Own a Fire TV device or considering buying one soon? Get ready for the imminent release of a free software update that’ll make a bunch of tweaks to Fire TV’s software design. Amazon says the update introduces new categories that’ll let Fire TV users more quickly find their favorite movies, shows, news programs, and sports, as well as speeding up the user interface (UI) to be 30 percent faster.
Amazon announced the changes back in January 2026, but they’ve been simmering on the back burner since then. Word is that they’re finally ready to go live in a free update to Fire TV devices later this month.
new channels and categories
We’ve yet to get a peek at what the updated UI will look like, and whether it’s a complete redesign or just an augmentation of new features into the existing interface. It was only just a year ago that Amazon made a few unpopular changes to the Fire TV UI, after all. Amazon better hope the latest update is better received by customers. With the focus on additions this time around, rather than subtracting existing features, I’d say it’s a low bar to clear.
The Fire TV’s speed boost is welcome news to me. When I tested Amazon’s Fire TV devices against Roku and Apple TV, I found Fire TV’s UI not exactly slow, but a fair bit slower than Roku Ultra 4K’s and, especially, the Apple 4K TV’s.
A large part of a device’s responsiveness comes down to the hardware, and so a pricier, high-end model will likely be quicker than a cheaper device with the same UI. But the UI does play a role, and Fire TV’s was just a tick slow enough to notice.
I’ve sounded off about free The Roku Channel being one of the best aspects of having a Roku, and it seems Amazon has come to the same conclusion, as the Fire TV update also includes the introduction of Fire TV channels focusing on genres such as news, comedy, cooking, and travel. Like The Roku Channel and Tubi, it’ll be free but supported by ad breaks. It seems that Amazon is seriously coming for Roku this year. You hear that, Roku?
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