5 helpful Hearth TV Stick options I remorse not utilizing sooner

I’ve had a Fire TV Stick 4K Max for a very long time, but I nonetheless uncover options I wasn’t conscious of very often. It is easy to attach it to your TV, begin streaming, after which overlook about the whole lot else. For a streaming device that generally prices as little as $20 on sale (relying on the mannequin you select), it is spectacular how a lot it could possibly truly do.

If you happen to personal an Amazon Hearth TV Stick and wish to elevate your streaming experience, it is fairly simple. Most of those settings/options solely take a number of seconds to take a look at, so there is not any purpose to not give them a shot. If you happen to’re an skilled Hearth TV Stick person, you would possibly already know a few of these, however for those who’ve just lately purchased one for the primary time, these options might be useful. From one Hearth TV Stick person to a different, listed below are 5 helpful options I want I had found sooner.

1

Rapidly repair stuttering or freezing

You need to use a shortcut in your Alexa distant to repair this

One of the crucial irritating facets of utilizing any streaming stick is when it begins to lag or freeze. More often than not, my Hearth TV Stick 4K Max runs simply high quality, however each as soon as in and whereas, it does begin to stutter and never load issues. Usually, to repair this, I’d use the tried-and-tested methodology of merely unplugging and plugging it again in. Nonetheless, I then found a a lot simpler strategy to restart it with out having to succeed in for the again of my TV or navigate to restart within the settings menu.

To restart your Hearth TV Stick tremendous shortly, all it’s a must to do is maintain down the Choose button and the Play/Pause button on the distant on the identical time for 5 seconds (as highlighted in inexperienced within the picture above). As soon as you’ve got performed that, your Hearth TV Stick ought to immediately restart. As soon as it is booted up once more, any freezing or stuttering points you will have skilled must be gone, and your system will really feel a lot smoother. I like to recommend doing this as soon as per week to forestall any points from arising within the first place.

2

Join Bluetooth audio gadgets

Hearken to your Hearth TV Persist with AirPods or different Bluetooth headphones

Through the summer time, I made a decision to attempt a brand new method to make use of my Hearth TV Stick. As an alternative of hooking it as much as my TV, I plugged it into my monitor at my desk so I might stream in 4K there at any time when I wished. Throughout this course of, I found a characteristic I did not even know the Hearth TV Stick had, however which made good sense for it to have: the flexibility to attach Bluetooth audio gadgets. In spite of everything, you’ll be able to join a controller to your Hearth TV Stick, so why not Bluetooth audio gadgets?

When you’ve got a pair of Bluetooth earbuds or headphones, like Apple’s AirPods, you’ll be able to join them to your Hearth TV Stick by navigating to Settings > Remotes & Bluetooth Units > Different Bluetooth Units. From there, allow pairing in your Bluetooth headphones or earbuds, and you’ll join them proper to your Hearth TV Stick. Since I’ve began utilizing my Hearth TV Stick at my desk close to my PC, I’ve discovered this extremely useful for listening to my PC’s audio (linked through USB-C) and my Hearth TV Stick (through Bluetooth) concurrently with my SteelSeries Arctis 7 Nova headset. It is an effective way to observe TV late at evening with out disturbing anybody else in your family with loud noises.

3

Use your cellphone as a distant

Cannot discover the distant? Your cellphone can clear up that drawback

I just like the Alexa Voice Distant that Amazon consists of with its Hearth TV Sticks, however generally it isn’t essentially the most handy to search out or choose up. I’ve a foul behavior of leaving my distant midway throughout the room or within the kitchen, which is problematic after I sit down to observe one thing, and my cat instantly jumps on my lap, and it would not want to be moved. Fortunately, I all the time have my cellphone in my pocket, and if in case you have the Hearth TV app, you need to use it as a distant on your Hearth TV Stick.

The Hearth TV app is offered on each iOS and Android. When you obtain it, you may be given the choice to attach it to your close by Hearth TV Stick. As soon as linked, your cellphone’s display screen turns right into a distant, displaying a person interface similar to your bodily distant — full with the navigation dial and all of the button instructions you want, reminiscent of residence, pause/play, rewind, and ahead. You’ll be able to even quick-launch apps in your Hearth TV Stick straight from the Hearth TV app, like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+, or some other app you select to pin. The Hearth TV app is completely free to obtain, so it is price testing for those who like the thought and the added comfort of utilizing your cellphone as a distant management.

4

Mute featured content material

No extra audio bounce scares

Each from time to time, I used to get bounce scared by my Hearth TV’s residence display screen after I by chance hovered over one of many sponsored exhibits or adverts Amazon has on its homepage within the featured content material tab, as these are set to play with audio by default. If you happen to’re like me and would relatively not have your Hearth TV Stick immediately play audio with out you clicking on a present or film to observe, it is fairly easy to repair.

To cease computerized audio playback in your Hearth TV Stick, head to Settings > Preferences > Featured Content material. From there, you may see two choices: Permit Video AutoPlay and Permit Audio Autoplay. By default, each of those are set to on, however for those who’d desire to not hear it or have it play any video in any respect for featured content material on the homepage, you’ll be able to set each to off.

5

Play video games from the cloud

Xbox Cloud Gaming is not unhealthy for single-player titles on the Hearth TV Stick

Bethesda

After I purchased my Amazon Hearth TV Stick 4K Max, I knew it might assist cloud gaming via the Xbox app, however I by no means tried it, fearing it could be too laggy. Lately, I scored a deal on an Xbox Sport Go Final subscription for a month, so I made a decision to attempt Xbox Cloud Gaming and see the way it performs. To my shock, taking part in Xbox video games on the Hearth TV Stick is not that unhealthy.

To be clear, would I play aggressive multiplayer video games on it? Completely not. However for chill single-player titles like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the expertise wasn’t too unhealthy. Sure, there’s a tiny little bit of latency, and your expertise might range relying in your web pace (Xbox recommends utilizing 5GHz Wi-Fi with not less than 20 Mbps pace for optimum efficiency), however it was playable. My largest gripe is that the Xbox app itself will be considerably laggy when trying to find video games to play, however I consider that is because of the limitations of the Hearth TV Stick’s {hardware}.

If you happen to personal a Hearth TV Stick and do not have a gaming console, however wish to play new video games, Xbox Cloud Gaming is price making an attempt, and I consider the expertise will solely enhance as Microsoft continues to refine it. Simply remember that you may want a wi-fi Bluetooth controller to play, reminiscent of an Xbox controller, Sony DualShock 4, or Nintendo Change Professional Controller, and an Xbox Sport Go Final subscription (which prices $20/month). You’ll be able to play it with cheaper Sport Go subscription tiers, however you’ve to join the Xbox Insiders program. You’ll be able to play video games via the cloud through Amazon Luna in your Hearth TV Stick, however I feel the Xbox app is the higher alternative on account of its bigger catalog of video games.