As with a lot of other streaming players, the best features of Amazon’s Fire TV devices aren’t immediately obvious.
You might know the basics of launching apps and perusing the home screen, for instance, but it’s easy to miss features like the Watchlist or the customizable nature of the Fire TV’s live channel guide.
To help out, we’ve compiled a guide to the most useful tips on Fire TV Sticks, streaming players, and smart televisions. Even seasoned experts should be able to learn something new here.
Set up your apps
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View the full apps list: The top row of Amazon’s Fire TV home screen only shows six of your favorite apps. To see all installed Fire TV apps, scroll over to the three squares on the right-hand side of the top row, then select “My Apps.”
Alternatively, long-press the remote’s home button, then select “Apps.” You can use this method from anywhere, without returning to the home screen first.
Rearrange your apps: To change the order of apps on your Fire TV home screen, head to the full apps list, select the app you want to move, hit the menu button on the remote, and select “Move” or “Move to front.”
Remove or hide an app: To delete a Fire TV app, head to the full apps list, hit the menu button, then select “Uninstall.”
You can also select “Hide from Your Apps,” which will remove it from the list without uninstalling it. This is also useful for hiding Amazon apps that you can’t delete, such as Luna and Amazon Live Shopping.
Choose top apps wisely: While rearranging apps, note that the six apps you put on top gain special status. They’ll appear at the top of your home screen, and some will even suggest things to watch as you scroll over them. This is a great way to get quick recommendations from some of your favorite video sources. (Not all apps support these “app peek” recommendations, but I’ve found that Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, and Paramount+, HBO Max all work well.)
Jared Newman / IDG
Install apps remotely: For a faster way to install new apps, head to the Fire TV’s online app store on your computer, where you can browse, search, and install apps remotely. If you have multiple Fire devices, be sure to choose your Fire TV from the “Deliver to” list before installing.
Create additional profiles: To switch profiles or add a new one, just click the profile icon at the far left side of the toolbar. Each family member can then have their own favorite apps and personalized recommendations, and you can create kid-specific profiles with age-appropriate content and an optional PIN.
Free up storage space: To see all installed apps—whether they’re hidden from the main app list or not—scroll to the bottom of your apps list and click “App Library,” then select “Installed on this TV.” This will show you everything that’s using up space, so you can click the menu button and uninstall the ones you no longer use.
Navigate faster
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Use remote control shortcuts: No disrespect to the remote’s directional pad, but you can also use other buttons to get around a bit faster:
- Press Home to go back to the top of the home screen.
- Press Back to go to the top of the current menu.
- Press Menu on any home screen item for quick playback options.
- In the live guide, press FF or RW to jump forward or back by one day.
- Tap the Alexa button for quick links to smart home controls, the weather, and your Amazon video library.
Put Alexa to work: Voice control is often the most efficient way to use Amazon’s Fire TV Stick. Try holding down the voice remote and using the following commands:
- “Watch [show name]”
- “Launch [app name]”
- “Show me [genre name]”
- “Listen to [album, song, or artist]”
- “Play something on Netflix”
- “What’s on TV tonight?”
- “Show my watchlist.”
- “Fast forward five minutes.”
- Tune to [live channel name]” (This works with Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, Sling TV, various free streaming services, and over-the-air channels with a Fire TV Edition smart TV or Fire TV Recast.)
You can also ask Alexa to answer basic questions—such as the weather or sports scores—and to control smart home devices.
Go hands-free with Alexa: If you have an Amazon Echo speaker, you can also control the Fire TV with just your voice. In the Alexa app for iOS or Android, head to More > Settings > TV & Video, then select “Fire TV” and tap “Link Your Alexa Device.” Select your Fire TV from the list, then choose the Echo speaker you want to associate with it. (No such setup is necessary on Amazon’s Fire TV Cube and Fire TV Edition televisions with Alexa built-in.)
You can then ask Alexa to play content on the Fire TV, as well as play, pause, fast forward, and rewind.
Use the live guide: Head to the “Live” section of the home screen, and you can see what’s streaming live on services like YouTube TV, Sling TV, Philo, and Pluto TV. (Some newer Fire TV remotes also have dedicated guide button as well.) Once inside the guide, you can mark channels as favorites by hitting the menu button, then hitting “Add to Favorite Channels.”
Jared Newman / IDG
To further customize the guide, scroll to the bottom of the Live menu, then select “Live TV Sources.” From here you can toggle which video sources appear in the guide.
Sift through suggestions: One of the biggest Fire TV annoyances is the way it recommends content on the home screen without listing the source, making it hard to tell if you need another subscription or rental fee to watch. As a workaround, try clicking the menu button on these suggestions. If you see a “Watch Now with…” option in the bottom-right corner, that means you can open the content in one of your installed apps.
This isn’t a foolproof solution—it doesn’t seem to work when there are multiple free viewing options available—but it’s faster than clicking through to a separate menu for each recommendation.
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Find something new
Jared Newman / IDG
Use the Watchlist: If you find something interesting on the home screen, bookmark it by hitting the remote’s menu button, then selecting “Add to Watchlist.” You can also add things to the watchlist from search results. To see your Watchlist, head to Find > Library and look at the very top.
