Amazon’s Fire TV update with a brand new home screen is out now

Amazon announced on Thursday that its major new Fire TV software update is now rolling out to devices. It has a completely redesigned home screen and features such as individual user profiles, so recommendations for what to watch will be different for each person in your family.

The software was first announced in September and debuted in December on the Fire TV Stick Lite and the third generation Fire TV Stick, but now everyone has Amazon’s Fire TV Cube (1st and 2nd generation) and the 3rd generation Fire TV. own, the Fire TV Stick 4K can use the new features. Amazon says it will update smart TVs and the second-gen Fire TV Stick later this year.

The new features could help it compete more aggressively with Roku, which still holds a 50% market share of global connected TV streaming hours with strong growth potential, a Deutsche Bank analyst note in August said.

With the new software, up to six people can create different profiles. So if you watch a lot of comedy shows, Amazon can recommend other comedies you like. But if your partner watches a lot of dramas, they’ll get recommendations for more content like that. Currently, with one profile, Amazon is simply recommending more based on what has been viewed no matter who is viewing it.

The personalization also extends to the home screen, where you can pin specific apps to the top for quick access. Maybe you use Netflix, YouTube TV and Disney + often, for example. You can place new, smaller icons at the top. Recommendations for the things you view about services are listed below.

There is also a new ‘Live’ tab that shows you a channel guide, making it easier to get straight to live TV if you pay for a streaming TV service like Sling or YouTube TV. Amazon told CNBC in September that it designed this to make it a more familiar experience for people switching from cable to streaming.

The update also includes deeper integration with the Alexa voice assistant, so you can say “Alexa go to Live TV” and launch the TV live streaming service you pay for.

Finally, there’s a new ‘Search’ section that makes it easier to find something to watch. It shows movies, on-demand TV shows, live TV, your watch list and more.

You can update your Fire TV by opening Settings and selecting “My Fire TV”, then choosing “About” and “Check for System Update”.