I have a Fire TV 4K. When I used to switch it on, right up until a few weeks ago, it would show a half-screen banner ad, and the "Home" icon on the row below would be selected by default. I would simply press the right button on the remote a few times to reach the app I wanted (usually Nebula).
Since a few weeks ago, they silently changed the default focus to the ad banner carousel! Now when I press the right button (because of muscle memory) it switches between the ads! So ridiculous and outright user-hostile!
Set it to Store Mode and it'll become very close to a classic display panel. You can't use streaming apps, it just lets you change HDMI inputs, volume, and picture settings, but that's a feature for me. Plus no spying.
Oh I meant the Fire TV 4K streaming stick, not their actual Fire TVs. Their naming has become really confusing. They used to call the previous ones Fire TV Sticks, but I think they dropped the "Stick" from the name in the recent versions.
Although I should look into the Store Mode setting for the Samsung TV which is connected to the Fire TV. Thanks for the suggestion!
Ok, I thought it might just be me. I have a FireTV Cube attached to my old plasma TV and I recently changed the "Ad Personalization" settings for it. When the full screen ads for "Monday Night Football" started appearing I thought it was something I did.
We have an Apple TV upstairs and I'm replacing the FireTV Cube next week with an Apple 4K+ unit. The FireTV Cube was supposed to be Amazon's premier video streaming device, but it's still not Matter certified and probably never will be. The Apple unit (with Ethernet) has Thread capability and should be future proofed.
On the other hand I watched an old DVD the other day, took 3 minutes from putting it in to the film started with various unskippable "features", warnings, accusations of me pirating it, etc.
Moral of the story -- torrents give the best service.
I have an Apple TV as well, and here are some things that really annoy me. First of all, the useless button on the side of the remote that I press by accident ALL THE TIME. Putting a button on the side of the remote where you grab it to pick it up is such a smooth brained idea. Second, Apple TV can NOT output uncompressed audio for whatever magical reason. I would prefer to have my amplifier process the audio, but it's not possible. Third, I had to buy the more expensive model to get an Ethernet port. Very silly.
You can connect multiple AirPods to it so that you can quietly watch TV without disturbing others (which is particularly useful when you have young children.
I have a Fire TV and I just bought an Apple TV to be my smart-tv interface. It's amazing what a difference it makes. The Apple TV's interface isn't laggy. I guess that's what happens when you get a 10x faster processor. The interface isn't chock full of ads. Some might quibble that Apple does have some previews, but it just isn't the same at all.
With the Fire TV, getting to my apps was such a pain. With the Apple TV, they're right there. There aren't horrible dark UI patterns distracting me from my stuff. Literally, Fire TV would have suggested apps on my main screen that I already have installed. I'd click on it, it'd bring me to the app store, and from there I could launch it.
My Fire TV would launch with a full-screen ad and I'd have to press down to even see the UI. So I power on my TV and see a JCPenny Black Friday ad. Ugh. I scroll down and there's "continue watching," but only from Amazon Prime. Then there's a full row Starz ad. Then "up next for you," but most of the shows there I haven't heard of. Then recently used apps. Then some "guide and on now" garbage for apps I don't have. Then "Netflix recommends" which isn't based on what I've been watching from what I can ascertain. Then "subscription deals" where they try and push all sorts of subscriptions. Then "holiday deals on devices" to push Amazon stuff. Then more and more content that I don't subscribe to - presumably so that I'll start paying for more subscriptions. More recommended apps, recommended things to rent or buy, etc. And everything is constantly auto-playing!
Yea, Apple TV has a preview, but the sound is off and it just goes away if I touch anything. Plus, I can just go into settings and replace it with "Up Next" which shows things I've been watching for apps that support it. It's a nigh-and-day different experience. It feels so calm by comparison. The Fire TV is just distractions everywhere while the Apple TV doesn't feel like that.
It's possible, but right now it doesn't show me ads. I turn on the power and it goes to the last input.
I doubt that it will happen because I don't think enough people will buy Apple TVs and because I think adulterating an external input might be a bridge too far. It would be hard to integrate that into the experience without feeling really jarring.
