Amazon Firestick was launched in 2014 and today it has more than 50 million users from all across the globe. The substantial increase in the users took place in 2020 during the COVID-19 outbreak. Undoubtedly, Amazon Fire TV Sticks took the world by storm.
However, it is still a technology that needs continuous maintenance and upgrades. A lot of users have felt that their hardware is getting laggy and every time they open an app on their Firestick they have to wait a couple of seconds before the required action is processed. Sometimes the menu also freezes when the user is scrolling.
So, what’s causing your Firestick to be slow? & what are the problems it might be facing?
What are the Specifications & Performance Upgrades that caused a performance drop in the new Fire TV Stick?
Taking a look at the latest version of Firestick, the company has added an Alexa voice remote as a default built-in feature in addition to a quad-core processor. In the previous versions, a dual-core processor was installed.
Also, for tablets that are at the low-end and used by masses, the Fire TV Stick came with Mediatek CPU. Two versions of the third-generation Fire TV Stick were launched:
- Basic version
- High-end 4K version
Both versions have an Alexa voice remote.
For performance upgrade reasons, the company launched their Firestick with the most updated version of Android and performed a massive upgrade to the user interface of the entire system. All of these changes are power-hungry and they eat up most of the added power from the new CPU.
So, people who (especially) use Kodi on their Firestick, suffer from performance drops from time to time. Kodi and other apps like this one, require and consume huge amounts of power. They need a system that can handle their bulky software for a streamlined performance. Sadly, the third-generation Firestick was not able to deliver this time.
Is Your Fire TV Stick Overheating or having Wi-Fi issues?
The majority of the users have bought the basic version instead of the 4K version, and a very well-known issue in Amazon Fire TV Stick is overheating. Even the 4K version suffers from it.
When your Firestick gets heated up, the first component of the device which gets affected is the Wi-Fi component. As per its affectivity, the device starts having connectivity issues. In extreme circumstances, your device can restart automatically when you are in the middle of your favourite TV show or movie.
Before it performs a force restart as per its overheating problem, it will show the user a warning indicator on their screen. If a user does not take the necessary steps to cool down the device, a reboot will be set in place.
What are the major Performance Issues in Fire TV Stick?
The reason why Amazon Fire TV Stick has been so successful is that it is lightweight, budget-friendly, and offers a portable method to stream videos online directly on your TV.
The plug-n-play approach delivers a lot of ease to users from all around the world as it is simple & straightforward. However, easy to use devices always have strings attached to them as it is inevitable that the users are going to overuse the item till it starts getting performance issues.
Some of the major performance issues in Fire TV Stick are as follows:
- Lagging
- Increase in Buffering time
- Drop in Frame rate
- Apps start to crash
- Audio problems (out-of-sync sound)
- Reduction in Video Quality
- Videos start playing in Slow Motion
How to Make Fire TV Stick Faster? | Performance Tips
Most of the streaming devices suffer from speed issues because of the following two problems:
- Network Connection Issues
- Slow Operating System
If a user is suffering from internet connectivity issues, it can be caused by the device getting overheated or it can be because of ISP throttling. If these two are not the causes of connectivity issues, then you can contact your internet service provider for your issue to get resolved.
A problematic operating system can be fixed easily as there are several steps a user can take to make their Firestick faster and stream lag-free content online. Here are a few Tips & Tricks.
1. Restart your Fire TV Stick
Similar to a lot of other devices like laptops, tablets, cell phones, and computers, sometimes the solution to every problem is to perform a simple reboot to get rid of the issue. Like many people, users leave their Fire TV Sticks plugged in and let it run at all times (even if they are getting used).
To resolve the performance issues faced by your Firestick, restart the device by:
- Hold down the Home (house) button of your Fire TV Stick.
- Go to Settings.
- Navigate to the Device option.
- Select Restart.
Hopefully, your issue will be resolved and you can start streaming lag-free videos.
2. Try Uninstalling Apps (not used) and Add-ons
Devices use RAM to operate efficiently and if that device has a lot of unused applications, software, add-ons, and other tools running in the background, then the RAM will not work properly causing the system to crash or slow down massively.
