TL;DR
- The new Fire TV Stick HD is Amazon’s second streaming device to launch with Vega OS.
- Some customers who want to buy the device are warned that they will not be able to download apps.
- Amazon has also announced that it will continue to support most Fire TV devices and streaming hubs through 2030.
A few days ago, Amazon announced the New Fire TV Stick HD. This will be the company’s second streaming device with Vega operating systemAmazon’s new operating system based on Linux. As the device abandons Fire OS, a forked version of Android, there are some concerns about compatibility and app downloads. It appears the company is trying to get ahead of the problem by issuing warnings to customers. Amazon is also expanding support for a wide range of Fire TV products.
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The new Fire TV Stick HD is available for place an order on Amazon right now. If you head to the store page, there’s a chance you’ll see the alert box in the image below (via Cord Cutters News). The warning says: “For added security, this device prevents downloading or installing applications from unknown sources. Only applications from the Amazon Appstore are available for download.”
The warning appears to confirm fears that devices running Vega OS will not allow the download. While sideloading has never been officially supported on Fire TV devices, it is something that has been commonly done on Amazon devices. The strange thing about this, however, is that the warning only appears for some buyers. When I navigated to the page, I didn’t find any alert box.
In related news, Amazon announced that it will expand software support for its current line of Fire TV devices. The company promised that a wide range of its hardware will continue to receive compatibility and security support until December 31, 2030. This includes the following devices:
- Fire TV Stick 4K Select
- Fire TV Stick 4K Plus
- Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd generation)
- Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd generation)
- Fire TV Stick HD (2nd generation)
- Fire TV Stick HD (1st generation)
- Fire TV Stick Lite
- Fire TV Stick (3rd generation)
- Fire TV Stick 4K Max (1st generation)
- Fire TV Cube (3rd generation)
The only exception to this promise is the original Fire TV Stick 4K. This device will continue to be supported until December 31, 2029.
Amazon’s support announcement is welcome, especially considering that the e-commerce giant recently began notifying customers that it would do so. end support for older Kindles. Via email, Amazon warned that it would begin cutting support for older Kindles on May 20, 2026. Affected models include the first- and second-generation Kindle, the Kindle DX and DX Graphite, the Kindle Keyboard, the Kindle 4, the Kindle Touch, the Kindle 5, and the first-generation Kindle Paperwhite.
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