I guess the problem I have with your comment is that it's the type of thing you could say about anything. Apple could decide to change the Apple TV interface to be 90% ads. Amazon could decide to disable HDMI ports on the TVs. Amazon could decide to stop making the Prime Video app for platforms that aren't Fire TVs. All streaming apps could decide that streaming is BS and go back to physical media. Net neutrality could go away and ISPs could mandate insecure connections where they could inject ads into stuff. The comment feels like the equivalent of "you can't prove god doesn't exist!"
Your comment isn't wrong, but it's also kinda useless. A person can buy an Apple TV today and enjoy its experience. Yes, that might change in the future. Our world is always changing and nothing you purchase will be good forever. However, from a practical standpoint, the Apple TV is offering a wonderful experience today and likely will for years to come. If I listen to your comment, why do anything because someone could come along and make it crap?
> This will almost certainly become a reality when a sufficient #users buy an Apple TV, through a remotely activated update.
Apple's business model is incompatible with that user experience. First, Apple already makes a profit on the devices themselves. Second, there's a healthy attach rate for additional Apple devices and services for people who have a positive experience with Apple TV.
Looks like I'm switching to an Apple TV then if there is no way around this. I'm now kicking myself for recommending Fire TV to my parents as well years ago when they decided to cut cable.
Huge price difference between Apple TV and Fire TV (or Google TV). Amazon and Google are eating Apple’s lunch when it comes to the living room hardware.
I just bought a new Apple TV and I love that thing. The quality is so much nicer, the remote control feels great, you get Dolby Vision, and no ads anywhere in the main app. It's my third one, they tend to last a long time IMHO, you get what you pay for.
I'm in the same boat with my in-laws. I even went so far as to set them up with a FireTV Recast box to DVR OTA broadcasts. Only later did I find out that Amazon had canceled the Recast program.
Yeah I thought the system was supposed to be that businesses were incentivized to treat customers well or customers would stop buying their stuff and buy stuff from someone that treats them better. Seems just like we keep lining up for the abuse since there's not a lot of other options not doing the same nasty behavior, and what are we supposed to do - not buy TVs? What would we sit and stare at? ;)
I think people regularly trade quality for cheaper stuff. It's not exactly on the box that they have dark ui patterns too. It's also a moving target, they'll just creep the ads in until people start leaving
It just slowly gets worse over time. If it was a big drop in quality, it might—but Amazon knows just the right speed to make things worse, to maximize how bad their services get while minimizing consumer complaints.
There was an experiment for a while of placing ads on the floor of supermarkets so shoppers would see them while walking through the store. I suspect it was maintenance issues/cost rather than customer complaints that caused them to go away. Any advertising delivery medium with a low enough cost will be exploited.
I’m surprised there isn’t a price cut Apple TV “stick”. Drop game support, low local storage, no Ethernet port, but leave 4K support. 4K support lets them charge the magic 2-digit HomePod mini price point of 99$ under the guise of “same video quality as the 130$ one”.
That would juuuuust crossover into the “good enough” zone for me, considering how clean apple tvOS is.
> I’m surprised there isn’t a price cut Apple TV “stick”. (a $99 price point) would juuuuust crossover into the “good enough” zone for me,
Is that $30 really make-or-break for you?
Apple TV's entry model is already only $129.00 USD, and the hardware is really really nice. Easily the fastest and most fluid interface of any "TV Stick" I've used (nicer than any Chromecast / Roku / Fire TV stick, nicer than any built-in smart stuff from LG/Samsung/Vizio), while also having the least amount of advertisements of anything you can buy.
I don't love Apple's high premium pricing on a lot of their products. But the Apple TV doesn't really have that, it's competitively priced with alternatives (a base Apple TV is only like $30 more than the equivalent Fire TV Cube, and only $5 more than the nVidia Shield TV)
Apple still grades their AppleTV boxes by local storage amounts. For 128GB it’s 150$. IMO that sort of weirdness positions it just a little too far from a chromecast/roku/fire stick for the average person wanting to escape their smart TV garbage OS. The 64GB box is still 130$, and people might not even understand why they need any disk space at all. (I don’t use much of my Apple TV’s 64GB) The fire stick at 40$ looks pretty good in that light. Why pay more?
It would just sell better at 99$ IMO, and there’s obvious things to cut to create apple’s usual “price ladder”. I’m not using the games, nor am I using more than 8GB of storage.
