{"id":1235035,"date":"2025-02-26T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1235035"},"modified":"2025-02-26T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T13:00:00","slug":"nine-worthwhile-fire-tv-stick-apps-you-should-try","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1235035","title":{"rendered":"Nine Worthwhile Fire TV Stick Apps You Should Try"},"content":{"rendered":"
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However you watch your Fire TV Stick, you probably have the same assortment of apps as most people: Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, Disney+, the list goes on. But there are some useful apps beyond the mainstream you should definitely consider using. And, because Amazon Fire TV Stick is ultimately an Android device, you can even run specialized Android apps on it to truly unlock the power of this small little streaming device.<\/p>\n

Downloader<\/h2>\n
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\n \"Downloader\n <\/div>\n
\n <\/span>
\n Credit: Amazon<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Underneath Fire TV OS lies Android, which means your Fire TV Stick is capable of running any verified Android APK<\/a>. But to get there, you’ll need to do two things. First, enable developer access (I have a guide on that here<\/a>), then download Downloader<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Downloader can help you download any app using its built-in browser. You can navigate to any trusted APK site, like APK Mirror or apps hosted on Github, to directly download APKs to your Fire TV Stick.<\/p>\n

Kodi<\/h2>\n
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\n \"kodi\n <\/div>\n
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\n Credit: Khamosh Pathak<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Kodi<\/a> is an all-in-one media center, and it’s immensely customizable. It’s free, open source, and its library of plugins enable features like live TV and cloud syncing. You can use Kodi to stream movies and TV shows from your own home server, or use the integrated plugins to stream free content online.<\/p>\n

Kodi isn’t officially available on the Amazon Appstore, but it’s quite easy to install the Kodi app using the APK. I have a detailed guide<\/a> on how you can use Downloader to install and setup Kodi.<\/p>\n

If Kodi seems like a lot, I recommend you look into Plex and Jellyfin. Plex<\/a> is a mainstream media center. It’s really well designed, but a lot of its cross-device features are behind a paywall. Jellyfin<\/a>, on the other hand, is completely free and open source, and while the interface is basic, it’s fast and feature rich.<\/p>\n

VLC<\/h2>\n
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\n \"VLC\n <\/div>\n
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\n Credit: Amazon<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Even though I prefer to use IINA on the Mac<\/a>, VLC<\/a> is an undeniable classic. VLC is a video app that will play anything you throw at it, and that’s true even for VLC for Fire TV Stick. The app will stream content online, or play locally hosted media. VLC will even download subtitles<\/a>, and sync them up for you.<\/p>\n

SmartTube<\/h2>\n
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\n \"SmartTube\n <\/div>\n
\n <\/span>
\n Credit: SmartTube<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

SmartTube<\/a> is one of the few ad-free third-party YouTube clients<\/a> available on Fire TV Stick. (NewPipe<\/a> is a great option for Android smartphones). Like Kodi, SmartTube is not in the Amazon Appstore, so you’ll have to download it using Downloader. That said, it is hosted on Github, and the app is open source, so it can be checked for security issues.<\/p>\n

SmartTube is 100% ad-free, and even integrates SponsorBlock<\/a> to automatically skip over sponsored sections of videos. It supports 4K and HDR content, customizable buttons, and live chat, but the app doesn’t support voice search.<\/p>\n

AirScreen<\/h2>\n
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\n \"AirScreen\n <\/div>\n
\n <\/span>
\n Credit: Amazon<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

AirScreen<\/a> adds AirPlay<\/a> to your TV, without the need to buy an expensive Apple TV. The AirScreen app can turn the Fire TV Stick into a wireless display receiver for many platforms like AirPlay, Miracast, and even Chromecast, so you can share your screen from your iPhone, Mac, or Android phone. <\/p>\n

ProtonVPN<\/h2>\n

If you’re looking for a private and secure VPN app, I recommend Mullvad VPN<\/a> for it’s simple pricing (and the fact you don’t need an account to use it). Mullvad VPN isn’t on the Amazon Appstore (though you can always use Download to install the Android version<\/a>). If you want a VPN designed for Fire TV Stick, I recommend Proton VPN<\/a>. It has a generous free plan (no data cap, but limited to three servers, and one connection per account), and a paid upgrade if you need more, like streaming content from other countries in 4K.<\/p>\n

Tubi<\/h2>\n
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\n \"Tubi\n <\/div>\n
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\n Credit: Amazon<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Tubi<\/a> offers a little of everything, including movies, TV shows, and live TV. There’s a huge catalog of content, with over 50,000 movies and TV shows. The upside is the app is completely free to use. The only downside is, of course, ads.<\/p>\n

If you don’t mind sitting through the ads, though, it’s a great way to access some free entertainment. Lifehacker sibling site PCMag loved Tubi in its full review of the service<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Roku Channel<\/h2>\n
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\n \"The\n <\/div>\n
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\n Credit: Amazon<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

You don’t need a Roku device to enjoy The Roku Channel<\/a>. The Fire TV Stick version offers a vast library of free to watch movies and TV shows, even if it’s not all the latest and the greatest content on the market. You also have access to live TV, live sports, kids shows, news, and more. Plus, it’s actually quite easy to use as well\u2014given it’s a Roku app.<\/p>\n

Airy TV<\/h2>\n
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\n \"Airy\n <\/div>\n
\n <\/span>
\n Credit: Amazon<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Airy TV<\/a> is yet another free TV channels app, especially useful if you don’t want to spend money on services like YouTube TV. It’s completely free, and doesn’t even require you to sign up for an account. Boot up the app, and you’re streaming live TV. Of course, you have to sit through ads, but that’s standard for apps like this. Airy TV has a good collection of channels for streaming movies, TV shows, and even live sports\u2014including MMA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

However you watch your Fire TV Stick, you probably have the same assortment of apps as most people: Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, Disney+, the list goes on. But there are some useful apps beyond the mainstream you should definitely consider … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91,110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1235035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifehacker","category-unfiltered-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1235035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1235035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1235035\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1235035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1235035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1235035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}