[Q] Fire TV in UK - Fire TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have an Amazon Fire TV imported from the US,,, Is it possible to use my UK Prime Instant Video account? I can link it up to my UK account (the apps seems to reflect this) but I seem to be seing US Movie/TV content. Also no way to set timezone to UK.
Any views?

(sorry m8 I'd never noticed the default list of TZs was so dang restricted...)

ipxsystems said:
I have an Amazon Fire TV imported from the US,,, Is it possible to use my UK Prime Instant Video account? I can link it up to my UK account (the apps seems to reflect this) but I seem to be seing US Movie/TV content. Also no way to set timezone to UK.
Any views?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi buddy i'm in the same boat as you.... If you figure out how to change the time let me know.

imtiajmeah said:
Hi buddy i'm in the same boat as you.... If you figure out how to change the time let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the Netherlands, got this problem as well. Opened the Amazon settings apk, and those few time zones are hardcoded in the app/xml, so looks that amazon doesn't have any outside US plans for now.
Sideloaded a default Android Setting apk, but switching time zones didn't stick, same as via adb shell setprop persist.sys.timezone, so think we'll need to wait for root access to make it stick.

I installed "Time Zone Changer" from the playstore, worked for me, +2 GMT, even after reboot.

ipxsystems said:
I have an Amazon Fire TV imported from the US,,, Is it possible to use my UK Prime Instant Video account? I can link it up to my UK account (the apps seems to reflect this) but I seem to be seing US Movie/TV content. Also no way to set timezone to UK.
Any views?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there,
So are you saying that you have an amazon.co.uk account, but the Fire TV prime movies on your box are the USA movies? (I think that means you get about 2x as many choices AFAIK... which is fantastic. So is that true?
Also, how about NetFlix, is that UK or USA content?
tx
Mark.

..

JJ-KwiK said:
Everything on the FireTV is region restricted to the US. Including Prime, Netflix and Hulu. If you try from any other region, like UK or Canada as an example, you'll get an error msg when you try to load a video. The only way to get around the error is to use a VPN. So far, vpn apk's, like Hola, don't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Holy crap, so why are some people buying it in the UK on eBay... Some sellers saying it's UK ready...
Perhaps we'll get lucky with an Android TV announcement at Google IO.
Mark
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Here is my experience so far...
If you use a service like SmartDNS or Unblock-US, you can watch Netflix from anywhere in the world using your UK Netflix account. No need for VPNs. The services costs an extra $5 a month but worth it. Works great on all devices, including my Fire TV.
The service also works a treat for Hulu, but the Fire TV app is for Hulu. This needs a US credit card to subscribe.
For Amazon Instant Video (the pay to rent/buy service), you need a US Amazon.com account and a US credit card. You can use a service like US Unlocked (not to be confused with Unblock-US mentioned above ) which lets you register for a virtual US credit card with a US billing address and works great on Amazon and Vudu. Been using it a few years, but it does require a huge leap of faith to sign up for it - you need to send bank details etc for initial setup. I haven't had any issues so far, but appreciate many won't want to do this.
You can probably also get Amazon.com vouchers but have not tried this for Instant Video . Lots of sites sell them
The kick in the teeth for me is Amazon Prime and not having access to the UK service. On the Fire TV it's not an app that you launch so to speak, it's integrated into the menus. Everything that is served is the US content. Unlike Netflix, which uses the same app to server different content based on your region, Amazon has different apps for each region.
So to get UK Prime content, we need a UK version of the app sideloaded. At least that's my conclusion. The best version would be the Google TV apk (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.avod) and there are some discussion around about ripping it, but I don't think anyone succeeded. We would also need it to be the UK version of the app.
As an example, on PS3, to get UK Prime, I need the app from the US PSN store, and for US Prime you need the one from the US PSN store.
The other challenge is sideloading it. I tried sideloading this Amazon Instant APK just as a test, and I got an error saying com.amazon.avod already installed, which is the main Prime app on the Fire TV. Someone much smarter than me would need to figure out how to change the name of the app/package so it can be installed alongside each other. Even if you could, this app won't work anyway to get UK content (or even work at all with a remote), but it's one step closer if we can get two versions of the Amazon app installed side by side.
Hope that helps someone somewhere It's still a great piece of kit - only thing I'm missing is UK Prime.
Cheers