We made the mistake of expecting Amazon to continue improving their Prime Video selection and Alexa smart home device dominance, and they've completely nose dived since around Bezos' departure. Once we realized the devices were only useful to us as Spotify speakers or making announcements, and, Prime video selection was becoming infested with ads or ad infused content (Freevee); we Sold all the devices and cancelled our Prime subscription.
Cutting the cable originally meant decoupling from wasting time on nonstop marketing BS, but here we are again. I guess it was inevitable and great while it lasted, but time to cut the cable version 2. New smart home and streaming setup is independent and flexible, no more investing in anything linked to Amazon, Apple, or similar.
I also noticed that Alexa, in general, has become a lot less useful in the past 6-12 months. It's nothing huge but just little things keep tripping me up. For example, I have several "unknown" devices in my Alexa config and I don't know what they are.
So I went on a clean up spree the other day and accidentally removed my TV and now Alexa can't turn it on/off. The TV is connected to a FireTV Cube, which Alexa knows about. When I tell Alexa to turn on the TV it tells me it can't find the TV and to check it's network connection. This is maddening because Alexa (FireTV Cube) IS the network connection for the TV.
I'm beginning to think that I'll have to wipe my Alexa configuration completely and start over. If it comes to that I'll just buy an Apple TV 4K+ and move away from Amazon completely.
this feels like a race to the bottom which every industry player except Apple is competing in. I never would have considered an Apple TV just a few years ago, but my Shield is gathering dust ever since I made the switch.
My girlfriend's Apple TV setup makes me jealous every time I use it. I don't even like TV, but Apple TV has the best interface by far, and the touchpad on the remote is perfect for scrubbing through video.
Can you view your own content on an Apple TV? Like with VLC? I don't own much Apple stuff anymore but I'm getting sick of all Android TV options getting so commercialised.
I don't currently subscribe to any streaming service though except Amazon prime (mainly because it's included with the shipping)
The Firestick/Roku/Chomecast all sell for roughly the same price point. I cannot believe they are all losing money on the physical device. This just strikes me as continuing to enshitify the platform because they can.
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Since a few weeks ago, they silently changed the default focus to the ad banner carousel! Now when I press the right button (because of muscle memory) it switches between the ads! So ridiculous and outright user-hostile!
Although I should look into the Store Mode setting for the Samsung TV which is connected to the Fire TV. Thanks for the suggestion!
We have an Apple TV upstairs and I'm replacing the FireTV Cube next week with an Apple 4K+ unit. The FireTV Cube was supposed to be Amazon's premier video streaming device, but it's still not Matter certified and probably never will be. The Apple unit (with Ethernet) has Thread capability and should be future proofed.
Bye Alexa / Amazon!
I miss the days of "owning" a VCR or DVD player or TV.
Moral of the story -- torrents give the best service.
- seamlessly use iPhone for input, including password manager integration through the keyboard
- AirPods seamless pairing/handoff, including really great spatial audio implementation
- It is really, really fast. So much faster than the streaming sticks. And it stays fast.
- It does not cram in more ads on every update.
- Now Playing integration with the watch, great for pausing quickly.
- Supports AirPlay for streaming from iPhone or Mac, and it works well
- Fitness+ is great, huge library of workouts and integrates well with Watch
- Really solid apps like OwlFiles, Infuse, VLC, and Synology for accessing network content
- Solid support for multiple users
I truly didn’t expect it to be so good when I first got it (workouts was my main reason for purchase, used Xbox for streaming previously).
What features did I miss?
Deleted Comment
And you can pair controllers to it and play games.
The voice recognition works.
It does FaceTime now with your phone and using the TV as the output.
With the Fire TV, getting to my apps was such a pain. With the Apple TV, they're right there. There aren't horrible dark UI patterns distracting me from my stuff. Literally, Fire TV would have suggested apps on my main screen that I already have installed. I'd click on it, it'd bring me to the app store, and from there I could launch it.
