Most of the televisions that we can buy now are smart TVs. A team with which we can carry out many actions that make life easier and improve our audiovisual experience. Although, if you have a not very high budget or still have one of those screens that are not at all smart, calm, there is a solution. You can give it a second life and get more out of it with gadgets like Amazon’s TV Stick . Today we tell you everything you need to know to get the most out of this device.
What is an Amazon Fire TV Stick?
Today, surely you have heard of him on occasion. But, if not, I explain what it is.
It is a device that we can connect to the HDMI port of our old TV, or to a current one whether or not it is a smart TV. What does an Amazon TV Stick allow us to do? In the event that we have a more outdated TV , without internet, we can turn it into a smart TV in less than five minutes (the time to make the connection and initial configuration).
When it is ready to be used, we will have an interface extremely similar to that of a smart screen that we can operate with the remote control that includes this accessory. In addition, we will have the possibility to carry out certain actions such as playing content from streaming platforms, surfing the internet, playing games or even making purchases through it.
However, if you already have a more current television, you will know these types of uses quite well. Therefore, today we want to show you some tips and tricks that will allow you to get the most out of this accessory, beyond what you can do with a smart TV.
Squeeze all the uses of the Fire TV Stick
There are users who think that a smart TV can only be used to watch series on Netflix or videos on YouTube, but I am sorry to tell you that you can do much more with them. That is why this accessory is so interesting, especially if you do not have a smart TV and want to enjoy these advantages or, even, some other than those that I am going to list now.
You will know some of these uses and others will seem obvious to you. But, so that everything is clear, we are going to show you everything you can do with it from the simplest to the most complex.
Play multimedia content
This is perhaps the main function and what most people use it for, as I was saying. Thanks to the Fire TV Stick we can see content from the main streaming services such as Netflix, HBO or Amazon’s Prime Video. We just have to install the application, register and start using it.
Send multimedia content
Taking the above a step further, we can also send content such as photos, videos or music to our TV screen in a very easy way. You just have to know if the app you are using supports sending content by locating the share icon.
Once you have located it, just press it and select the Fire TV that you must already have active on your television. This can be done on both Android and iOS devices. Some of the applications compatible with this use are: Prime Video, HBO, Netflix, YouTube or Spotify. Although, with the latter, you will need to start the Spotify app on the Amazon Stick for the first time so that it will appear among the devices to send.
Surfing the Internet
Just like we can do on a smart tv, on this stick we can install applications from the store. Among them, we have the possibility to download browsers such as Firefox and then surf the Internet as if you were doing it from your phone or computer.
Share the screen of our teams
Another interesting function that we can do in this gadget is to share the screen with the mirror mode of the rest of our devices to, of course, see it in a big way.
This, once again, we can do it with both Android and iOS. After trying different methods, the easiest way is to install the AirScreen application on your stick. Once you have it in your catalog, follow the tutorials at the bottom so that, depending on the operating system you have, you can send the screen of your equipment to the television.
Remote control with your smartphone
If by any chance you have lost the remote control that includes this accessory or you have run out of battery, relax, you can use your phone as a remote control .
You just have to install the Amazon Fire TV app that you will find in your Android or iOS app store and synchronize your Amazon account. Once here, choose the stick that you have connected to the TV and that’s it. You already have a controller on your smartphone.
Play big
As you may have noticed, within the app store of this gadget we find games for the big screen. Many of these titles are those that we can download on any adapted Android TV, that is, when using the remote control of this equipment. And I can tell you that, depending on the type of game, it is not the most comfortable thing in the world.
Connect Bluetooth devices
Amazon has thought of everything and, to alleviate the previous problem a little, we have the possibility of connecting different equipment to our stick using Bluetooth. We just have to go to the device settings and enter the option “Bluetooth controls and devices”. Here we can add a gamepad to play comfortably on our Fire TV or even connect a Bluetooth headset to avoid disturbing anyone while enjoying a movie or series.
Manage Fire TV Stick using voice commands
Another of the best functions that we can give to this equipment is its management by voice commands. By pressing the button on the microphone that we enter into your remote control, we can talk to Alexa, Amazon’s intelligent assistant.
We can ask you to show us series or movies on a specific theme, ask about the time or even make purchases through it as in any smart company.
Turn the TV on or off
Thanks to the previous function, we will be able to operate the television on or off with our voice. This is more useful if we have an Amazon smart speaker since, in this case, we will have to press the button to invoke the assistant to the remote and this function loses its grace.
Improve your privacy with Amazon
And, now that we talk about talking to the assistant, Amazon has always been with this in the spotlight of privacy.
With the Fire TV you can rest easy because you can:
- Limit the data you send to Amazon . Within the preferences section in the device settings.
- Reduce ads based on your searches . Within the preferences section in the device settings.
- Clear the data accumulated by each app . Within the applications section, in the device settings.
Set the ambient mode
Surely you have noticed that, if you leave this gadget idle, different photos automatically start showing as a screensaver.
The best thing about this is that you can customize it to your liking by entering the configuration section, here you must go to “Screen and sound” and enter the screensaver option. Here, as we mentioned, you can adjust different parameters of this screen to adapt it to your liking.
If everything fails, restart it
If at any time your stick freezes and doesn’t respond, don’t worry, it has a solution.
You may have noticed that this device does not have a shutdown button and therefore does not have a reset button. The solution is to force this reset through the remote control itself . You must hold down both the Play and the Select buttons (it is the central button of the crosshead that allows us to operate the interface) for 5 seconds and voila, the restart will begin.
You also have the alternative of doing it “old-fashioned” and disconnecting the equipment from the power and plugging it back in. But, this is not the most recommended in any device we use.
Now that you know many of the things you can do with your Amazon Fire TV Stick, it is time to get the most out of your day to day . We hope that you have discovered some new function with this collection that will help you squeeze all the possibilities of this device. If you know of any that we have not named, it would be incredible if you could leave it for a comment so that everyone who reads this article can know it.