eskay993 said:
Here is my experience so far...
If you use a service like SmartDNS or Unblock-US, you can watch Netflix from anywhere in the world using your UK Netflix account. No need for VPNs. The services costs an extra $5 a month but worth it. Works great on all devices, including my Fire TV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does Netflix UK work for you? Mine (also using Unblock Us) does show the content, and can navigate, but will refuse to play movies. It will start loading but then stalls after about 40% loading.
adb logcat gives java cert errors.

JPDeckers said:
Does Netflix UK work for you? Mine (also using Unblock Us) does show the content, and can navigate, but will refuse to play movies. It will start loading but then stalls after about 40% loading.
adb logcat gives java cert errors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm you're right. I've been mostly watching US and only tested accessing UK content, not playing. Tried playing and it stalls at 40%.
As a test, I tried a different Netflix apk that I found and it works fine in terms of playing the movie, but this apk is designed for touchscreen and a bit crappy to use with the Fire TV remote.
So, either it's a bug with v1.0.1 of Netflix which comes with the Fire TV, or it' an extra region check they've added, which sucks. I suspect it's just a bug/restriction of this old version.
If we can find a version Netflix apk that works well with a remote, then this would be solved. Unfortunately most results that come up are for touch screens.
Sooo close to being the perfect box! Hopefully someone can figure out a way round it.
Cheers
UPDATE: Netflix UK now works for me as I mention below.

Unfortunately I haven't found a way around this. I am in the UK and bought a Fire TV whilst in the US. When returning none of the videos play, none of the applications load (apart from the ones I've sideloaded).
It is still useful, as I put XBMC on there but it would be great to be able to use an Amazon Prime UK account or even just set the timezone without faffing about.

boxst said:
Unfortunately I haven't found a way around this. I am in the UK and bought a Fire TV whilst in the US. When returning none of the videos play, none of the applications load (apart from the ones I've sideloaded).
It is still useful, as I put XBMC on there but it would be great to be able to use an Amazon Prime UK account or even just set the timezone without faffing about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plex works i use it everyday on fire tv,even with the things that dont work yet in the uk for the price and gta games working great it is a brilliant box.

JPDeckers said:
Does Netflix UK work for you? Mine (also using Unblock Us) does show the content, and can navigate, but will refuse to play movies. It will start loading but then stalls after about 40% loading.
adb logcat gives java cert errors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if it's something I inadvertently did, or something that changed server side at Netflix/Amazon, but Netflix UK now works on my Fire TV! I tried US, Mexico and UK and all movies and TV shows play (no longer get stuck at 40%). Worth trying it again if you were having trouble before.
All that's left now is for the new Netflix client (coming soon later in the year) and for a way to get Amazon UK, and I'm sorted!

eskay993 said:
Not sure if it's something I inadvertently did, or something that changed server side at Netflix/Amazon, but Netflix UK now works on my Fire TV!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed, somewhere around the last firmware update, Netflix started working! Uninstalled the sideloaded version, because this client is actually usable. Now wait for the updated one, but already really helps in usability.

