If you’re a Fire TV Stick user and have noticed something missing, you’re not alone. Amazon has quietly removed a popular feature on some of its streaming devices, causing such frustration that some users are threatening to not longer use their devices all together.
AFTVnews spotted that the latest Fire OS update has removed the ‘Hide Apps’ option from the menu panel. This feature previously allowed users to easily hide apps with just a few clicks, rather than completely removing them.
While this may not initially seem like a significant issue, Amazon’s pre-installed apps—such as Freevee and Prime Video—which cannot be removed or deleted, were often hidden by users to simplify their viewing experience. The feature helped to de-clutter their home screens and was also useful for keeping apps that weren’t age-appropriate hidden from younger family members.
In 2021, Amazon first introduced this handy feature as part of the current Fire TV interface redesign. This brought user profiles to Fire TVs for the first time, allowing apps to be hidden in one profile and visible in another.
While it wasn’t initially possible to hide Amazon’s own preinstalled apps, the feature was later added. This option has now been removed on devices including the premium Fire TV Stick Max and 1st-gen Fire TV Stick 4K. AFTVnews believes more Fire TV Sticks will receive this update in the coming weeks.
Following a recent update to Fire TV Sticks, the option to hide apps has been removed, leaving users discontent. This change was confirmed for both the 1st-gen Fire TV Stick 4K, running on Fire OS 6, and the 2nd-gen Fire TV Stick Max with Fire OS 8, suggesting it will affect all models.
One upset user aired their grievances on Reddit: “Hey everyone, I’m on a Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen) and just noticed the option to hide apps has disappeared with the latest update.” Another user added their disappointment, stating: “Yeah, I’ve been trying to get them off too, but you can’t now, which sucks.”
The frustration seemed to peak with another commenter who said, “It makes Fire Sticks officially a deal breaker. If I am unable to get rid of the useless Amazon bloatware icons, I am done with Fire Sticks.”
However, there may be a workaround using the third-party app atvTools, as explained by YouTuber TechDoctorUK. This app allows users to disable unwanted apps from the home screen, albeit in a less direct manner than before.
Users need to open atvTools, connect their Fire TV Stick, navigate to their apps list, select the app they want to hide, tap the three dots, and choose ‘disable’. Refreshing the grid should subsequently remove the app from view.
The problem seems to be affecting devices running Fire OS 8.1. 2.7, and not all Fire device users have picked up on the now-absent “Hide Apps” feature. To the frustration of numerous users, there’s no way to stop the update at present, with Amazon proceeding to implement the changes across devices.