- The new Amazon streaming stick stops sideloading
- A message to this effect appears on its online list
- This is part of Amazon’s rollout of its own Vega OS
Alongside a revamp of the Fire TV OS interface, Amazon announced a new Fire TV Stick HD earlier this week that’s slimmer than its predecessor – and it’s now been confirmed that sideloading won’t be allowed on the new device.
As discovered by Cord Cutters News, the product listing on Amazon has this to say: “For added security, this device prevents sideloading or installation of apps from unknown sources. Only apps from the Amazon Appstore are available for download.”
The message doesn’t seem to show up for everyone, but it’s definitely there in some cases. Of course, when Amazon says “for increased security,” it means for the purpose of preventing risky and legally suspect apps from being loaded.
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However, this will also affect users who liked to customize and hack their Amazon streaming devices in a number of other, perfectly legal ways: think, for example, custom launchers, local media streaming and smart home tools.
The future is Vega OS
Part of how Amazon has locked down its latest streaming stick is by using its own proprietary Vega OS instead of a custom version of Android. It gives Amazon much more control over what is possible on the software.
It was all announced last year, but it wasn’t clear how fast the rollout would be or which specific devices would be affected. We can safely assume that this ‘no sideloading’ rule will apply to all Amazon devices going forward.
In fact, as Ars Technica points out, the Vega OS and the same sideloading restrictions apply to the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, which also came out in October — and we noted at the time that you wouldn’t be able to sideload apps on it.
Amazon has made sure that the majority of the best streaming apps work on Vega OS and on its new streaming devices, including Prime Video, Disney+, Netflix, YouTube and Apple TV. Outside of official entertainment apps, however, your options are limited.
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