Amazon has taken the wraps off an all-new Fire TV update. The company is touting the overhaul as a redesigned experience that aims to make usage “more personal, faster, and easier.” Overarching changes include a streamlined main menu with quick access to search, profile switching, and more. Amazon touts this update as its biggest yet, and best of all, it’s free and will be supported across new and many existing Fire TV devices. Continue reading to learn more.
Fire TV update doubles down on ease-of-use
A new experience is headed to Fire TV devices, and so far it looks like it’ll be a good one. Amazon is stripping away some of the clutter on the home screen to make usage a bit easier. You’ll still see a variety of suggestions, but these will actually change as you highly installed applications, making your hunt for what to watch next even faster.
For families, Amazon is rolling out profile switching that looks like it’ll be easy to use. Six profiles are supported, which will hopefully satisfy the needs for many households. A new Find tab in the main menu makes it a cinch to discover free-to-watch movies and TV shows. As you might have expected, the Alexa experience has also been improved. Users will now be able to quickly hop from Live TV to Find by simply asking using an Alexa Voice Remote.
Pricing and availability
The latest Fire TV update will be made available free of charge with a rollout slated to start sometime today. Support begins with the all-new Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite. Other “select devices” will also make the cut by the end of 2020, with early 2021 being the latest Amazon claims the rest of supported units will receive this update.
9to5Toys’ Take
Having switched entirely away from Apple TV in favor of Fire TV Stick 4K last year, today’s news is exciting for me. At first glance, the overhaul appears to clean up some of the excess clutter found in versions prior. While none of that was a deal-breaker in the past, it’ll be nice to have a sleek and more simplified appearance when hopping between household staples like YouTube and Hulu.
Of all the features, I find the new ability to scroll over supported apps to quickly find recommended suggestions inside. While profile switching is bound to top the list for many, my wife and I tend to share an account across platforms so it is of less importance to me, especially when compared to families with kids in the house.
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