Related

FireTV & Netflix with Unblock US

I have an Amazon FireTV, am based in the netherlands.
It supports the Unblock US DNS solution when using the US, CA, MX, BR, AR & CO netflix versions, however all other countries (NL, UK, IRL, SW, DK, NO, FI) not. I tried them all
adb logcat shows request for playing via:
I/chromium( 5023): ", source: http s://secure.netflix.com/us/htmltvui/release-CadmiumSlim-218/cadmium_slim/p/720p/html/plus.html?platform_id=nero&video_height=1080&e=AMZNST2013-00002-000XXXXX&nettype=WIFI&setVideoSizeElement=true&build_id=JDQ39&build_time=1396217919000&version_release=4.2.2&version_incremental=1.0&video_width=1920&clearVideoSrc=true (0)
and then an
I/X509Util( 5023): Failed to validate the certificate chain, error: java.security.cert.CertPathValidatorException: Trust anchor for certification path not found
error
So, a nice certificate path error. Looks like Amazon has hardcoded? the certs for the Americas only...
It uses the HTML5 interface, first request is via
http s://uiboot.netflix.com/apps/cadmiumtvui/upgrade_policy?v=2.0&first_boot=true&platform_id=nero&version_release=4.2.2&version_
incremental=1.0&build_id=JDQ39&build_time=1396217919000&nettype=ETHERNET&video_height=1080&video_width=1920
For me, this kinda suck, as I toggle often between US & NL versions, but this info can be helpful for those that want the US/Americas versions.
Sideloaded netflix apk does work , but that is touch/mouse based and I can't select season episodes with the FireTV remote (movie selection works good though, but yu also can't search w/ the remote, thus limited in functionality). A workaround is starting it on my phone, then immediatly stop it, start the sideloaded version and continue watching. But that is suboptimal, to say the least (but allows me to watch the spisodes on my FireTV, can leave the AppleTV detached).
WAF is sub-zero with this solution, as you might guess...
Will be waiting for root to see if I can get into the /data folder to see what we can do about this.
How are you setting your Unblock-us settings, in the router or the Amazon Fire TV network settings?
They may provide different results.
uluxus said:
How are you setting your Unblock-us settings, in the router or the Amazon Fire TV network settings?
They may provide different results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have them set on router level, also tried w/ full local settings, as well as setting FireTV hard to the Google DNS (so not using unblock us) for trying the NL Netflix, same results.
smart dns
There are plenty of smart dns out there right now. They are not created equal, some wont' work with your isp and some will. Most of them have free trial. You can try before subscribing. For me I'm with trickbyte for a while without problem at all. Support is great too.
If you watch only netflix and hulu, no need to spend $5/month like that. I'm using trickbyte.com it's only $2.99/month. You can save money and get the get the great quality. My dearest friend recommend me trickbyte for $2.99/month I enjoyed watching movies from US without worrying bandwidth.
Non US Netflix working after latest firmware update, ie SW and so on...
hajolo said:
Non US Netflix working after latest firmware update, ie SW and so on...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works with mine as well now, but, my FTV hasnt been updated yet! So looks like Amazon/netflix has pushed/changed something.
My Netflix version is still on v1.0.1, so guess it's a change on the server side of Netflix
JPDeckers said:
Works with mine as well now, but, my FTV hasnt been updated yet! So looks like Amazon/netflix has pushed/changed something.
My Netflix version is still on v1.0.1, so guess it's a change on the server side of Netflix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hola app in the play store works good to unblock Netflix for me, free and easy to do.
..
nhumber said:
Hola app in the play store works good to unblock Netflix for me, free and easy to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem wasn't with unblocking Netflix (I use another service for that), but with that Netflix Certificates weren't installed for the EU countries. Resulting in the app being unable to stream movies / series. But that has been changed on the Netflix end recently.
And as I want to switch between multiple Netflix countries, hola wasn't really a solution anyways for me. But, YMMV.
JJ-KwiK said:
What? How?
Gives the error msg "Error trying to show the Android 4.0+ VPN service dialog".
I haven't updated to the newest FTV firmware yet. Have you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all i did was install it from the play store, open it, select the unblock option, i left the accelerator off, then you select the netflix app from further down the list, look for the icon as the app name is amazon specific. if you pick the netflix from the top, it will download the standard mobile version, not sure if thats working or not, didnt try.
hope that helps. still on the 51.0.0.1 or whatever the first OS is.
..
JJ-KwiK said:
Yea, I'm getting an error when I try that. WTF... lol
What version of the app do you have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually, i sideloaded the netflix ftv app from a thread here since im out of country, after i installed it, it wouldnt start and said i had to purchase it.. so i visited the US amazon app store from my PC and purchased it there and it just started working after that.. then i did the hola thing and it also worked.

Netflix outside of US?

