Amazon Firestick is a wonderful entertainment device that offers access to plenty of movies and TV channels. Fire TV products are the best devices for home entertainment. The entry-level Firesticks offer HD resolution, while the Firestick 4K offers ultra HD video quality and Dolby sound.
These are some common features people look for while buying a firestick. However, there are many less-known features that you need to know. Let us explore some advanced features on your Fire TV Stick.
Use your phone as a Firestick remote
You can turn your Android or iOS phone into a Fire TV remote and control your Fire TV Stick. Amazon has a dedicated Fire TV remote app for both Android and Apple phones. You can use the remote app as a substitute for your physical remote. It offers all the functions available on your Firestick remote.
The Fire TV remote app offers a keyboard to help you enter text and login details. You can use the remote app to launch other apps and access your Fire TV settings. In addition, you can change TV channels, control volume, and launch and close apps on your Fire TV.
Connect Bluetooth Headphones
Most people use their TV settings to connect their Bluetooth headphones to the TV. However, Fire TV also has a feature to do so. Whether you want to block the background noise or avoid disturbing your family members, you can connect your headphones to Fire TV. This feature is especially useful for late-night binge sessions.
You can pair your Bluetooth headphones to your Fire TV easily. First, put your headphones in the pairing mode. Open the settings, then look for Bluetooth devices > other Bluetooth devices > Add Bluetooth devices. Now highlight your headphones and select them by pressing “Select”.
Use your Firestick as a Pet Cam or Baby Monitor
Firestick comes with Alexa integration that allows you to access the live video of your smart camera. You can check your smart home camera using the Alexa remote. All you need is to hold the Alexa voice remote and say – “Alexa, show me the live video of the smart camera”.
Fire TV will show you a live video of your smart camera on your TV screen. Latest models like Fire TV stick 4k and Fire TV stick 4k Max offer picture-in-picture support. With this feature, your camera feed does not interrupt the movie or TV show you are currently watching.
Enable Parental Control for your kid’s safety
Amazon allows you to enable parental controls on your Fire Stick. You can use it to lock your Amazon Prime and other apps installed on your device. Enabling this option keeps your kids safe from accessing inappropriate content. Parental controls also keep you safe from surprise payments.
With parental controls enabled on your device, you don’t need to worry about what your kids can watch on the TV. They can only access the content that is appropriate for them.
Install apps on your Fire Stick remotely
All the Fire TV devices including plastic come pre-installed with the Amazon app store. However, streaming apps are also available on the Amazon app store website. You can visit the Amazon app store website to search and install the apps on your Fire TV stick remotely.
This process is helpful when you want to discover new apps. If you have multiple Fire TV devices you need to select the correct TV from the “deliver to” drop-down menu on the app store website.
Jailbreak a Firestick
Most users don’t know that they can jailbreak a Firestick. Jailbreaking is a process of breaking the restrictions imposed by Amazon on their device. Many users want to stream content from unofficial apps as they offer free content.
However, Amazon restricts the installation of third-party apps on their device. Jailbreaking unlocks the Firestick, and then you can install apps from unofficial stores. If you want to know more about jailbreaking you can have safe and secure jailbreak experience by Firesticktricks to learn more about the jailbreaking process.
Once you jailbreak your Firestick, you can install unofficial apps and stream premium content for free. However, you should install only reliable apps that offer genuine content within legal boundaries.
Save time with quick access menu
Firestick comes with a quick-access menu that most people don’t know about. The quick access menu has shortcuts to all app settings and the profile switcher. You can also use the quick access menu to start screen sharing or put your Fire TV to sleep. The menu comes in handy when you quickly want to change a setting or use another app on your Fire TV. You can trigger the quick access menu by long pressing the home button on your Fire Stick remote.
Pin your favorite apps to the home screen
Amazon Fire Stick comes with pre-installed apps. 6 apps are pinned on the home screen by default. If you don’t use these apps frequently you can replace them with your favorite ones. To do this you can select the icon with three small squares and 1 + sign and open the “all apps” menu.
Once you open the apps list, move to the app you want to pin on your Fire TV home screen. Now press the menu button on your Fire Stick remote. Choose the move to front option and the app will get pinned on your home screen. You can pin only six apps on your home screen. Make sure you select those apps that you often use to stream content.
Create your personalized screensaver
You can add a personalized screensaver to your Fire TV screen. You need to upload some images to your Amazon cloud drive and choose any of them as a screensaver. Amazon offers you 5 GB of storage space for free. So that you can have plenty of space to upload images.
You see images to customize your screensaver when your Fire TV is inactive. Now to access the pictures, go to the photos tab on your Fire TV. Check the uploaded photos and select one or more as the screensaver. Here are the steps you need to follow
- Upload some pictures to the Amazon cloud drive. Use the same account that you use for Amazon Fire TV.
- Access the “settings” on your Fire TV stick.
- Choose “display and sounds”.
- Select “screensaver” and choose “current screensaver”
- Select from “your photos”, “daily memories” or “recent photos”. The images you select will be set as a screensaver on your Fire TV.
Summing Up
These were some advanced features of Fire Stick that most users don’t know. You can try these features on your Firestick to enhance your streaming experience. Using these advanced features will make you better than other users of Amazon Fire Stick. So, try using these features right now and see the difference in your TV-watching experience.
