I’ve been toying with Amazon’s Fire TV ever since the company released the set-top box last week, and I’ve been impressed by the speed and snappiness of the device, and drawn in by games that I didn’t think would matter much for me. But there are still a few things that are missing to make this a great device. Amazon is working on addressing some of these issues, but it chose not to pursue others – which I think is a mistake.
Here’s five things that could be improved about the Fire TV:
A new Netflix app
Netflix launched a whole new user interface last November, featuring bigger preview pictures, new cues to help you decide what to watch next, a better search experience and more.
Netflix launched this new user interface almost half a year ago – but on the new Fire TV, users still get the old UI.
The company actually spent a long time refining this experience with eye-tracking, A/B-tests and more. The new user interface is now available on newer Roku devices, the Xbox 360, the PS3 and PS4 as well as various smart TVs — but not on the Fire TV, which is a shame. I’ve asked Amazon when they intend to switch over to the new UI, but have yet to hear back.
Local file playback
Online video services are great — but every now and then, you end up with a video on your hard drive that you just want to quickly play in your TV, without jumping through tons of hoops. One of the easiest ways to do this on many devices is to simply copy the file to a Flash thumb drive, plug it in and watch away. Not so on the Fire TV. The device does have a USB port, but local file playback currently isn’t supported, and I’ve been told by Amazon folks that it’s instead being used for accessories as well as developer support.
The Fire TV has a USB port – but you will not be able to use it for local file playback. (Image: Amazon)
Customers are instead advised to upload local media to the Amazon Cloud Drive. Of course, there is also Plex, which is great if you have a lot of media to share over your home network. But still, a simple file player app with access to the USB port, or possibly even networked hard drives, would definitely improve the experience, especially for less technical users.
Third-party app installs
Amazon made a big deal out of calling Fire TV open when it launched the device earlier this month in New York. That may be true for developers, but for consumers? Not so much. That’s because Amazon decided to get rid of a key feature when it forked Google’s Android operating system to tweak it for the big screen: Android allows users by default to install third-party apps while the Fire TV does not.
Got an Android app that’s not from Google Play? Just change a security setting and you’re free to do whatever you wish with it. The same is possible on the Kindle Fire, but not on the Fire TV. “We want to make sure that any games or services on Fire TV offer a great customer experience for a TV,” an Amazon spokesperson told me via email, which is why the company doesn’t enable third-party app installs.
I’ve been toying with Amazon’s Fire TV ever since the company released the set-top box last week, and I’ve been impressed by the speed and snappiness of the device, and drawn in by games that I didn’t think would matter much for me. But there are still a few things that are missing to make this a great device. Amazon is working on addressing some of these issues, but it chose not to pursue others – which I think is a mistake.
Here’s five things that could be improved about the Fire TV:
A new Netflix app
Netflix launched a whole new user interface last November, featuring bigger preview pictures, new cues to help you decide what to watch next, a better search experience and more.
Netflix launched this new user interface almost half a year ago – but on the new Fire TV, users still get the old UI.
The company actually spent a long time refining this experience with eye-tracking, A/B-tests and more. The new user interface is now available on newer Roku devices, the Xbox 360, the PS3 and PS4 as well as various smart TVs — but not on the Fire TV, which is a shame. I’ve asked Amazon when they intend to switch over to the new UI, but have yet to hear back.
Local file playback
Online video services are great — but every now and then, you end up with a video on your hard drive that you just want to quickly play in your TV, without jumping through tons of hoops. One of the easiest ways to do this on many devices is to simply copy the file to a Flash thumb drive, plug it in and watch away. Not so on the Fire TV. The device does have a USB port, but local file playback currently isn’t supported, and I’ve been told by Amazon folks that it’s instead being used for accessories as well as developer support.
The Fire TV has a USB port – but you will not be able to use it for local file playback. (Image: Amazon)
Customers are instead advised to upload local media to the Amazon Cloud Drive. Of course, there is also Plex, which is great if you have a lot of media to share over your home network. But still, a simple file player app with access to the USB port, or possibly even networked hard drives, would definitely improve the experience, especially for less technical users.
Third-party app installs
Amazon made a big deal out of calling Fire TV open when it launched the device earlier this month in New York. That may be true for developers, but for consumers? Not so much. That’s because Amazon decided to get rid of a key feature when it forked Google’s Android operating system to tweak it for the big screen: Android allows users by default to install third-party apps while the Fire TV does not.
Got an Android app that’s not from Google Play? Just change a security setting and you’re free to do whatever you wish with it. The same is possible on the Kindle Fire, but not on the Fire TV. “We want to make sure that any games or services on Fire TV offer a great customer experience for a TV,” an Amazon spokesperson told me via email, which is why the company doesn’t enable third-party app installs.
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