Here are 19 of the most handy FireStick hacks you’d like to know earlier…
1/18 Download third-party apps with the Downloader app
The Downloader app is the best thing you’ll need when using a FireStick device. This app will allow you to install apps that are not available on the Amazon Store.
With a URL link of that particular app, you can even download an APK. There are tons of FireStick channels and apps that stream free movies and TV shows that can be downloaded through the Downloader app.
- On the FireStick Home menu, click the Search icon
- Type Downloader
- Click on the search result that appears
- Press Download
- Click Open once downloaded
- Enter the URL APK and you’re ready to install any third-party app
2/18 Control your FireStick with the Amazon Fire TV app
Amazon Fire TV is the official app that you can download from Play Store that gives you the ability to browse your FireStick device.
You can use it as a keyboard and voice search. It serves as a replacement remote for your original Fire TV Stick remote. If you lost your remote and couldn’t find it, you’ll probably want to download it now.
- Open Play Store on your Android phone
- Find Amazon Fire TV Remote
- Click Download
- Open the app once installed
- Click Set up fire tv recast
3/18 Mirror Your Android/iOS Phone and Windows/Mac Computer to FireStick
There is an app called Air Screen on Amazon App Store that mirrors the screen of your Android, Mac, iPhone, and Windows computers.
This FireStick hack is useful when you want to view something from these devices on the Amazon Fire TV Stick device.
Let’s see how to install this app:
- Open FireStick Home
- Go to the search option in the top menu
- Type‘Air Screen’ and click on the search result that appears
- Just click on the app that appears on your Fire Stick screen below
- Click Get or Download
- Open the app once downloaded
- From the app menu, click Help and select the desired device you want to connect
4/18 Hide your IP address for secure and private streaming
If you don’t want someone to see what you’re streaming on a FireStick device, you’d better get a virtual private network.
A VPN will hide your original IP address and protect your internet traffic at all times. Our best recommended VPN that works with FireStick such as Surfshark. Get surfShark’s free trial here. To install a VPN, follow these steps:
- Go to the Search option
- Type Surfshark
- Click on the result
- Press the download button
- Open the app
- Enter the username and password
- Connect to any country server
- Start streaming anything privately
Read: How to Install and Use Surfshark on FireStick
5/18 Make the Fire TV Stick device an entertainment multimedia hub
If you don’t like spending a lot on cable and want to upgrade to a free way to watch movies and TV shows, you need to install the Cinema HD or BeeTV app on your FireStick. They both offer recent movies that are even available in movie theaters.
It will stream HD content with limited or no buffering. We have provided their installation method in our guide.
6/18 Stop AutoPlaying Amazon Prime Videos on Fire TV Stick Home
On your FireStick Home, you must have seen Prime Video ads that appear at the top. Every time you hover over it, it starts playing the trailer.
Whenever you’re still running, it becomes a pretty frustrating task. To prevent the video itself from playing automatically, do this as follows:
- Go to Settings
- Click Preferences
- Select Featured Content
- Turn off Allow video autoplay and allow audio autoplay
7/18 How to change date and time on FireStick
Even though it’s not a big deal to know the date and time on your FireStick device, but in any case, if you need to keep track of the time on your device, you need to do this:
- Go to Settings
- Click Preferences
- Select the time zone
- Select your region and it will automatically set your current time and date
8/18 How to Turn Off Click Sound on Fire TV Stick
Clicking on your FireStick device feels great during the day, but at night, when you don’t want someone to wake up, it can seem a bit frustrating.
To turn off the Sound of the FireStick screen, simply follow these instructions:
- Go to Settings
- Then click on View and Sound
- Select Audio
- Turn off Navigation sounds
9/18 Use a Bluetooth device on FireStick
This FireStick trick is pretty obvious, but many people don’t know how to use it or don’t use it. With this hack, you can connect to wireless headphones, wireless keyboards, game controllers, etc.
If someone in the room is bothered by the volume, then connecting with wireless headphones is a good choice.
- Go to Settings
- Go to Bluetooth Controllers & Settings
- Click More Bluetooth Devices
- Add your device
10/18 Easy Jailbreak from Fire TV Stick
Most people assume that jailbreaking a FireStick device is a hectic thing. Many websites have made millions selling a FireStick Jailbreak that has tons of apps already installed. Believe me, it’s not a big thing!
