Amazon Fire TV for Dummies Cheat Sheet - Dummies (2023)

Amazon Fire TV works perfectly right out of the box, but is configured for the average user. If you didn't answer the description "average," consider going through the following list of settings to customize Fire TV to your liking:

• Parental control:Create a five-digit PIN that prevents kids from launching Fire TV apps or making purchases on Fire TV. You can also restrict Amazon Video content based on ratings. Select Settings→Settings→Parental Controls.
• Sleep-Timer:If you fall asleep watching TV at night, you can make sure your Fire TV device falls asleep too by setting the sleep timer. Select Settings→Sleep Timer.
• Channel management:If you have a Fire TV Edition Smart TV or a Fire TV Recast, you have access to live TV. Use channel management to work with these channels (e.g. adding a channel to the favorites list or hiding a channel). Select Settings→Live TV→Channel Management.
• Uninstall:Remove any Fire TV apps that you no longer use. Go to Settings→Applications→Channel Management, select the app and then select Uninstall.
• Image settings:Make your TV look its best by adjusting mode, contrast, brightness and other settings. Select Settings→Display & sounds→Picture settings.
• Sound settings:Get your Fire TV's sound output just right by optimizing bass, treble, balance and more. Select Settings→Display & sounds→Sound settings.
• Navigation sounds:By default, Fire TV displays a small "click" each time you press up, down, left, or right on the remote's navigation ring. If you find this annoying, you can disable it. Select Settings→Display & sounds→Navigation sounds.
• Selected content:These settings allow you to control whether the Recommended Content rotator that appears on the Movies and TV Shows tabs automatically plays video and audio when you navigate to the rotator. Select Settings→Settings→Recommended content.
• Do not interrupt:Enable this setting to turn off all notifications from all apps. Select Settings→Preferences→Notification Settings→Do Not Interrupt.
• Start anew:It's not really an attitude. Instead, select Restart to shut down and then restart your Fire TV device, which is a useful troubleshooting step. Select Settings→Device & software→Restart.

Fire TV comes with Alexa to make voice requests. Access Alexa using the voice button on the Alexa Voice Remote, the voice icon on the Fire TV mobile app, or by saying "Alexa" to the Fire TV Cube (or an Alexa-enabled device like the Amazon Echo). As a Fire TV user, how useful is Alexa to you? See for yourself by checking out the following 50 voice prompts tailored for Fire TV.

Bypass the Fire TV interface:

• "Go home."
• "Go to life."
• "Go to Your Videos" (or "My Videos" or "Videos").
• "Go to DVR" (only if Fire TV Recast is installed).
• "Go to the cinema."
• "Go to TV shows."
• "Go to Apps."
• "Go to Settings."

Search shows:

• "Show me the movie [movie title].“
• "Show me the TV show [series title].“
• "Show me [actor] Movie."
• "Show me [Genre] Movie."
• "Show me [Genre] TV shows."

Play movie trailer:

• "Play the trailer for [movie title].“
• "Show the trailer for [movie title].“

Controlling movie or TV show playback:

• "Pause."
• "Resume" (or "Play").
• "Rewind" (rewinds 10 seconds).
• "RewindX”
• "Fast Forward" (10 seconds fast forward).
• "Fast forwardX”
• "Next episode."
• "Previous episode."

View the channel guide:

• "Channel guide."
• "Open channel guide."
• "Show me the channel"

Change channel:

• "Change [Channelornetwork].“
• "Go to [Channelornetwork].“
• "vote up [Channelornetwork].“
• "Watch [Channelornetwork].“

Change the playback volume:

• "Turn up the volume."
• "Turn up the volume."
• "Turn up the volume."
• "Volume up."
• "Volume down."
• "Turn down the volume."
• "Turn the volume down."
• "Softer."
• "Turn the volume upX" (substituteXwith the desired volume setting).
• "VolumeX" (substituteXwith the desired volume setting).
• "Mute."
• "Unmute."

Get information about TV shows and movies:

• “What is the IMDb rating for [Title of a TV show or movie]?”
• "Tell me about the movie [movie title].“
• "When was a movie [movie title] released?"
• "Who plays in [Title of a TV show or movie]?”
• "What is [actor]s latest movie?”
• "Which movie won the Oscar for Best Picture in [Year]?”
• "Who won the Oscar for Best Actress in [Year]?”
• “How many Oscars has [actor] won?"

