Downloader version 2.0 has been released! It's available now in the Amazon Appstore for Fire TVs and Fire Tablets, and the Google Play Store for Google TV, Android TV, and Android mobile devices. Marking the biggest update yet for streaming devices, version 2.

Amazon has started rolling out its new 2026 Fire TV interface redesign to select Fire TV models and will be rolling it out to many more devices this spring. This is the first major UI update since 2020 and only the third time the Fire TV interface has been overhauled in its 12-year existence.

Amazon has emailed owners of the Fire TV Blaster informing them that their device will stop working in the coming weeks. This Fire TV accessory enabled Fire TV Stick owners to add hands-free voice control to their home theater when paired with an Echo smart speaker.

Last month, Amazon announced plans to identify and blacklist Fire TV apps that provide access to unlicensed or pirated content. Earlier this month, users began seeing warning messages about an upcoming ban when launching these apps.

Amazon revealed last month that it would begin actively removing apps from Fire TV devices that it believes contain unlicensed pirated content. The app blocking process was said to start with a warning message, which has now begun appearing on Fire TVs when a blacklisted app is launched.

Earlier this week, the developer of SmartTube, the most popular alternative YouTube app for Android TV and Fire TV devices, announced that his app's digital signature had been exposed. A new version of the app using a new digital signature has since been released.

With the release of the new Fire TV Stick 4K Select, Amazon has introduced a bit of naming confusion into the Fire TV lineup. Adding Select to the name of an existing product suggests that the Select version is superior to the non-Select version.

Amazon will be revealing new devices in a few days, and at least one new Fire TV model is expected to be among the announcements. Someone at Amazon appears to have jumped the gun a little bit by updating a line that reveals the memory and storage specs of an unreleased Fire TV model.

Rumors have circulated for years that Amazon plans to replace its Android-based Fire TV operating system, Fire OS, with a new in-house Linux-based system called Vega OS. Despite already using Vega OS on a few Echo devices, Amazon has been silent about moving away from Android on Fire TV devices.

Earlier this year, Google announced that the next version of its streaming device operating system, Android TV 16, would be the first to support a 64-bit kernel.

Roku has announced two new streaming devices to replace its two least expensive models. The new Roku Streaming Stick is a 1080p device for $29.99 that replaces the outgoing Roku Express and the Roku Streaming Stick Plus is a 4K version for $39.99 that replaces the Roku Express 4K+.

Amazon has been rumored to be working on a Fire TV model running its in-house Vega OS operating system, instead of its usual Android-based Fire OS, for some time.

Among US households that stream monthly, 59% of Hub survey respondents said they use Roku versus 49% for Samsung’s OS (Tizen).

The ADTH NextGen TV ATSC 3.0 USB Tuner, released last week, allows you to turn Fire TV, Android TV, and Google TV streaming devices, or smart TVs, into over-the-air broadcast receivers for older ATSC 1.0 and new 3.0 channels.

Update v1.5.1 for my Downloader app is now available for Fire TVs and Fire Tablets in the Amazon Appstore and for Google TVs, Android TVs, Android Phones, and Android Tablets in the Google Play Store.

Amazon has announced the launch of its new AI-enhanced voice search for Fire TV devices which promises to make finding personalized TV show and movie recommendations using natural language simple and easy.

Amazon has made a sneaky change to how apps are downloaded on Fire TV devices that is bound to trick some people into unintentionally subscribing to streaming services when all they meant to do was download a free app.

Amazon’s recent streak of unpopular Fire TV changes continues, and its latest change is a doozy. The most recent Fire TV software update has blocked a Fire TV capability that has been present since the original model's release in 2014.

A report last year claimed that Amazon was working on an operating system, called Vega OS, as a replacement for the Android-based operating system it has been using on Echo and Fire TV devices for years.

A report from Janko Roettgers on Lowpass states that Amazon is working on a new in-house operating system, called Vega, as a replacement for its Android-based Fire OS, according to sources.