How to get the most out of the Amazon Fire TV (unrooted)

Today, you can get the Amazon Fire TV for 69€ (in Germany).

Enough reason for me to summarise how this device single-handedly can be the solution to living room media center woes. (Well, at least it made my life a lot easier.)

1. Install 3rd party applications

The Amazon App Shop offers just a small fraction of Android apps (although sometimes with a huge discount). Because of the Android roots, you can install every .APK (Android file extension) that’s available. Just download with Raccoon and isntall via AGK Fire (for Android smartphones) and adbFire (for desktops). Unfortunately not everything works due to compatibility and Google Play Services restrictions. Here is a comprehensive compatibility list.

Magine and Kinocast are wonderful examples that need to develop a TV-optimized Version of their app.

2. Use Kodi

One of the must-haves is certainly Kodi (formerly known as XBMC). Kodi is too packed with features for this short summary, so take your time and google the details. I use Kodi to (live-)stream content via several Plug-Ins. For beginners there’s a custom build with a lot of Plug-Ins pre-configured.

3. Use other Input methods

In addition to the nifty remote and its surprisingly well working voice recognition I recommend this keyboard/touchpad combi. If you’re into games (the selection isn’t great, but growing) I would order the OUYA controller with the benefit of having also a mouse-equivalent.

4. Use Google Music or Spotify for music streaming

After some amount of tweaking I got the Google Music to run properly, a huge win, because I have my music library now on the big screen. For Spotify free tier users: You can’t use the App Shop Version, but you can install the smartphone Version, which works fine with a mouse.

5. Use ES File Explorer for movie streaming

This “simple” file explorer has the option to connect to several cloud storage providers and/or your local network drives. No need for the expensive Plex Pass here.

6. Use a USB hub and USB stick

What needs to be fixed in FTV2? The internal storage is not enough. Thankfully, almost all USB sticks work as external storage. Now that big FIFA15 game can be installed easily.

7. Install FireStarter

Before FireStarter I had to dig deep in the settings menu to launch a 3rd Party application. Now I have it configured to launch in the FireStarter menu with a double-click on the home button.

8. Stream from your smartphone

There are apps to emulate AirPlay and Google Chromecast. I can recommend AirPin for iOS devices (despite it’s not as good as streaming to an Apple TV).

As the title suggests, there is even more you can do if you root your device. But for a lot of people (including me) this isn’t an Option. Amazons OTA updates happen often and you don’t get to choose.