Okay, you're slowly but surely becoming a Fire TV fan, maybe even a connoisseur. However, in this day and age, just being good at something is not enough. No, you have to toosounds likeYou're good at that something. The best way to do this is to sprinkle your cocktail party conversations and social media posts with a few choice words and phrases that will tell everyone you know what you're talking about. For Fire TV, here are a few to consider:

• 1080p:A screen resolution that uses 1,080 scan lines with progressive scanning.
• 4K:SeeUltra-HD.
• 720p:A screen resolution that uses 720 scan lines with progressive scanning.
• A la carte:A streaming media service where you only pay for the channels you want to watch.
• Audio-Streaming:Mostly recorded music from services like Amazon Music and Spotify, and podcasts from services like myTuner Radio and Plex.
• Puffer:A memory area used to store the next few seconds or minutes of playback.
• Cable replacement service:A streaming service that offers TV show and movie packages similar to cable services.
• Subtitling:Seesubtitle.
• Contents:Another term formedia.
• Wire cutter:A person who ends their relationship with their cable company and finds alternatives to cable elsewhere.
• discoverable:A Bluetooth device broadcasting its availability to pair with another device.
• Fernfeldmikrofon:A microphone optimized to distinguish a voice from the surrounding noise, even when that voice is far away.
• HD:SeeHDTV.
• HDTV:A screen resolution that supports both 1080p and 720p.
• horizontal resolution:The number of pixels in a single scan line from left to right across a television screen.
• input source:The incoming connection that the TV uses to display a signal on its screen.
• Interlaced scanning:A TV technology that renders the odd and even scan lines of the screen separately.
• IR-Blaster:SeeIR-Sender.
• IR-Sender:An electronic component that sends commands to a device using infrared signals.
• Live-Streaming:Current audio or video, e.g. B. On-the-air TV programs provided by your cable provider or Fire TV Recast, live concerts or sporting events, Internet-based audio or video calls, or video feeds from a specific location or scene.
• Media:Anything you can "play" on Fire TV, including movies, TV shows, games, music, slideshows, and home videos.
• Reflection:Sending a mobile device's video stream to a Fire TV device.
• above the air:A live TV broadcast signal that can be received via an HDTV antenna.
• exaggerated:A TV service provided over a broadband internet connection.
• OTA:Seeabove the air.
• OTT:Seeexaggerated.
• Pair:To connect two Bluetooth devices.
• Pixel:A picture element; a point of light that uses a combination of red, green, and blue.
• progressive scan:A television technology in which all scanning lines of the screen are displayed simultaneously.
• Resolution:The sharpness of a television screen, measured in pixels.
• Rotator:A Fire TV UI element that automatically rotates through content when you navigate to the Featured section of the Movies or TV Shows tab.
• Scanlines:The number of pixels in a vertical column from top to bottom on a television screen.
• Second Screen Experience:View media on a main screen (e.g. your TV) and use a second screen (e.g. tablet or smartphone) to control playback and display additional information about the media, e.g. B. Cast and music.
• Voter:The Fire TV interface feature that tells you which screen element is currently selected.
• thin bundle:A streaming media service package that includes only a small number of channels.
• smart home:A home that contains one or more devices that improve home life by increasing convenience, providing information, and enabling automation.
• stream:A method of sending media over the Internet from a server to a computer, where media playback begins within a few seconds and continues until the media is complete.
• streaming media device: A device that allows you to access and view streaming media.
• Streaming Media Playback:The ability to play, pause, rewind, and fast forward an incoming media stream, usually by pressing buttons on a remote control that comes with the streaming media device.
• Streaming service interface:A method of discovering and interacting with services that offer audio, video, or live streaming.
• Subtitle:Text transcriptions of the voice track in a TV show, film, or video.
• UHD:SeeUltra-HD.
• Ultra-HD:A screen resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels.
• vertical resolution:Seescan lines.
• Video Streaming:Most recorded TV shows and movies via services like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.
• wake word:The word you speak to put Alexa in listening mode on a Fire TV Cube or similar Alexa-enabled device.
• X-ray:A feature that displays background information about the media currently playing, e.g. B. Cast, music and scenes.