Browse by genre: When you’re in the mood for a specific kind of movie or show, scroll over to the Fire TV’s Find tab, then scroll all the way down for a list of genres.
Find free stuff: The Fire TV’s Find tab also has a section just for ad-supported movies, shows, channels, and apps. Check it out by heading to Find > Free.
Flip the “Free to Me” filter: For an even better way to find things that don’t cost extra, head to Find > Movies or Find > TV Shows, then click the “Free to Me” filter option. This brings up a set of recommendations that are either free with ads or part of your existing subscriptions. You can also look for the “From Your Subscriptions” heading while browsing by genre.
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Tweak these settings
Make dialog easier to hear: Navigate to Settings > Display & Sounds > Audio > Advanced Audio, and you’ll find the Fire TV’s Volume Leveler and Dialogue Enhancer settings. The former will try to keep volume consistent across all content and apps, while the latter will try to boost speech volume.
Control A/V gear: To control external soundbars and A/V receivers through the Fire TV remote’s infrared emitter, head to Settings > Equipment Control > Manage Equipment > Add Equipment. Select your speaker brand and follow the on-screen prompts. (Note that if you’re using your TV’s speakers, or have a sound system connected over HDMI-CEC, the Fire TV should set everything up automatically.)
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Tune to cable channels: Still subscribed to cable alongside your streaming setup? In the same “Add Equipment” menu as above, you can program Alexa to launch live channels on your cable or satellite box. Just select “Cable” or “Satellite” from this menu, then follow the on-screen prompts. You’ll then be able to say things like “tune to ESPN” using the voice remote.
Turn off auto-play for trailers: Don’t like how the Fire TV home screen starts playing videos from the feature carousel at the top? Head to Settings > Preferences > Featured Content, then turn off “Allow Video Autoplay.” Alternatively, you can disable Allow Audio Play to see the trailers without sound. (Unfortunately, this doesn’t work for trailers that auto-play further down the screen.)
Set up a photo screensaver: To give your Fire TV a more personal touch, try setting pictures uploaded to Amazon Photos as your screensaver. Head to Settings > Display & Sounds > Screensaver, click on “Collection,” then choose an album, a person, or a place. You can also tweak other slideshow settings, such as speed, shuffle, and start time, from this menu.
Reduce and monitor your data use: For those unfortunate enough to have data caps on their internet service, the Fire TV offers some tools to cope. Head to Settings > Preferences > Data Monitoring, and then set Data Monitoring to On. You’ll then see options to reduce video quality in Amazon Video and create a usage alert. (Just keep in mind that this won’t reduce video quality in other apps.)
Limit Amazon’s data collection: Don’t want Amazon to use your Fire TV activity for marketing purposes? Navigate to Settings > Preferences > Privacy Settings, then turn off “Device Usage Data” and “Collect App Usage Data.” You can also disable Amazon’s targeted ads (or “Interest-based Ads”) from this menu.
Jared Newman / IDG
More neat tricks
Use Bluetooth headphones: To set up private listening through Bluetooth headphones or earbuds on Fire TV, head to Settings > Controllers & Bluetooth Devices > Other Bluetooth Devices. Make sure your headphones are in pairing mode, then select “Add Bluetooth Devices” to pair them. You can then use the Fire TV remote to control the volume.
Connect USB accessories and an ethernet jack: While you won’t find full-sized USB ports on any current Fire TV devices, you can add one with a cheap USB OTG cable and power adapter. This allows you to connect USB thumb drives, keyboards, and game controllers. You can also connect a micro-USB hub with an ethernet port as an alternative to Amazon’s official Fire TV ethernet adapter.
Just don’t expect every accessory to work flawlessly. I’ve found that older Xbox and PlayStation game controllers wouldn’t connect, and that a high-capacity USB hard drive caused the Fire TV Stick 4K to spontaneously reboot.
Create some automations: Want your Fire TV device to start playing a specific channel every morning? How about setting a sleep timer that you can activate with a voice command? By using the Routines feature of the Alexa app, you can have your Fire TV device do all kinds of neat things.
You’ll find Routines under the “More” section of the Alexa app. Hit the “+” button to create a routine, then use the “When this happens” to set up a trigger, such as a specific phrase or time of day. In the “Add action” menu, you’ll find a section for actions on your Fire TV device.
Jared Newman / IDG
Chat on the big screen: Got a second-generation Fire TV Cube or Fire TV Edition smart TV? By plugging in a USB webcam, you can conduct video calls through your television, either with Amazon’s Alexa calling service or with Zoom. Check out Amazon’s instructions for more details.
Audit your subscriptions: Amazon makes signing up for subscriptions extremely easy on Fire TV, with just a couple clicks between you and its array of Prime Video Channels add-ons. Yet when it’s time to cancel those subscriptions, you can’t do so through the device itself. Funny how that works.
To see what you’ve subscribed to through Amazon, check this page on Amazon’s website. This won’t necessarily cover everything you’ve signed up for through your Fire TV device, but it will show all subscriptions managed by Amazon itself. Check this article for more help auditing your subscriptions elsewhere.
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