Amazon this week launched its newest Fire TV Stick and, along with it, its second device powered by Vega OS. And that appears to be the pattern going forward, as a report claims that all future Amazon Fire TV Stick devices will ditch Android.
Vega OS made its formal debut on the Fire TV Stick Select last year, with the Android alternative largely disliked by many because it blocks the ability to sideload apps – it also lacks a lot of native apps, with a clunky solution for others.
But, apparently, Amazon is all-in.
There was some confusion around whether or not the new Fire TV Stick HD ran on Android or Vega. As we noted, Amazon’s listing wasn’t showing a notice about sideloading to some users, while showing it to others, seemingly at random. But Amazon has since confirmed to Lowpass that, yes, the new Fire TV Stick HD runs Vega, not Android.
Lowpass goes on to report that, citing sources within Amazon, that all future Fire TV Stick devices will ditch Android for Vega. That’s despite Amazon still showing active support for Android builds.
Still, it’s not a huge surprise – we’ve been hearing this for almost three years now – nor will it have a massive effect on Fire TV users. Most average users won’t notice the difference, as sideloading is the main loss and, even then, a pretty big number of users were sideloading simply for pirating content. Still, it’s unfortunate for those who were taking advantage of Fire TV’s Android base for more upstanding reasons.
More on TV:
- Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick can be powered by TV USB port
- Roku is in ‘more than half’ of US homes, crosses 100 million milestone
- Walmart’s new $60 Onn 4K Pro Google TV box is launching soon, here’s every detail
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