My Fire TV would launch with a full-screen ad and I'd have to press down to even see the UI. So I power on my TV and see a JCPenny Black Friday ad. Ugh. I scroll down and there's "continue watching," but only from Amazon Prime. Then there's a full row Starz ad. Then "up next for you," but most of the shows there I haven't heard of. Then recently used apps. Then some "guide and on now" garbage for apps I don't have. Then "Netflix recommends" which isn't based on what I've been watching from what I can ascertain. Then "subscription deals" where they try and push all sorts of subscriptions. Then "holiday deals on devices" to push Amazon stuff. Then more and more content that I don't subscribe to - presumably so that I'll start paying for more subscriptions. More recommended apps, recommended things to rent or buy, etc. And everything is constantly auto-playing!
Yea, Apple TV has a preview, but the sound is off and it just goes away if I touch anything. Plus, I can just go into settings and replace it with "Up Next" which shows things I've been watching for apps that support it. It's a nigh-and-day different experience. It feels so calm by comparison. The Fire TV is just distractions everywhere while the Apple TV doesn't feel like that.
This will almost certainly become a reality when a sufficient #users buy an Apple TV, through a remotely activated update (of the Fire TV).
I doubt that it will happen because I don't think enough people will buy Apple TVs and because I think adulterating an external input might be a bridge too far. It would be hard to integrate that into the experience without feeling really jarring.
I guess the problem I have with your comment is that it's the type of thing you could say about anything. Apple could decide to change the Apple TV interface to be 90% ads. Amazon could decide to disable HDMI ports on the TVs. Amazon could decide to stop making the Prime Video app for platforms that aren't Fire TVs. All streaming apps could decide that streaming is BS and go back to physical media. Net neutrality could go away and ISPs could mandate insecure connections where they could inject ads into stuff. The comment feels like the equivalent of "you can't prove god doesn't exist!"
Your comment isn't wrong, but it's also kinda useless. A person can buy an Apple TV today and enjoy its experience. Yes, that might change in the future. Our world is always changing and nothing you purchase will be good forever. However, from a practical standpoint, the Apple TV is offering a wonderful experience today and likely will for years to come. If I listen to your comment, why do anything because someone could come along and make it crap?
Apple's business model is incompatible with that user experience. First, Apple already makes a profit on the devices themselves. Second, there's a healthy attach rate for additional Apple devices and services for people who have a positive experience with Apple TV.
People are just used to overload with ads.
I’m surprised there isn’t a price cut Apple TV “stick”. Drop game support, low local storage, no Ethernet port, but leave 4K support. 4K support lets them charge the magic 2-digit HomePod mini price point of 99$ under the guise of “same video quality as the 130$ one”.
That would juuuuust crossover into the “good enough” zone for me, considering how clean apple tvOS is.
Is that $30 really make-or-break for you?
Apple TV's entry model is already only $129.00 USD, and the hardware is really really nice. Easily the fastest and most fluid interface of any "TV Stick" I've used (nicer than any Chromecast / Roku / Fire TV stick, nicer than any built-in smart stuff from LG/Samsung/Vizio), while also having the least amount of advertisements of anything you can buy.
I don't love Apple's high premium pricing on a lot of their products. But the Apple TV doesn't really have that, it's competitively priced with alternatives (a base Apple TV is only like $30 more than the equivalent Fire TV Cube, and only $5 more than the nVidia Shield TV)
It would just sell better at 99$ IMO, and there’s obvious things to cut to create apple’s usual “price ladder”. I’m not using the games, nor am I using more than 8GB of storage.
Cutting the cable originally meant decoupling from wasting time on nonstop marketing BS, but here we are again. I guess it was inevitable and great while it lasted, but time to cut the cable version 2. New smart home and streaming setup is independent and flexible, no more investing in anything linked to Amazon, Apple, or similar.
So I went on a clean up spree the other day and accidentally removed my TV and now Alexa can't turn it on/off. The TV is connected to a FireTV Cube, which Alexa knows about. When I tell Alexa to turn on the TV it tells me it can't find the TV and to check it's network connection. This is maddening because Alexa (FireTV Cube) IS the network connection for the TV.
I'm beginning to think that I'll have to wipe my Alexa configuration completely and start over. If it comes to that I'll just buy an Apple TV 4K+ and move away from Amazon completely.
I don't currently subscribe to any streaming service though except Amazon prime (mainly because it's included with the shipping)
Seems the Firestick has some heavy subsidises they make up for with activities like this post.