I'm in Australia and have Netflix working fine on my Roku 3 using a DNS service. But I'm not sure how to install Netflix on the Fire TV. I can't install from the Fire TV app store, as it says I'm in the wrong region (tried with hola in by browser too, but still the same deal).
I sideloaded the standard Netflix app from the play store, but I can't make selections because it's a touch based app, unless there's a workaround for this I don't know about? Also read though, that the quality is limited in this app.
I thought maybe the GTV Netflix app may work? I can't find an apk to test this though.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
Im in Bermuda and when i first tried installing netflix i got the wrong region message as well. After i put in my DNS i was able to get it. Dont know why but it worked. Have you tried getting it from the amazon website? You can choose to "deliver" it to your device. You may get lucky.
Thanks for the reply. I've managed to register US amazon.com account, previously amazon was telling me my account was registered on amazon.com.au - so I will try changing the account details on the FireTV tonight and see how it goes.
No problem getting Netflix app on the device after I have a US Amazon account.

[Q] Q] Does the amazon fire tv work outside US without VPN?

Hi!
I want to know if the Amazon Fire TV works outside US without VPN.
Can I buy an US Amazon Fire TV to use Netflix in Belgium (because now it's available)?
Can I add some application from Google Play?
Of course, for using Google Play I will root the device.
Thanks !
Belegkarnil said:
Hi!
I want to know if the Amazon Fire TV works outside US without VPN.
Can I buy an US Amazon Fire TV to use Netflix in Belgium (because now it's available)?
Can I add some application from Google Play?
Of course, for using Google Play I will root the device.
Thanks !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live in the Netherlands. Yes, you can use the FTV outside the US. Except that all the &*#&@*&# Amazon services
like Prime etc. don't work unless your IP is in either Germany, US or UK. Same thing for e.g. Hulu+. I didn't try VPN
yet. On my Fritzbox DSL modem it's a bit of a pain to configure VPN.
AFAIK, Netflix works ok. I tried one movie I think when I got the FTV last week. I'm mostly using my AppleTV for
Netflix, because I find the interface much easier to navigate. On the FTV, Netflix is using the same interface as e.g.
on SmartTV (e.g. Philips) or the PS3/PS4.
Firmware updates also arrive from Amazon. This week I got the latest and now I can't root the FTV. That was not
so much of a deal, because my main purpose was a good (cheap) Android/ARM based box to use XBMC/Kodi.
I think via eBay I paid ~80 euros for it.
In XBMC, 1080p MKVs with DD+/TrueHD/DTS work provided you use Kodi 14.0 (still in alpha). Bitstreaming to an
external receiver is ok. You can easily sideload XBMC via adb.
You're limited to the Amazon appstore. I think it's possible to download a apk from Google Play, then sideload it. Only issue
is that it (probably) won't show up in the launcher/homescreen of the FTV, so you have to start the app via the settings
menu.
I got Amazon prime to work just using a smart DNS provider (didn't change my IP). it was a while ago so can't remember exactly how I did it. I have a valid US account/credit card and address. Think I had to enable 1-click to buy an episode or even to watch the trailers/free episodes.
Yes, Fire TV, the device itself, works outside of the US; but many of the streaming services will not (Hulu plus, Pandora, Beats Music ...) because of the complicated copyright laws. If all you want is to watch Netflix in Belgium, Fire TV purchased from US will work for you with no problem. If later you decide to go through the hassle of rooting your Fire TV, you may consider installing the VPN on it as well. That way, you will have access to more apps and services such as: Spotify, A&E etc.
Belegkarnil said:
Hi!
I want to know if the Amazon Fire TV works outside US without VPN.
Can I buy an US Amazon Fire TV to use Netflix in Belgium (because now it's available)?
Can I add some application from Google Play?
Of course, for using Google Play I will root the device.
Thanks !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you all !
Not only Netflix but for the Amazon application yes. I plan to install some applications on Google Play to watch local channels.
Works well down under
Works very well, as mentioned.
Can side load apps.
Easy to set up a DNS to view the world as you may require.
Cheers

Latest Amazon fire stick with smart vpn - will iplayer apps etc show up? :)

