Amazon has announced a huge change to the interface of its Fire Sticks as the crackdown on illegal streamers continues.
Fresh measures to tackle illegal streaming are underway, with users unable to open certain apps without receiving an alert.
"Warning. One or more apps on your device have been identified as using or providing access to unlicensed content, including this app, and will be disabled. To remove this app now, select ‘Uninstall’,” the message reads.
YouTuber unboxd.tech said this process was 'stage one' and that many users can still access the app. However, she warns that 'stage two is the full block. The app won't launch at all'.
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"Now, we don't know the exact length of the window between stage one and stage two. It appears to be a rolling program and timing can vary by device, region, and app," the content creator added.
For people who managed to bypass the warning and kept watching, they should 'expect it to stop launching at some point'.
And this month, Amazon has announced their new-look user interface (UI), which is designed to 'be cleaner, faster, and better organised'.
The UI is supposed to make it easier to select what you want to search for and watch.
"We’ve seen recent research from Gracenote that customers in the US spend 12 minutes on average searching for what to watch, up from 10.5 minutes in 2023. We designed the new Fire TV experience to help cut down on that time," Amazon explained.
"The team rebuilt the underlying code to make the experience faster. In some cases, we’re seeing up to 20–30 per cent gains in speed when using the new UI."
They noted that 'all of these improvements will be available to customers with a free software update'.
As well as the Fire TV mobile app getting 'a glow up', the company also unveiled its new Amazon Ember Artline.
The 4K QLED TV has Dolby Vision, HDR10+, Wi-Fi 6, all in a thin 1.5-inch design.
"It has a matte screen designed to make your art and photos look great and to reduce glare in any lighting condition," Amazon said.
It also 'comes with far-field microphones so you can naturally talk with Alexa+, and Omnisense technology that automatically turns the Ambient Experience on and off when people enter or leave the room'.
There are 10 adjustable and magnetic frames to choose from in different colours.
The Fire TV UI and mobile app will launch in February, while the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen), and Fire TV Omni Mini-LED Series are set to come out in spring.
According to T3.com, the last Fire TV Stick update was in 2021.
Topics: Amazon, TV and Film, Netflix
Anish Vij