Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick are more than simple just watching Netflix and streaming Spotify. Devices are also a great way to browse the web on your TV.
Two browsers are available on the Amazon Appstore:Firefox and Silk. Both are optimized for the operating system and both give you the full Internet experience. Silk is Amazon's internal browser.
As Fire TV owners will already know, you also need to use a browser if you want to access YouTube. Google no longer makes its video service available on the Fire TV platform.
But what is the best browser for Amazon Fire TV and Amazon Fire TV Stick? And are there sideloaded apps that can rival Firefox and Silk for the crown? Read on to see our comparison and conclusion.
At the end of 2017, Google and Amazon had a dispute. The details aren't important, but in the end, Google killed its YouTube app for Fire TV.
Rather than pander to its competitor, Amazon released a near-instant update for its devices that introduced web browser capabilities. At the same time, Firefox and Silk became available on the Appstore.
Today, if you click on the YouTube app on your Fire Stick, you'll be taken to the YouTube home page in one of two browsers.
But which one is better for watching videos? Well, some users claim that Firefox loads videos faster than Silk and buffering is less common. However, in our tests, the difference was barely noticeable.
Unnecessary re-authentication also continues to be a problem on Silk. Some users report that they are forced to re-enter their credentials several times a week. If you watch a lot of YouTube content, the problem will quickly become a problem.
If you're using Firefox on desktop (or even mobile), you can open the Fire TV version of the app expecting to find many of the same features.
Unfortunately, you will be disappointed. The Firefox browser app on Fire TV is very light on features. In fact, there are only two options you can change in the Settings menu:Send usage data and Clear all cookies and site data .
In contrast, Silk has a much more extensive user interface. The Settings menu allows you to edit the cursor, change your autocomplete preferences, choose the default behavior for passwords, edit privacy settings, change parental controls, and adjust site permissions.
Seda also offers a range of accessibility tools.
However, it's not necessarily a bad thing that Firefox has fewer features. In truth, most people won't want, or need, the same level of detail that they would get on the desktop.
If you want a browser that "just works," Firefox is the best choice. If you like to play around, you should opt for silk..
On Silk, you can add your own predefined bookmarks to the home screen. They offer quick access to the sites you use most often.
In contrast, Firefox offers eight preselected shortcuts. You can't edit them, you can't add new ones, and they're not very useful.
Silk relies heavily on Amazon's Elastic Computing Cloud (EC2). For image-heavy sites or sites that query many domains, it takes the strain off your Fire TV and improves performance.
Cloud-based page rendering also reduces the size of the local browser cache. Since Fire TV Sticks have a limited amount of memory, that's a good thing.
On the downside, using the cloud does raise some privacy concerns. A lot of people may not be comfortable with Amazon acting as a middleman on all of their web traffic; The company will be able to see all your movements..
If you want the other benefits of Silk without compromising your privacy, you can disable the cloud features. Go to Settings> Advanced> Cloud features and slide the switch to Off position.
Silk uses the Bing search engine by default, while Firefox uses Google. There is no way to change the default behavior in Firefox. Silk users can choose between Bing, Google, Yahoo and Ask Jeeves.
Although we have previously compared some alternative search engines 13 Alternative Search Engines That Find What Google Can't 13 Alternative Search Engines That Find What Google Can't Google Search still can't do everything. These 13 alternative search engines can take care of some specific jobs for you. Read More For such people, this default behavior could be a deal breaker.
Fire TV and Fire TV Stick are increasingly becoming a standard part of living rooms across the country. Which means a lot of kids use the devices to get their daily fix of cartoons.
Clearly, you don't want your kids to have unlimited access to the web. 7 Ways Your Kids Can Bypass Parental Control Software 7 Ways Your Kids Could Bypass Parental Control Software Just because you've installed a safety net in parental control software means your kids won't find a way to navigate through him. This is how they will do it! Read More If you have young children, we've got you covered. Here's everything you need to know about setting up and using parental controls. Read More
If parental controls are important to you, Silk Browser is for you. Firefox on Fire TV does not have parental control options.
To set up parental controls on Seda, open the app and go to Manage> Settings> Parental controls .
On Silk, you can choose whether your browser works for the desktop or mobile version of web pages. Firefox doesn't offer the same option.
Switching between the two is easy. Open Silk and press the More button on your remote, then click the Request desktop sites button in the page header.
Because the Fire TV OS is based on Android, you can download apps on your Fire TV Stick How to install apps on your Amazon Fire TV Stick How to download apps on your Amazon Fire TV Stick Your Fire TV Stick can run almost any Android app, and its installation couldn't be easier. Read More of Access them. Read More
Therefore, you can install any browser you want, as long as it is available in the Google Play Store. There are many popular Android browsers to choose from, each specializing in a different niche.
It is important to remember that side browsers are not optimized for Fire TV devices. Frequently, they don't “play it right” with the remote. For example, if you download Chrome, you won't be able to access the address bar with just the remote. In fact, you'll find that some functionality is lost in almost every loaded application you test.
There are two solutions. You can use a high-quality Bluetooth keyboard or third-party app to enable a cursor on your Fire TV Stick How to use a mouse with an Amazon Fire Stick when the remote fails How to use a mouse with an Amazon Fire Stick when the remote fails When apps are transferred to an Amazon Fire Stick, you can't navigate them with the device's remote, and that's when you'll need a mouse. Read more.
If these drawbacks aren't worth your while and you still want to try a sideloading browser, the three most common alternatives are Chrome, Opera, and UC Browser:
Chrome offers sync across all your different devices, incognito browsing, and, if you have the latest Fire TV, voice search.
As with Silk, you can choose between the desktop and mobile version of the sites.
Opera has a built-in ad blocker and automatic video download button. As such, it's instantly appealing to Fire TV users where I lurker takes precedence over reading .
The app also has a customizable home page and a private browsing feature.
UC Browser offers a night mode, an ad blocker and a Facebook mode. Facebook mode promises to offer faster load times for the social network than its competitors.
The browser also has a video library which, once again, is perfectly suited to the Fire TV platform. The videos cover everything from humor and anime to war and sports movies.
A draw!
There is no clear winner. Even if you don't want to dive into the intricacies of downloading an app, it's hard to pick a winner between the two native browsers:Firefox and Silk.
Each one excels in different areas and will appeal to a different type of user. Given how little space each of the two apps requires, it's hard to argue against installing both and using the one that fits your needs at any given time.
If you want to learn more about customizing your device, check out our Fire TV Stick setup guide How to Set Up and Use Your Amazon Fire TV Stick How to Set Up and Use Your Amazon Fire TV Stick The Amazon Fire TV Stick is a great and reliable device. affordable transmission for beginners. This guide will help you set up and start using your Amazon Fire Stick without any stress. Read more.
