Amazon promises at least 4 years of security updates for Fire TV hardware
Amazon Fire TV hardware, such as the newly released Amazon Fire TV Stick 4k Max, will be supported for at least 4 years by Amazon.
Amazon Fire TV devices are powered by Google's Android operating system. Guaranteed support periods differ widely between Android device manufacturers, with some devices receiving two years or even less of support.
Recent sustainability trends have improved the situation, but support periods are not streamlined still on Android.
Amazon releases new Fire TV hardware regularly, and customers may wonder for how long their purchased devices are supported by the company.
Amazon answers the question on the official Amazon Fire TV Software Security Updates page on the company's website.
The most important sentence is right at the top:
Amazon Fire TV streaming media devices, Fire TV Recast, Smart TVs, and Soundbars with Fire TV built-in receive guaranteed software security updates for at least four years after the device is last available for purchase on our websites.
It confirms that Amazon will support its devices by at least four years. Support means that the company will release security updates for the devices in the support period.
The "at least" term indicates that the support period may be longer. Amazon does not count the period from the first day of availability, but from the last day of availability. If a device is sold for two years, it will be supported by Amazon with security updates for a total of six years (2 years of availability, and 4 years of support after the device is no longer sold by Amazon).
All major Fire TV Stick devices released since 2016 will be supported at least until 2025. The 2016 released Fire TV Stick Basic Edition has a support period of nine years because of that. Some devices, like this year's Fire TV Stick 4K Max, are still on sale and its support phase can't be determined right now because of that.
Fire TV owners can check for updates in the following way:
New interface
- Select Main Menu > Settings.
- Open My Fire TV.
- Select About. The device lists the currently installed version and the last time an update check was run.
- Select Check for Updates.
- If an update is found, select Install Update to upgrade your device.
Old interface
- Select Main Menu > Settings.
- Pick My Fire TV.
- Select About.
- Click install update or check for update.
Closing Words
Amazon does not reveal functional update information on its website. These bring new features and improvements to existing hardware, e.g. a new interface or support for a new format. Fire TV devices may become obsolete before the official support period ends; this may be the cause for low-power Fire TV stick devices, as they may deteriorate more when it comes to performance than newer versions.
Still, a minimum of four years of support, helps customers make educated buying decisions.
Now You: do you own Fire TV hardware? (via Deskmodder)
Four years of updates? Is that supposed to be an enticement to buy? Four years goes by in the blink of an eye!
It’s like some people don’t read and just reply.
Read again and realise.
What does he need to read again? The article clearly says 4 years.
Four years after the last time the stick is sold in the Amazon store. Typically Amazon will sell FireTV sticks for 2-3 years. So if you buy one at launch you will get 6-7 years of updates
Nobody who cares about privacy uses these spyware sticks.
Only 4 years that crazy short.
Let say a 4k tv will live for 10 years. Does 10 years not sound much more appropriate?
Everything is becoming more and more of a throw-away society, selling products that you are supposed to replace after four years, while the life cycle is much longer.
I now have to replace my current TV after more than 30 years of loyal service. I will miss it, because the current 4k OLED screens are hardly comparable in terms of quality of colors.
The word ‘environment’ is a word that Google seems to be able to put together with the letters available in the alphabet.
It is very strange for a company that boasts that it is the letter company.
You are an outlier in using a TV for more than 30 years. Literally nobody else does that.
In any case you can’t compare the lifespan of a streaming stick to that of a TV that costs 10-20 times as much. With the advances in technology the streaming stick will be obsolete in 5 years anyway, most people will have upgraded by then. The sticks are so cheap that it is a neglible cost to spend another $25 in a few years time
my best computer? 10 years+ and still works
pc I bought 2 yrs ago – broke and useless
newest computer? refurbed machine which actually has slots!!!! WOW what progress!!!
tech keeps sucking more and more
I am ready to join the amish
using a tv that long? not long at all – at least with our former long lifespans. wish I had my old tv – LED kills my eyes and anyone watching tv on wireless is a pure idiot in my book – slow, bad picture quality – not to mention you gleefully nuke your own brain in the process
progress? what progress? you think nothing of throwing metal, chips, rare earth resources in the bin????
I WANT MY OLD TV AND ANTENNA BACK!!!!!!
and now I see the I(&Ts at FIREFOX have been tracking me all along – despite my constant cookie management –
screw all this big biz fascist spyware
bring back the 1980s