The Fire TV and Fire Stick are powerful streaming players and with these tips you can get even more out of them.
Here are my top six tips for Fire device owners.
#1 Turn Off Auto-Playing Videos & Audio
We all hate that video that plays at the top of your Fire TV when you go to the Home screen. It’s typically an ad promoting some Amazon show or movie. The good news is Amazon lets you turn that off by going to Settings > Preferences > Featured Content. There you will find an option to turn off the Video Auto-Play option.
Sadly, this won’t stop the new auto-play ads when you start your Fire TV.
#2 Stop Targeted Advertising
Amazon lets you ask them to stop targeting ads to you. Go to Settings > Preferences > Privacy Settings to turn off Internet-based ads.
#3 Fire TV App
Amazon has a powerful app for Android, Fire tablets, and iOS. This app will let you control your Fire TV from your phone or tablet. (Perfect for when you can’t find the Fire TV remote.)
The best part about having the Fire TV app? You can use your phone’s keyboard to type in passwords and usernames instead of trying to use the onscreen keyboard.
#4 Name Your Devices
The Fire TV and Fire Stick let you cast content to your TV from mobile devices and computers; however, if you don’t know what device is in the bedroom or in the living room you may accidentally send it to the wrong player.
So, take a few minutes to name your devices to avoid that mistake.
From a computer, go to your Amazon account, then to the Manage Your Content and Devices page, and to the Your Devices tab. You may at this point be asked to sign in to Amazon once more to verify your identity. You can then click on any device to change its name.
#5 Parental Controls
With the Fire TV you can limit kids’ access to Amazon movies and TV shows by ratings through the app by going to Settings > Preferences > Parental Controls. There you can set a pin and limit access to movies and TV shows by rating.
#6 Delete Voice Recordings
Did you know Amazon saves all your voice searches? Fortunately, it also lets you delete them. Go to your Amazon account, then to the Manage Your Content and Devices Page. From the Devices tab, select Manage Voice Recordings, then click Delete.
Do you have a pro tip for Fire TV device owners? Post it in the comments and let everyone know about it.