[Fire TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Viva La Android R.I.P.:
The recent FireOS update to the Fire Stick 4K has not been received with positive reviews from the majority of users. The main reason, it seems, involves the substantial changes to the home screen UI. While I don't have info regarding a user's ability to block these types of updates, the Fire Stick development community has brainstormed and the gods have spoken: there are some custom home screen launchers that give the Fire Stick 4K (or any other Fire Stick model) a greatly improved UI versus the newly-updated stock launcher. The best two, in my meager opinion, are Wolf Launcher and Leanback Launcher. Both of these launchers ate available on the official Troypoint app. Also included are several modified Kodi builds, including Xanax and Troypoint Kodi v19.0, which can be installed although other Kodi apps may already be installed. Several IPTV resources are available, as well as a few of the better quality movie and series apps like CinemaHDv2. (Other than verifying the safety and quality of the two launchers I referenced, I cannot confirm the legality of some of the other apps included on Troypoint. I encourage members to do some research in this regard in order to make an informed decision as to whether or not to install these IPTV and media scraper apps. The official Troypoint app is, and will always remain, fully free of charge. To install it on your Amazon FireTV Stick,, Amazon Fire Cube, or Amazon FireTV Stick 4K, use the Downloader app (available from Amazon App Store) and enter this URL for a direct download link to the latest Troypoint APK file: troypoint.com/tpapp Once installed, open the app, grant the permission request prompts, and tap the "Rapid App Installer" menu at the top of the Troypoint main screen. There you will see a full list, with direct download links, of all the included apps. A version of YouTube Vanced for FireTV devices is also included, called Smart YouTube TV. Like Vanced, the FireTV build also blocks all ads and supports background play. On a closing note, any members considering an IPTV service (whether free or paid) or media link aggregator (scraper) apps like TeaTV, CinemaHDv2 or Popcorn Time, a good VPN is essential. As it now stands in the US, some of these apps and services are considered illegal under federal law, as well as laws proscribed in various states (prohibitions are generally categorized under the criminal penalties set forth for copyright violations) Until recently, these types of apps and services were given a blind eye by the majority of law enforcement and prosecuting attorneys throughout the country. Law enforcement in Polk County, Florida, recently arrested four individuals involved in the making and selling of "Jailbroken Firesticks" at a flea market type establishment. To make a showing of strict enforcement, the Polk County Sheriff's Office used a group of undercover deputies to make a number of "Jailbroken Firestick" purchases from the suspects. An undercover sting organized to arrest these hell-bent and dangerous outlaws. As we all know here at XDA, there is no such thing as a jailbroken Firestick. In order to jailbreak a device, it must first be locked by code-based security implementations, typically on the kernel or bootloader level. Because FireOS is not secured in a manner as to prevent the installation of third-party apps (sideloading), there is nothing to jailbreak. The user simply enables the native option to allow apps from unknown sources. Now it's "jailbroken." This is simply a term which sounds very technical and innovative to the inherently naive John Q Consumer (and Suzie Q Consumer). Little do most of those individuals realize, they can buy a FireTV device for normal price and sideload every app package they'll need in under 20 minutes, and that includes initial setup time.