork/screengrabs and is more immersive, thanks to changing backgrounds. The new interface also rethinks metadata by hiding some things, like movie titles since they already appear in poster art, and surfacing other things, like genres and ratings, for additional context. If you’re not a fan of the change, you’re in luck, because Plex has also added more layout customization options to tweak layout elements to your liking. Read more ›
The app TV Scoreboard for Fire TV devices is currently available for free. This app normally sells for $11.99, although it used to sell for $4.99 not too long ago, and it has never been free before. The app simply displays a “Home” vs “Guest” scoreboard on your TV that can be incremented using the Fire TV remote. It also has the option to display a clock that can count down and can play a buzzer sound when it reaches zero. Odds are you probably aren’t going to be organizing a basketball game where you need an app like this, it might come in handy someday for keeping track of board game or card game scores at home, so you might as well pick it up while it is free, just in case. Remember, you can select “Cloud Only” from the “Deliver to” dropdown menu on Amazon’s site to purchase the app, for future access, without needing to actually install it on a Fire TV. The app is compatible with all Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Smart TV, and Fire TV Smart SOundbar models.
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