Amazon quietly scraps popular Fire TV feature in new update, but there is a fix

(Image credit: Amazon)

The latest Fire TV software update has removed a popular feature
You can no longer hide unwanted apps on your homescreen
It's possible to restore the functionality with an app called atvTools

Amazon isn't a stranger to quietly removing Fire TV features or breaking their functionality with software updates – and it's just struck again in the latest firmware push for its popular streaming gadgets.

A new Fire TV update, which has rolled out to first-gen and second-gen Fire TV Sticks among other devices, has removed the option of hiding apps on your homescreen (as spotted by AFTVNews).That means you're now stuck with a cluttered grid of apps you probably don't want, with no option to make them disappear.

Previously, you'd be able to press the 'context' button on a Fire TV remote (the one with three horizontal lines) and see the option to 'hide from your apps'. While it's possible to uninstall third-party apps, you can't do this for Amazon's own apps like Freevee or Prime Video. Thanks, Amazon.

The further bad news is that this also means that apps from other user profiles that you've set up on your Fire TV device will be shown across all user profiles. Unfortunately, there's evidence on the likes of Reddit that this downgrade has also hit other Fire TV Sticks including the more recent Fire TV Stick 4K Max.

The workaround

The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2023) home screen interface (Image credit: Future)

Fire TV Stick owners are becoming increasingly disgruntled with Amazon's software updates, which sometimes feel user-hostile – like last year's firmware that broke a number of popular third-party apps.

Fortunately, there does seem to be a workaround (for now) that lets you again hide apps that you don't want to see on your homescreen. As outlined by the YouTuber TechDoctorUK,the third-party app atvTools (available for Android and iOS) restores your ability to remove unwanted homescreen apps, albeit in a more long-winded way than before.

To do that with atvTools, open the app and connect to your Fire TV device. Now go the apps list, search for the app you want to remove from your homescreen, tap the three dots, and choose the 'disable' option. Once you refresh the apps grid on your Fire TV, the app should now have been hidden.

This likely won't be the last time we hear of Amazon disabling Fire TV Stick features, as Amazon has previously defended some updates in the name of improving security on Fire TV devices. If you're getting tired of these kinds of updates, it could be worth looking at alternatives like the Nvidia Shield TV Pro (see below), which just got a rare discount on Amazon US.

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Mark is TechRadar's Senior news editor. Having worked in tech journalism for a ludicrous 17 years, Mark is now attempting to break the world record for the number of camera bags hoarded by one person. He was previously Cameras Editor at both TechRadar and Trusted Reviews, Acting editor on Stuff.tv, as well as Features editor and Reviews editor on Stuff magazine. As a freelancer, he's contributed to titles including The Sunday Times, FourFourTwo and Arena. And in a former life, he also won The Daily Telegraph's Young Sportswriter of the Year. But that was before he discovered the strange joys of getting up at 4am for a photo shoot in London's Square Mile.