Amazon won’t release Fire Sticks that support sideloading anymore

In October, an Amazon representative said the company doesn’t have plans to update current Fire OS devices to Vega, German IT publication Heise Online reported.

Fire OS blamed for pirating

Before Vega, Amazon’s Fire streaming devices all ran Fire OS, an Android fork based on the Android Open Source Project, which often meant Fire devices ran older Android software. Moving to the Linux-based Vega OS makes it easier for Amazon devices to run more modern software. Vega also gives Amazon more control over how people use Fire devices, supporting features like Alexa+, its generative AI chatbot, while limiting the use of apps that cost the company money or host illegal content.

Sideloading apps has long been a common way for people to run apps outside of Amazon’s store— especially from the Google Play Store—or to limit Amazon advertising. This has allowed enthusiasts to expand the functionality of Amazon devices—for example, using a Fire tablet as a handy smart home controller.

Perhaps more concerning to Amazon, though, has been the sideloading of apps used for watching pirated content. In the fall, Amazon started blocking apps that the Alliance for Creative and Entertainment, a global anti-piracy group, has blacklisted.

Fire Sticks have long been criticized for potentially enabling piracy. A May report from media, entertainment, and telecommunications research firm Enders Analysis, for instance, claimed that jailbroken Fire Sticks have enabled “billions of dollars’” worth of streaming piracy. Amazon has also faced pressure to crack down on piracy on its devices from various groups, including the Sky Sports UK soccer channel and the Premier League professional soccer league in England.

Many users won’t be impacted by Amazon’s move to kill consumer sideloading on Fire Sticks. But those it does affect will be eager to explore rival streaming devices or develop potential workarounds.