Hi,
I'm outside the UK. Using a smart VPN service, will apps like iPlayer, all4 etc show up or are Amazon too clever for that? Does anyone have any experience using the fire stick outside UK/US. Set up should be nor problem, I'm fairly technical.
Background: I already have a smart VPN service and have an new Android TV (Sony). The issue is that on the TV, apps like BBC iplayer don't show up - I have sideloaded the normal one but have to use a mouse.
Many thanks
:good: :fingers-crossed:
If you have an amazon account set to the region you want the apps from you'll be fine, I recently purchased a fire tv, for us over here in Korea and I used my UK account to download the UK apps I wanted, such as iPlayer, ITV Hub etc and then online I switched my UK account to US region setting, pretty easy to do, you don't need a VPN to download the apps, only when using them to watch content on. Hope this helps.
jupinkorea said:
If you have an amazon account set to the region you want the apps from you'll be fine, I recently purchased a fire tv, for us over here in Korea and I used my UK account to download the UK apps I wanted, such as iPlayer, ITV Hub etc and then online I switched my UK account to US region setting, pretty easy to do, you don't need a VPN to download the apps, only when using them to watch content on. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks very much! Gives me some hope. Currently using a Sony Android TV and I have no iPlayer etc working ..
The only way I got vpn working with kodi was to use vpn on my phone, have kodi on my phone, then mirracast it to your aftv then watch which ever addon from which ever region you like. I also tried putting a vpn on my fire stick but it just crashed everytime I loaded it, but it wasn't rooted. Will try again Once my aftv 2 it's rooted!
(Update)
No still no VPN even though I now have root, never mind

Is it possible to bypass a fire stick V1 or V2 as he basic edition

Some countries like mine, Mexico, Just received Amazon Prime Video service a couple months back and with it they started selling what they called Fire TV basic, which is no other than a rebranded Fire stick V1, as far as i know. The problem is that it seems their Prime video on those countries, Mexico in my case but i believe is the same in any other country as far as i have read in the forums, doesnt work with any other Fire TV device but the basic they sell. I have a fire TV stick V1 and one V2 and I configure them on my Mexican Amazon Prime Video but every time I tried to start a video I get an error that this video is not configured to run in my country. I can see and play the video using their android app and a laptop.
I contacted my country amazon services and they told me that only the basic edition will run their service and that no other fire TV service will be able to do this. So they tell me to buy it instead than helping me with the devices I already have. The device they sell cost around 70 dlls even when is a simple Fire Stick that includes the old remote, not even the one with voice. I really find this weird they should care what device I use to see a service I am paying from but I guess they only cares about to make money.
I dont know if there will be any way to bypass whatever they are doing?
I had the same problem here in Brazil. My brother-in-law, who lives in the US, gifted me his old Fire Stick v1 when he came to visit us last month. As an Amazon Prime Video subscriber a I logged with my brazilian Amazon account. The device was added to my account without any problems. But when I turn it on, it still shows the US Prime Video on the main menu and I can't watch any movies or shows, even the ones that are available in Brazil.
Contacted the customer service and the guy (who was very nice and attentive) told me that the firmware on the brazilian Fire Stick (that is sold here too as Basic Edition ) is slightly different from the US device and this is why I can't use brazilian Prime Video with a US Fire Stick.
I find it amusing that Amazon makes it so hard to watch Prime Video, going to an opposite way they do with the Kindle device and service. Is easier to watch Netflix on the Amazon device, as I still can install apps and do everything else, than to watch Amazon's own service.
Because of this ability to install apps, I found a workaround using the native browser to access the Prime video web app. It's not the ideal solution and it's still annoying to see US content and ads on the main screen.
Iv no idea if this will work but you can try using a vpn but only the firestick v2 supports vpn apps - they will not work on the v1
TheFixItMan said:
Iv no idea if this will work but you can try using a vpn but only the firestick v2 supports vpn apps - they will not work on the v1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks but it is not a problem a VPN can fix. We want to actually access our local Amazon Prime library so no need for the VPN. I can access the USA library with my USA prime account, which I pay as well, for this the VPN works perfectly. Some how Amazon is blocking any other fire tv version but the basic they sell locally at an exorbitant price. You can access the local library using a browser, an android device, xbox or psp, but not an American fire tv, thats crazy.

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