Eight Quick Fire TV Tips and Tricks to Enhance Your Streaming Experience

As a user of Amazon's Fire TV devices, you're likely aware of some of the limitations and quirks that come with using these streaming sticks. However, there are many tips and tricks that can help you get more out of your Fire TV experience, from customizing your home screen to managing your channels and taking advantage of hidden features.

First Tip: Don't be a cheap skate - get the latest Fire TV Stick 4K Max

If you're still using an older model of Fire TV Stick, it's time to upgrade to the latest and greatest. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max offers improved performance, better picture quality, and new features like 8K resolution and Dolby Vision support. And if it's on sale, now is the perfect time to grab one. With a little creativity, you can transform your old Fire TV Stick into a brand-new device.

Second Tip: Customize your home screen

One of the biggest complaints about Fire TV devices is that the home screen can feel cluttered and overwhelming. However, there's an easy way to fix this: go into the All Apps section and select the app you want to put front and center on your home screen. Then, hit the menu button on your remote (the one with three lines) and choose "Move to Front." This will give you more control over which apps appear on your home screen and can help you declutter the interface.

Third Tip: Turn off those annoying sounds

Who doesn't hate clicking sounds? The Fire TV remote is notorious for its loud, repetitive beeps that can drive even the most patient person crazy. But it's easy to turn them off. Go into the Settings menu, choose Display, and then Sounds. From there, select Audio and toggle Navigation Sounds off. This will eliminate those annoying clicks and make your Fire TV experience feel much more streamlined.

Fourth Tip: Manage your channels

With so many live TV channels available on Fire TV, it can be hard to know where to start. But take a few minutes to go through the list of channels you have installed and hide or move them up in priority if they're not must-haves for you. This will help keep your home screen clear and organized.

Fifth Tip: Use long press to unlock hidden features

One of the most useful tricks on Fire TV is long pressing the Home button, which can unlock a range of shortcuts and features. By holding down the Home button for just a little while longer than usual, you can quickly switch profiles, adjust ambient settings, or even put your Fire TV to sleep. This is especially useful if you're trying to launch the Ambient Experience without having to wait for the timer to kick in.

Sixth Tip: Get familiar with the remote controls

While most users only need to use one type of remote control on their Fire TV device, there are actually a few different versions depending on how long you've had it and which model you're using. Take some time to get familiar with these remotes and learn about all the shortcuts and features they offer.

Seventh Tip: Don't miss out on hidden audio options

If you find yourself constantly hearing that annoying clicking sound from your Fire TV remote, you know how frustrating it can be. But did you know that there's a way to turn this off? Go into the Settings menu, choose Display, and then Sounds. From there, select Audio and toggle Navigation Sounds off. This will eliminate those clicking sounds and make your Fire TV experience feel much more streamlined.

Eighth Tip: Take control of your channel lineup

With so many live TV channels available on Fire TV, it can be hard to know where to start. But take a few minutes to go through the list of channels you have installed and hide or move them up in priority if they're not must-haves for you. This will help keep your home screen clear and organized.