Unused applications and add-ons take up a lot of space in your Fire TV Stick memory. To keep them updated and running in the background, the device dedicates a lot of memory resources. In return, your active apps start suffering.
To get rid of this problem, you need to uninstall any unused applications and add-ons from your Fire TV Stick by:
- Press and hold down the Home (house) button.
- Go to Settings.
- Navigate to the option of Applications.
- From there, select those applications and add-ons you don’t usually use.
- After selecting those items, click on Uninstall.
- Press Uninstall again to confirm.
- Your chosen apps and add-ons will be removed from your device.
Note: Especially remove the unused Kodi add-ons as they are bulky software programs and take up a lot of memory to perform.
3. Check for Firestick Updates
We all have cell phones (whether Android or iPhone), and we suffer from slow speeds whenever there is an update in place we have yet not made. Once our devices are updated to the latest versions of Android or iOS, they start functioning smoothly.
The same is the case with Amazon’s Fire TV Stick. The developers at Amazon release consistent updates and security patches to make your Fire OS fast, smooth and allow your streams to be safe & secure.
Your device might be slowed down because you have overlooked or missed some sort of Firestick update, so make sure to keep your device up to date by:
- Go to your Home menu screen.
- Go to Settings.
- Navigate to the option of Device.
- Scroll & Select the option of ‘Check for System Updates.’
- Your Fire TV Stick will browse for new updates, and if it finds one, it will direct you to download and update your Firestick to the latest version available.
Hopefully, your device will start to function smoothly after the required updates have been made.
4. Try Turning Off Applications ‘Automatic Updates’
Amazon Fire TV Stick is a smart device and every time a user turns it on to use it, it sends out an automatic query to Amazon’s server to run a complete scan and check if any of your installed applications require updating.
If a certain Firestick has several software applications installed on it, a user may suffer from slow speeds. Even though automatic application updates is a great feature, however, it can cause massive speed issues causing frustration among the users.
You can fix the problem by:
- Go to the Home menu screen of your Fire TV Stick.
- Go to Settings.
- Navigate to the option of Applications.
- Locate and select Appstore.
- Scroll down to the option of ‘Automatic Updates.’
- Select this option and toggle it ‘off.’
- Go back to Applications and locate the option of ‘Collect App Usage Data,’ and turn it ‘off’ also.
After performing the above-mentioned steps, see if your Firestick speed issue gets resolved. If not, move on to the next solution.
5. Try to ‘Force Stop’ Applications You Don’t Normally Use
You may see some applications on your Fire TV Stick which do not bear the option of uninstalling. These are the applications that come built-in into your Fire TV Stick and cannot be uninstalled. In a few instances, it has been seen that these pre-installed applications can hog down the memory of your Firestick and cause the system to slow down.
How can one tackle this problem? You can simply apply the function of ‘Force Stop’ on these apps and the system will no longer make any updates or keep them running in the background. You can also apply ‘Force Stop’ to apps which you have installed yourself but do not want to use right away.
Follow the below-mentioned steps:
- Go to the Home screen of your Firestick.
- Navigate to Settings.
- Locate and select the Applications option.
- Go on to select the option of ‘Manage Installed Applications.’
- Select the application which you do not use or come pre-installed.
- Click on ‘Force Stop.’
After force stopping your chosen applications, your Firestick may speed up and perform at a much faster rate.
6. Disable Feature Which You Don’t Normally Use
Fire TV Stick comes integrated with features that are automatically enabled and use a lot of memory to operate in the background. The majority of these features are not even actively used by the users.
To free up space and memory for your other applications like Disney Plus, Kodi, and Netflix, you can try ‘disabling’ these features and see if it makes any difference.
- Press and hold down the Home (house) button of your Fire TV Stick.
- Go to Settings.
- Navigate to the option of Applications.
- Toggle ‘Off’ the option of ‘Collect App Usage Data.’
