FireTV Stick update.

[Satcat]

Amazon have done an update on firestick today and Firestarter has disappeared. I have tried to reload it with adbfire, but with no luck.
I find the easiest way to fire up kodi now is via "my apps" (long press on home button), which wasn't there before.

[voyager1972]

just checked for update,,,,none available.....last update i got was 21 jan 2016
os version 5.0.5

[maurice]

@Satcat, what version are you on now please?

[Satcat]

just checked for update,,,,none available.....last update i got was 21 jan 2016
os version 5.0.5

5.0.5.1 (537175520) installed 4th April 2016

[SteveR]

Same here Satcat,Firestarter has disappeared.

[voyager1972]

just checked again still no update,,,,i store my apps on a nas ,and use es file explorer on the firestick to install,,,,

[Sandra]

Looks like if you do update, as I just did, to check it then you lose Firestarter and even if you download and try and install it again directly or download to your computer and send it to your box or stick using adbfire then it will not install.

It would not be as bad if there was a way of reorganising the home screen so that there was a shortcut t KODI where the search is or if the apps was at the top of the list as there is no way to tell it to start with KODO or the Apps Drawer now so it always has to start on the home screen then scroll down to apps and then select KODI from there. You d not even seem able to re arrange the apps as they appear to be fixed in alphabetical order now :(

[Satcat]

Amazon Updates Fire TV Devices With Quicker App Access
April 4, 2016 - Written By Justin Diaz
If you own an Amazon Fire TV device, whether that be the Fire TV or the Fire TV stick, Amazon is updating the software on both to version 5.0.5.1 which brings in a focus on giving users quicker access to applications. Also in this latest software update, it seems Amazon has been aware of the amount of sideloaded apps that users have been putting onto their devices and wants to make the experience of finding them that much easier than it apparently has been prior to this update. While sideloading apps may be easy for some but difficult for others, it sounds as if finding them on the device is not as simple as navigating through the apps which are downloaded straight from the app store on either product.

Essentially, getting to all of your applications can now be done through a simple double tap of the home button on the Fire TV or Fire TV Stick remote. With the most recent software update Amazon has initiated this as a quick shortcut, however you can still go about accessing all of your installed applications through the standard method that has always been available. This is of course does not go for the third-party apps which have been sideloaded onto the device.

The good news is that as mentioned above, the software update that Amazon is now pushing out to those devices includes a new and much easier way of finding the apps which users hae manualy installed from other outside sources. If you enter into the recent apps menu, there should be a new visible option for “manually installed applications.” You may not have a lot of third-party apps which have been sideloaded, but all that could be all the more reason why getting to sideloaded apps in a simpler way is such a nice inclusion for many users, as they only have one and getting to it prior to this update could always have been a hassle. Since Amazon is currently rolling the software update out as of today, various users likely already have it, but if it hasn’t shown up on your device yet, not to worry, as it shouldn’t be long before you get the notification to install it.

[maurice]

Can you refuse the update!!!!!

[SteveR]

Yes , Can the updates be disabled? Is there a way to turn off any future updates...

[NUFC12]

Yes , Can the updates be disabled? Is there a way to turn off any future updates...

Updates can be disabled by connecting to stick via adb and send cmd line 'adb shell pm hide com.amazon.device.software.ota'

[Satcat]

Can anyone confirm that adbfire is still working after new amazon update.
It dosen't seem to be for me.

[apollo]

i read that you can reinstal it but once you reboot the app again becomes inaccessible.
looks like a fix is being looked at but that may or may not happen

[cannydo]

I've been working the whole day on my m8s stick and had to do a factory reset before Adbfire would work. Also as luck would have it my own Firestick just arrived today and I have not checked which version is on it but adbfire worked no problem on that.

[voyager1972]

still no update here,,,,,,try this,,, "extract first"

[Satcat]

I think the way forward is using ES file explorer.

[maurice]

After the last (before yesterday ) update I could not get ES to load Sandra advised to use firestarter this worked for me
but now I see that's "Gone".
Satcat have got ES to load???

[Satcat]

ES is available on amazon. just go to "search" and type "es fi" then highlight that and it should appear. Then just load it.

[Sandra]

I downloaded "Firestopper" from here last night :

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=66215906&postcount=592

The .apk came down as a zip but I renamed it to .apk and used adbfire to install it on my Fire TV Box.

It now shows up as Firestarter in the apps list and I have set it so that when I switch on it runs Kodi and a single button press brings up the Firestarter screen.
I can not get the double click to work but I did not have much time to play around with it last night.

Starting up with Kodi and a single click to get to the familiar Firestarter screen looks as easy to use as it was with the single and double click setup with the original Firestarter setup.

It does say that it may only be a temporary fix as Amazon could mess that up at any time they wish to but for now it seems to work fine :)

I have not tried it on a clean install on a stick or box yet but as it has the same Firestarter screen as previously with the update and settings down the left hand side then I assume that it will install Kodi, if it is not already on by simply clicking on Update Kodi, as Firestarter could do before which is quicker and easier than using the ES method.

Thanks go to sphinx02, whoever he or she is for coming up with this fix :applause-003:

:seeya:

[BillyBits]

The easiest ways to put apps on the Fire TV Stick is to use an Android tablet or phone.

1:
On the stick start ES File Manager and run Network - Remote Manager and Turn On.
On your tablet/phone start ES File Manager and then Network - FTP and add a server using the address as displayed on the device. i.e. 192.168.0.6 and port 3721 and any user name.
This allows ES File Manager to copy/paste/move etc between devices.
2:
On the tablet/phone use Apps2Fire. Setup using the IP address of the stick. You can install anything you have on the tablet/phone.
3:
Use Wukong remote. Again setup the IP of your stick. You have lots of options to be a mouse or remotely start apps or install apps.

Hope this helps someone.

BillyBits

[Satcat]

There is also a way to do it without the need of a computer, tablet or phone. Just use ES File Manager to download and install it.

[voyager1972]

Finally got the update,,,,I've tried amo starter,,,,,,,which had limited results,,,,,,,I set it to open kodi on device startup which works fine,but single and double click does not work,,hopefully there will soon be a fix.

[Sandra]

Amostarter didn't seem to work at all for me but Firestopper did so have a look at post no 19 in this thread on the previous page and I think you will find that will work fine for you now.