Best Firestick Settings That You Must Use Always

Without any hesitation, all of us will agree that Amazon Firestick is the best streaming device. The device lets you stream all your favorite media content at a time that is convenient to you. Further, you will also enjoy the streaming in 4K quality. While setting up the Firestick device, it is set to the default settings. We start our streaming with the default settings. Do you know that there are a lot of hidden settings available in Firestick which will allow you to stream in a better way? In this article, we will let you know the best Firestick settings that will improve your streaming experience.

12 Best Firestick Settings

There are many tips and tricks in handling the Firestick efficiently. And these are some of the top and the most used Firestick hacks.

1. Install Unknown Apps

Amazon App Store is a dedicated app store for Firestick. But not all the apps are not available in the store. So, Firestick allows you to install unavailable apps. In addition, if you enable unknown apps access on the device, you can sideload third-party apps on Firestick with its apk file.

To do so, go to Settings > My Fire TV > Developer Options > Turn on Install Unknown Apps. Downloader is the most popular app to sideload the apps on Firestick devices.

2. Change the Amazon Appstore Settings

You can make certain changes in Amazon Appstore settings to have a good experience in streaming.

1. Tap the Settings icon from the Firestick home screen.

2. From settings, click the option Applications.

3. Go ahead and open Appstore.

4. Under Appstore, you will 5 options such as Automatic Updates, External Market Links, In-App Purchases, Manage My Subscriptions and Notifications.

• Automatic Updates – If you turn on this option, it will automatically update the apps that you have installed from Amazon App Store. It is not applicable for third-party apps.

• External Market Links – Some apps will have a link that redirects you to the Amazon App Store to install other apps. From this option, you will get two options as Ask Before Buying or Don’t Open.

• In-App Purchases – You should keep this option OFF to be sure that you don’t make app-in purchases without your knowledge.

• Manage My Subscriptions – This option will notify you to manage your subscriptions.

• Notifications – If you don’t want to get any notifications, you may turn off the option.

3. Disable Video and Audio Autoplay

Firestick auto plays the content when you keep the home screen idle for a few seconds. That may not be convenient for you, so you can turn off the autoplay function.

1. On your Firestick home screen, click on Settings, and under that, select the Preferences option.

2. On the next screen, click the Featured content.

3. Now, turn off Allow Video Autoplay and Allow Audio Autoplay options.

4. Change App Notification Settings

When you get notifications while streaming, that will be irritating. You will also get a lot of irrelevant notifications. To avoid that, you can disable the app notifications on the device. The below-given steps will help you disable app notification settings on firestick.

1. Go to Settings and select Preferences.

2. Under that, select Notification Settings.

3. If you want to disable the notifications, click on Do Not Interrupt. If you want to see the notifications, click on App Notifications and select the app.

5. Change the Firestick Display Settings

This is the most powerful setting on Firestick. Changing the display settings will give you the best experience in streaming.

1. Go to Settings and select Display & Sounds.

2. Further, click Display on the following screen.

3. Under that, you will get the following options.

• Video Resolution – You can select your preferred video resolution, and if you select Auto mode, the device will select the best resolution for you to stream.
• Match Original Frame Rate – Turning on this option will let the Firestick device to match the frame rate of the content. To use this option, you should keep your keep Video Resolution in Auto mode.
• Color Depth – Select among 8, 10, and 12 bits, provided your TV should support the color depth setting you have chosen.
• Color Format – Set this option to Auto, and the device will select the correct format for you.
• Calibrate Display – This option lets you stream the content on full screen.
• Dynamic Range Settings – Select between Always HDR and Adaptive.

6. Manage Privacy Settings and Disable Data Monitoring

By default, data monitoring is set to ON so the company can collect all the information about app usage and device usage. If you don’t want that to happen, you can change the settings.

1. Go to Settings and select Preferences.

2. On the following screen, click on Privacy Settings.

3. Further, turn off Device Usage Data & Collect App Usage Data.

4. Now, go back to Settings > Preferences and select Data Monitoring.

5. Turn off the Data Monitoring option.

7. Screen Mirroring

Screen Mirroring on Firestick is one of the important settings that you should know when you are a frequent streamer. This setting will let you cast the media content from your smartphone. This feature will help you when an app is not available on Amazon App Store. To do so, press the Home button on your Firestick remote and select the Mirroring option.

8. Developer Tools Menu

The developer Tools menu is available on Amazon App Store that gives you a system x-ray that will scan your device memory, CPU, resolution, and more. Most of you may not be aware of these settings. Hope this helps.

9. Fire TV Remote App

How many of you know that if your Firestick remote is not working, you have an alternative to use. Yes, you have Fire TV remote app to use. This app will help you to control your device if your remote is not syncing, battery failure, and many more issues. The amazing feature of this app is you can use your mobile keyboard to type faster than an on-screen keyboard. The app is available on Play Store and App Store.

10. Navigation Sounds

If navigation sounds are annoying you when you navigate on the Firestick device, you can always turn off the sounds. To do so, go to Settings > Display & Sounds > Turn off Navigation Sounds.

11. Sleep Mode

The last best Firestick setting is the sleep mode. You cannot turn off the Firestick device, but you can put the device into sleep mode. The sleep mode will save power on the device when not in use. Enabling sleep mode is very easy on Firestick. You just have to press the Home button and select the Sleep option.

12. Disable Video and Audio Autoplay

You must note that on your Firestick, you might have noticed the featured video that plays automatically. And both the audio and video will play automatically even if your Fire TV is idle. So, if you find this feature annoying, you can anytime disable the same from the Settings.

1. Go to the home screen on your Firestick and select the Settings icon from the upper right corner.

2. Then, choose the Preferences tab.

3. Next, select the Featured Content option.

4. Finally, select Allow Video Autoplay and Allow Audio Autoplay and turn it off.

Now, the Featured video will not play even if your Fire TV is idle.

Other Best Firestick Settings

Other than the top 12 Firestick Settings that are discussed above section, you can also connect Bluetooth devices with Firestick, enable parental controls, use external video players like MX Player, change screen savers, and much more.

Frequently Asked Questions