Develop Bugs

[Q] Fire TV in UK

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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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...
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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!
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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.

[Q] Should I get the Amazon Fire TV?

First things first, I live in Canada. I did get the Roku, but a lot of the apps don't work. I would like to use the apps that are locked to the US region so I was gonna use services like Unblock-Us, but it turns out I am using an incompatible router and unable to do that. So, I though, "Oh, why don't I get the Amazon Fire TV, I mean, its android." I can root it, install a VPN service, and use all the US restricted services. Would it be worth it? I mean I was thinking of using Hotspot Shield, if it works on Amazon Fire TV (I don't really want to spend money on a vpn). Theirs also the problem of the main focus being amazon prime, which I wont be using, the terrible keyboard, and the fact I have to cross the border to get it. Anyway, would it be worth it?
P.S. Would a USB 4-port extender work on the Fire TV?

Quick answer is yes! you should buy it!
I'm in Ireland and all I use a Smart DNS provider All I have to do is change DNS. No messing around with VPNs or routers. HBO, Showtime, Amazon Price, NBCSports, etc all working fine.

I got one of those 4-port USB extenders and it works.
Mine is made by Targus.

I live in Canada and using unblock.us I have been able to use the Fire TV to its full capabilities. The only issues as of now being A&E, and History and a couple other native Fire TV apps won't load and just crash to the desktop. Other than that all apps I have downloaded and sideloaded work great, including XBMC of course. I have the DNS settings set up through my router (netgear) and then it works with all devices. If you can replace the router that would be the easiest as they are relatively inexpensive. I have had Boxee's, Roku's, and Apple TV's and find the Fire TV to far superior to all of them.

DaltonHeintz said:
First things first, I live in Canada. I did get the Roku, but a lot of the apps don't work. I would like to use the apps that are locked to the US region so I was gonna use services like Unblock-Us, but it turns out I am using an incompatible router and unable to do that. So, I though, "Oh, why don't I get the Amazon Fire TV, I mean, its android." I can root it, install a VPN service, and use all the US restricted services. Would it be worth it? I mean I was thinking of using Hotspot Shield, if it works on Amazon Fire TV (I don't really want to spend money on a vpn). Theirs also the problem of the main focus being amazon prime, which I wont be using, the terrible keyboard, and the fact I have to cross the border to get it. Anyway, would it be worth it?
P.S. Would a USB 4-port extender work on the Fire TV?
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Click to collapse
I had a WD Live Plus and then a Ouya....now got the AFTV...huge difference. Of all 3, this is by far the most responsive and with a few exceptions, easy to set up.
Ultimately you don't necessarily need root (save for USB attached drive usage) - so at the very least Netflix + XBMC should cover all your needs.
I will say that I was able to run OpenVPN client on Ouya and I cannot do that on AFTV - but Hola works fine, or the router OpenVPN client tweaked to tunnel only AFTV traffic.
in your case it seems that Hola would be the easy way out...the beauty is that it works per app.

Really? That's great! I guess I'm crossing the border for it

Just do it
Yes get one they just work.
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.
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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
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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.

Fire tv 2nd gen and vpn

Hello, I need a vpn working with amazon fireTv stick. I have installed NordVpn on my router but amazon prime and netflix works on pc only, and not on amazon fire stick. It can see the vpn and doesn't permit streaming. I need a VPN that have a working server in Italy cause i use italian streaming almost time. Do anyone know a full forking vpn with these characteristic?
Is it possible to hyde vpn to amazon fire stick without disable it on my router?
I see that is possible to root amazon fire tv stick. Routing is it possible to install netflix or amazon prime apk not from amazon store? (now I can install apk, but it does't permit amazon prime and netflix if not from amazon store).
Thank you!

michelaangelini said:
Hello, I need a vpn working with amazon fireTv stick. I have installed NordVpn on my router but amazon prime and netflix works on pc only, and not on amazon fire stick. It can see the vpn and doesn't permit streaming. I need a VPN that have a working server in Italy cause i use italian streaming almost time. Do anyone know a full forking vpn with these characteristic?
Is it possible to hyde vpn to amazon fire stick without disable it on my router?
I see that is possible to root amazon fire tv stick. Routing is it possible to install netflix or amazon prime apk not from amazon store? (now I can install apk, but it does't permit amazon prime and netflix if not from amazon store).
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just buy a subscription with one of the main advertised vpns, some apps will not let you access with a VPN though but you can tunnel those as the ones it doesn't work with like prime etc I don't see why you'd need a VPN anyway