Amazon Fire TV Releases New Update that Automatically Uninstalls Unused Apps
Users of Fire TV smart TVs and streaming devices will soon be given a new feature to help speed up their devices.
When was the last time you went through all the various apps on your smart TV or streaming device and cleared out the unused ones? It’s perfectly natural if the answer is never; most of us don’t even think about the number of dusty old apps that sit unused on our streaming player, being perfectly content to skip over them to find a more treasured service like Prime Video or Hulu.
- Amazon Fire TV is rolling out the Auto Offload feature.
- The program uninstalls apps that have not been used for more than 60 days to clear storage space and increase device performance.
- Users can activate or deactivate Auto Offload at will, and uninstall streaming apps manually as well.
Were You Using That?
A recent survey found that 93% of American households subscribe to at least one paid or free streaming service, and many use two or more. To combat the streaming app clutter that can clog up streaming devices overloaded with services, Amazon Fire TV is releasing the new Auto Offload feature.
Users of Fire TV-branded smart TVs and streaming players will see the Auto Offload feature automatically turned on when it is installed. If they decide not to turn it off, Auto Offload will detect whether an app has been used in the past 30 days. If it has not, Auto Offload clears the cache of that app. If an app hasn’t been used in more than 60 days, and if your Fire TV device is low on storage (800MB remaining or less), it will be automatically uninstalled.
Reinstallation of offloaded apps is simple; when users download and reopen the app, they will be prompted to sign in using the saved login credentials from the last time a user activated that service. Users can turn off Auto Offload easily by heading to Settings > My Fire TV > About > Storage > Auto Offload > On/Off. You can also choose to manually offload eligible apps by navigating to Settings > Manage Installed Applications through the options menu when selecting an app in the launcher.
The Auto Offload feature will be rolled out to all eligible Fire TV devices by early November. Fire TV has also implemented uninstall suggestions for lesser-used apps, and introduced the Low Storage dialog — a pop-up that alerts customers that they are low on storage, and suggests apps for them to uninstall with one click based on recency of use and size.
More Devices, More Ads
Amazon has made or is planning to make other big changes to its streaming platforms and devices, as well. A new line of Fire TV devices, including smart TVs and streaming sticks was recently unveiled at the company’s fall product show. Check out The Streamable's review of the 2nd Gen Fire TV Stick 4K Max for more details.
Prime Video is also in store for a big update. The service will begin showing limited ads on its existing streaming tier for all subscribers in the coming months, as well as launch a more expensive ad-free tier for users to upgrade to if they choose. That will slow your streaming down, but at least your load times may be faster if you’re an Amazon Fire TV user thanks to the new Auto Offload feature rolling out now.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 10,000+ movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals like “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Jack Ryan,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Boys,” and more. Subscribers can also add third-party services like Max, Showtime, STARZ, and dozens more with Amazon Prime Video Channels. Prime Video also offers exclusive live access to NFL Thursday Night Football.