This is our part 2 for all the Amazon Fire TV users. Addressing your most commonly asked questions, keep reading to find out how to fully leverage your Amazon Fire TV Stick and truly enjoy the benefits of Smart TV experiences through your Video Streaming Device.
Does the Amazon Fire stick have Bluetooth?
Yes! This is one of the great features of Amazon's Fire TV Media Streamer. Bluetooth is built right into these devices (Stick and Cube!) so they can connect directly to your Bluetooth devices, like game controllers, keyboards and headphones. You'll only have to pair the device once, after that you can simply turn the device on and your Fire TV device will automatically detect the Bluetooth device, as long as they are in effective range of one another. Before completing these steps, make sure the Bluetooth device you want to connect to your Firestick is not connected to any other devices, such as your laptop, or the Firestick will deem it unavailable and won't detect them.
Turn your Bluetooth device on and make sure it is publicly visible.
Go to the settings menu on your Firestick device.
Choose, "Other Bluetooth Device".
Select, " Add Bluetooth Device."
Confirm by pressing, "OK".
Once the Firestick finishes searching, you can pair the two devices.
The Firestick should automatically start searching for Bluetooth devices to connect with.
How do I optimize my Amazon Firestick’s system storage and application?
This one comes up a lot! You turn your TV on and are ready to start streaming, only to find yourself stuck in the dreaded optimizing loop! Some common reasons for this include:
Your Firestick is not receiving enough power.
You are using a USB port on your TV instead of the Power Adapter
There is an issue with the HDMI port.
A virus-infected app was installed.
Here are the best ways we have found to troubleshoot these issues:
Change your HDMI Port
Unplug your Firestick from the HDMI port and plug it back in.
If that doesn’t work you could try plugging it into a different HDMI port on your TV.
Make sure you are using the Original Power Adapter and USB Cable
If the original items your Firestick came with are damaged or broken, you should look at buying official new Fire Stick accessories online from Amazon. The original power adapter outputs 1 amp of power. Using a third party cable or adapter could mean that your Firestick is getting too little or too much power, causing this issue.
Use a wall socket! This will give your Firestick enough power to make it work properly.
Unplug your Firestick from the HDMI port on your TV and unplug the USB cable as well.
Turn off the TV and wait for 5 minutes.
Connect the Fire TV to the HDMI port and connect the USB cable to a power adapter.
Turn on the TV and wait until it reboots.
If it reboots to the Optimizing screen give it 10 minutes. It should reboot at this point and you can go ahead and use it like before.
If it is still stuck in the optimizing loop, we would recommend trying a different HDMI port and make sure you are not using an HDMI extender.
Still stuck in the loop? At this point we would recommend doing a hard reset on your Firestick.
Before starting it is important to note that a hard reset will delete everything, including downloaded content, accounts, settings, etc. This is why this is our second and final recommendation, as you will have to login, download and setup your preferences over again.
On your Firestick remote, press and hold the Back button + right button on the navigation ring for 10 seconds.
This will bring up the Reset notification on your screen, click on the reset button when it appears.
Your Fire TV will restart, deleting everything from the device.
This should only take a few minutes, at which point you will be prompted to set up the device again.
How to Zoom on your Firestick
Download the Alexa app on your mobile device.
Sign into your account.
Connect your calendar in the Alexa app to streamline your experience. This will allow you to use voice control, starting your Zoom meetings by simply saying, "Alexa start my Zoom meeting."
To do this Open the Alexa app on your mobile device
Tap More and then Tap Settings
Tap Calendar and Email
Select your account provider and then tap Connect Account
Follow the instructions to link your calendar.
Set up your Firestick, or other Fire TV Device with your Alexa account.
If you are using a Firestick, you will need to get a webcam, if you are using the Fire TV Cube, there is a webcam connected directly to the device.
Install the Zoom App
Open the Fire TV App store.
Search for the Zoom app and select Install. You could also use voice control saying, “ Alexa, find Zoom.”
Sign into your Zoom account once it is installed.
How to use Zoom on Fire TV
You can either join meetings without signing in, with the meeting ID and pass code;
Join through your linked calendar through Alexa;
Or, via the Zoom app, which will display your upcoming meetings.
How do I set up Apple Music on my Firestick Device?
While you can’t stream Apple Music directly on your Firestick, there is an Apple Music skill for Alexa, that allows you to stream music to your Amazon devices, including your Firestick or Cube. This means that while you can’t stream Apple Music directly, you can listen to Apple Music with the assistance of the Alexa app on your mobile device.
What you’ll need to get started:
An Apple Music subscription
An Amazon Fire TV Stick or Cube that you have set up with the Alexa mobile app.
The iOS or Android device that you already set up with Alexa.
Enable the Apple Music Alexa Skill
Keep in mind that if you have already enabled Apple Music on an Amazon Echo, then your Fire TV device will automatically be able to use Apple Music. If this is your first time setting up Apple Music with an Amazon device, complete these steps:
Open the Alexa app on your phone.
Tap More, the Skills and Games.
Search for Apple Music and select it from the search results.
Select the Enable button.
From there tap settings and then link account.
Sign in to your Apple Music account with your Apple ID.
Tap allow and then close.
You will have the option to choose Apple Music as the default music provider for Alexa if would prefer.
Play Apple Music on your Fire TV
Press the Mic button on your remote and say, “Play Apple Music.”
Alexa will respond with, “Playing your song on Apple Music.”
Please note that if you don’t specify a song, it will play a random song based on your Apple Music activity.
You could also say, “Alexa play (Artist’s name) on Apple Music,” or, “Alexa, play (genre) on Apple Music,” if you would like to listen to something specific.
From there you can use your Fire TV remote to control your listening experience, to pause, play or to skip forward or go backwards to other songs.
It’s that simple!
Do you have any questions for your Fire TV Stick or Cube that we've missed? Let us know in the comments below so we can include answers in next week's post, where we'll be combining everything we know about Fire TV Streaming Devices into one place!