- Go to Prime Photos and toggle Off ‘Allow Guest Connections’ along with ‘Access Prime Photos.’ (disable them)
- Go to Appstore, disable ‘In-app Purchases’ & ‘Notifications.’
- Navigate to GameCircle. Toggle Off both ‘Share your GameCircle Nickname’ & ‘Whispersync for Games.’
Disabling these unused features will free up some space, thus making your Fire TV Stick faster.
7. Try to Turn Off ‘Allow Video Autoplay’ & ‘Allow Audio Autoplay’
Another feature that comes pre-turned On in your Amazon Fire TV Stick is ‘Autoplay.’ Firestick uses the Featured section on its Home Screen to play videos automatically on a loop as algorithms want to ensure that a user can preview the videos they are interested in.
The feature of Autoplay utilizes a huge amount of memory causing a massive load on your CPU. To turn it Off:
- Press and hold down the Home (house) button of your Fire TV Stick.
- Go to Settings.
- Navigate to the option of Preferences.
- Locate and select Featured Content.
- From there, Turn Off the following two options:
- Allow Video Autoplay
- Allow Audio Autoplay
Your Featured section on Home Screen will no longer play videos automatically, making sure that your CPU does not get overloaded or overheated.
8. Clear ‘Data & Cache’ of Unused & Troubled Applications
As time passes, a lot of data and cache is stored by applications on your Fire TV Stick. As the quantity of data and cache increases, the system starts to slow down rapidly causing performance issues.
You can clear the cache and data of every application irrespective of the fact whether you use it or not. Once you clear these elements from your apps, it prevents your force stopped applications from reloading themselves after some time.
- Press and hold down the Home (house) button on your Fire TV Stick.
- Go to Settings.
- Navigate to the Applications option.
- Locate and select Manage Installed Applications.
- Select the apps which you want to clear data & cache.
- After selection, choose the following options in the order below:
- Clear Data
- Clear Cache
9. Slow Internet Connection: Fixes
The speed issues are not always connected to an overloaded system, sometimes the internet connection causes the slowdown of your Fire TV Stick.
ISP Throttling
ISPs (internet service providers) tend to slow down your internet bandwidth. The process is termed ISP Throttling. Whenever a user is using a greater amount of bandwidth as per their streaming activities or online gaming, they are consuming a greater amount of bandwidth in comparison to other users on the same server.
To fix this issue, ISPs throttle the internet speed of that user and cut down their bandwidth. This causes a lag in your streaming, buffering, and issues in other areas which require a robust internet connection.
To beat ISP Throttling, experts from all across the globe recommend using a VPN for Firestick. A VPN encrypts your internet traffic via 256-bit AES encryption and masks your IP address from all types of third parties (including your ISP).
So, even if you are streaming or playing online games, your activity or bandwidth usage will be hidden from your ISP. Your ISP needs to monitor your data to perform ISP Throttling and a VPN helps you hide that data.
Following are the top-rated VPN services you can use to get over ISP throttling.
Try Switching VPN Servers
If you have your Firestick integrated with a VPN service, a slow server can cause your Fire TV Stick to slow down massively. To resolve this issue, open your selected VPN device, and choose a different server location.
Keep on changing servers until you find one which is speedy and smooth.
Move Your Device Closer to the Router
The best possible way to connect your Fire TV Sticks is via a wireless internet connection i.e. Wi-Fi. If you are suffering from slow internet connection speed, try moving closer to the router or at least have your router fixed in the same room where you are using your Firestick device.
Restart Your Modem & Router
Your modem or router can sometimes get affected because of channel interference problems. This can cause your Wi-Fi to not work normally and become faulty.
To resolve this issue, you can try to perform a simple restart on your device and revive your local network speed. Turn Off your modem and router, wait for a minute or two, and then Turn it On again. Your local network will be back on track.
Final Verdict
There is a reason why so many people use Amazon Fire TV devices because they are easy to use. You can simply take them out of the box and plug them in to start your streaming journey. No setup is required whatsoever.
Tech-based products do slow down with time, however, if you apply the above-mentioned tips & tricks, who knows? Your problem might get resolved.