You just need to disable the app from unknown sources so that you can install third-party apps. Here’s how:
- Open FireStick Home
- Go to Settings
- Click My Fire TV or Device
- Select the developer option
- Now, disable apps from unknown sources
Once done, you can easily install some of the best FireStick apps with easy.
11/18 Customize the screensaver on Fire TV Stick
This FireStick hack is pretty easy to do, but of course, we never knew about it before. Typically, after 2 minutes of inactivity, FireStick will start displaying a screensaver that contains random images.
You can add your own family pictures or custom photos to improve the look of your Fire TV Stick device a bit.
Here’s how:
- First, you need to install the Amazon Photos app on your mobile phone (from the Play Store)
- Sign in with your Amazon account
- Click Back up photos and videos from the app (up to 5GB of storage is free)
- Once done, open your FireStick Home and go to the Amazon Photos app (built into FireStick)
- From the top menu of this app, go to Folders
- You will find your photos available in this folder click on that
- Click on any image and press the 3-line horizontal button on your FireStick remote
- Select ‘Set as screensaver’
12/18 Add a USB port to your FireStick device
This FireStick hack works for those who want to connect a USB port or hard drive to their FireStick device. By default, your FireStick has a small plug on it for power. You will have two options. You can get a cable or adapter.
The adapter has a USB port where you can connect a USB flash drive, hard drives or SD card. The good thing is that it doesn’t have suspended wires like we have it in a cable.
If you want to access your FireStick’s USB or hard drive files, you’ll need an ES File Explorer app that’s readily available on the Amazon App Store.
13/18 Check how much storage you have left on FireStick
This is one of the basic FireStick tips that people don’t normally know. If you know how much storage you have left, you can probably delete some old items before downloading anything new.
This hack will also help your device run faster and easier. Follow these steps to check how much storage space you have left.
- Go to Settings
- Click My Fire TV
- Click About
- Then select Storage
- On the right side, you will see the actual storage
14/18 Use ‘Magnifier’ to enlarge images or words
If you find words that are difficult to read or need to zoom in on an image, you’ll need a magnifier built into your Fire TV Stick.
This happens mainly when you browse the Internet and can’t read certain words. For this, you need to do the following.
- Click Settings
- Go to Accessibility
- Activate Screen magnifier
- A menu will appear that will give you instructions on how to zoom in and out on the content
15/18 Close the apps you use
Whenever you try to close the app on FireStick, you should normally click the Home button on the remote that will take you to FireStick Home.
But what we don’t know is that the app is still running and slows down the speed of your device. There’s no obvious way to close these apps, you probably won’t know, but there is a way. Follow these steps.
- Go to Settings
- Then Applications
- Click Manage installed apps
- From there, choose the app you want to close
- Then select Force Stop
16/18 Browse the Internet on your FireStick
It is also one of the obvious FireStick hacks that you can use to browse the internet on your device. The most effective and integrated browser you can download is the Silk Browser.
Here’s how you can download this browser:
- Go to the search bar
- Type Silk Browser
- The result will appear, so click on the Internet
- Download and open the app
- A bar will appear where you can search the website
17/18 Run updates for your FireStick
Amazon releases software updates that you can easily download to your FireStick device. You may be struggling with an issue that can only be fixed with the new Amazon update.
To do this, you need to follow a few basic steps or you can check out our guide on how to update FireStick.
- Click Settings
- Go to My Fire TV
- Select About
- Then click Check for Updates
- You will know the current version and the latest version
- If its writing‘You Fire TV is up to date’, you don’t need to update your device.
18/18 Check if your FireStick Remote batteries are dying
If you are curious about the power of your batteries remotely, you should follow these steps:
- Go to Settings on your FireStick device
- Click Bluetooth Controllers and Devices
- Select Amazon Fire TV Remotes Now
- On the right side, you can see the strength of your battery
19/18 Prevent Amazon from tracking your activity
Your Amazon FireStick device continuously monitors your activity and everything you do on the device. Even if you get a VPN, the device will constantly track your activity if you don’t turn off its privacy settings.
These settings are enabled by default. You must do the following:
- Open FireStick Home > go to Settings
- Click Preferences
- Select Privacy Settings
- Disable 3 settings, i.e.
- Device usage data
- Collect app usage data
- Interest-based ads