By following these eight tips and tricks, you can transform your Fire TV experience into one that's more streamlined, more enjoyable, and more tailored to your needs. Whether you're a seasoned user or just starting out with Fire TV, these tips are sure to make a big difference in the way you use your device.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enAmazon Fire TV is the biggest streaming platform in the world one of the top two at least Roku is  the other sorry Google and apple that's just the way it is for the most part all Amazon Fire TV  devices do the same things in the same sort of way but that doesn't mean you can't make them  work just a little bit better so let's just dive into it I'm Phil Nickinson this is Digital Trends  and these are my top Amazon Fire TV tips and tricks ah you thought you were going to escape  it no you know the drill all right before we do that like subscribe notification Bell you've  done all that cool soz you want to make sure you see every new digital Trent video that's  coming your way all right you did that good let's go tip number one which Fire TV should  you get so this isn't really a tip per se but it is pretty important so I wanted to touch on  it do not please do not get the cheapest Amazon Fire TV Stick that you can buy you can do a lot  better cuz the simple fact is none of them is that expensive so just go ahead and get the best one  you can get and today that is the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max yes it's a mouthful but yes it also  tops out at $60 before it goes on sale and we've done a whole review on it maybe you recognized  somebody in there so go watch that and then hop back here or just take my word for it it's the  best one you can buy and again tops out of 60 bucks boys and girls all right you need more  fine it's got all the features you could possibly want including some that you can't find on other  devices running on just about the best hardware that's out there right now for this sort of thing  and for the software and features I really mean the Amazon Fire TV ambient experience it's also  been on the Amazon Fire TV Omni qled series of televisions but that's a whole TV and a whole  another conversation we want to go simpler we want to go less expensive that's why we're doing the 4K  Stick Max 4K Stick I told you it's a mouthful fine I can hear you in the comments ticking  away yes there's the Fire TV Cube yes it has more powerful Hardware no it does not have the Amazon  Fire TV ambient experience okay Fire TV Stick 4K Max that's what I'm Sticking with so tip number  two let's talk about that ambient experience you can actually see it behind me here it's sort of  a mixup between some really cool backgrounds and some useful information in widgets now the  backgrounds are akin to what you would see on say Apple TV or Google TV they're really good and it's  a mix of like artwork and just natural scenes and some of it's a little more computer generated than  others some of it has motions some of it's still and Amazon has a ton of it here you can lose an  entire day just playing around with it and I love it it's really good and if none of those tickles  you're fancy fine you can use your own pictures you'll have to go through Amazon photos to do it  but that's also really good by the way and then it's super simple to put them up here on your  TV now those widgets take you even further into the Amazon ecosystem they're just quick little  widgets that sit on your TV back there and show you things like packages that are on the way or  give you suggestions on what to watch or listen to or even what to cook for dinner it's very cool  it's very useful and it's all entirely under your control you can use them or not but again this is  all stuff that's only available in the Amazon Fire TV ambient experience on the 4K Max unless  you want to buy a whole TV but don't do that just yet tip number three user profiles so one of the  coolest things about Amazon Fire TV is that it kind of figures out what it is you like what you  like to watch what you like to listen to what you like to use and also one of the worst things about  Amazon Fire TV is it figures out what you like to watch and what you like to listen to and what you  like to use it's great when it works just for you it's really bad when your 5-year-old kid decides  to watch Bluey all day long and totally screw up your recommendations fortunately there's a way  around that set up user profiles set up one for you for your wife boyfriend girlfriend husband  kids especially for the kids because profiles have parental controls on them that's super  important those parental controls can do things like you know keep content away from 5-year-olds  that maybe they shouldn't see or keep them from spending your money probably maybe look I'm not  making any promises here kids can be pretty crafty sometimes but take a couple minutes and  set them up and you'll thank me later tip number four go ahead and install the Amazon Fire TV app  on your phone or tablet so at some point you're going to lose your Fire TV remote it happens it  doesn't mean you're a bad person I'm not judging you all right maybe just a little but what that  means is you need a backup way to control your Amazon Fire TV if only so you can pair new remote  control later right so for that you'll want the Fire TV app it's available on Android and iOS and  basically works the same on both you'll install it and log in and from there it will look for any  fire TVs on your home network which by the way means you need to be on the same Wi-Fi network  as your you know all that right okay so it also gives you easy access to what's on right then as  well as any recordings that you might have made all right there from your phone cool now is the  remote app the sort of thing you're going to need every day no or at least I hope not but trust me  it is there in a pinch when you need it totally worth just leaving it sitting there tip number  five rearrange your apps so Amazon Fire TV puts a premium on content on the home screen and that's  fine I get that but me I'm the sort of person who likes just going to an app and then going to the  things I want to watch from there but here's the problem Fire TV only puts what six apps there on  the home screen right in front of you I want more or at least I want to make sure the right  one are there and that's what we're talking about so go into the all app section and select the app  that you want to put out front then hit the menu button on the remote it's the one with the three  lines and then choose move to front and that's it so again you only get six there you might have to  arrange these you know every now and then super easy to do though tip number six turn off all  those damn sounds so anytime you use your Fire TV remote to venture through the user interface  it makes the sound a clicking sound click click click click click click click click click click  click click I can't stand it I hear it in my sleep I hear it when I'm awake there's not a single time  a single moment in the day in which I don't hear that clicking sound click click click click that  is until I turn it off so go into the settings and choose display and then sounds and then go  to audio then turn navigation sounds off you're welcome tip number seven manage your channels so  look free TV is everywhere these days thanks to what's known as free ad supported television or  fast and there's a whole bunch of it actually on Fire TV by default or when you start installing  some apps you might even be surprised at how much you already have so you can see here on my Fire  TV that I have four quote unquote live sources there's Prime video there's freey which is owned  by Amazon I also have tub and Fire TV channels and uh if you look at that there that's almost  500 you know channels in air quotes in all now some are good some are not so it's worth taking  a few minutes to either hide the ones you don't want or at least move them up in the list a little  bit tip number eight long press is your friend so there are a whole bunch of different remote  controls for Fire TV devices depending on how long you've had it or which one you get they all pretty  much work the same way right and one of the key buttons is of course the home button that's where  my thumb naturally rests so it's probably the one I use the most and it's got some shortcuts  hidden behind it long press that home button and here's what you get it will let you quickly switch  profiles or you can adjust the ambient experience from here or get to the full device settings or  you can put your Fire TV to sleep or use any of the mirroring options by the way if you have a  settings button on your remote that'll take you to all this too but it's probably one of the things  I use most if I want to just launch the ambient experience and not have to wait for the timer to  kick in I just hold down the home button and go to it right there and I'm done super easy  super useful very cool tip all right so that's it that's eight quick Fire TV tips and tricks  again the top one don't be a cheap skate get the latest Fire TV Stick 4K Max especially if it's on  sale now if you have any tips and tricks that I haven't thought of cuz yeah there's a lot of  stuff out there let me know down in the comments and again be sure to like subscribe notification  bell all that stuff you know what you're doing right yeah and hang on tight we're going to  be back with more videos from Digital Trends real soon that's it see you enjoy your Fire TV\n"