There’s no denying that the Amazon Fire TV Stick device is a great way to stream the latest content for free. It’s super easy to use because you can simply plug and play.
With that said, you may want to optimize your device and speed up Firestick. In that case, you’ll love the following tips on how to do just that. Read on for actionable tips that you can use to speed up Firestick.
What Causes Your Firestick to Get So Slow?
The two main causes behind a slow Amazon Fire TV Stick device include:
- An overstuffed device
- An overheated device
It’s unfortunate that these devices are vulnerable to overheating and it’s a well-known problem that continues to plague Firestick and Fire TV Stick users to this day.
Usually, the first component to get affected by overheating is the Wi-Fi part. That’s what causes the loss in connectivity and slow loading speeds.
Even for those who’re able to maintain a Wi-Fi connection through overheating, the problem might cause your device to spontaneously restart. A warning message will appear on the screen and if you don’t do anything about it, then your device will automatically start rebooting itself.
How to Speed Up Your Firestick in Simple Steps
The good news is there are a few settings that you can turn to in order to speed up Firestick. These primarily work by minimizing device CPU loads in order to regulate temperature and eventually, speed up Firestick.
1. Use a Secure VPN
We all know that government agencies and advertising agencies are constantly monitoring our online behavior and this can be an uncomfortable thought to live with.
That’s why an increasing number of people are using VPNs in order to prevent geo-blocking, data throttling, identity theft, and data theft. Most VPNs offer an all-in-one solution to most online threats and they’re compatible with most digital devices.
2. Turn Off Notifications
Every Firestick device comes with certain notifications. For instance, the Amazon Appstore offers notifications related to services like app updates. Meanwhile, all the apps within your device are busy generating their own notifications including the latest content and breaking news.
1. To switch these notifications off, go to Settings, followed by Applications.
2. Click on Appstore.
3. Scroll down and click on Notifications.
4. Turn off Notifications.
To disable individual notifications, go to Settings, followed by Preferences.
Click on Notifications Settings.
Go to App Notifications and click on each app you don’t want to receive notifications from.
3. Disable Video and Sound Autoplay
Your Amazon Fire Stick device automatically uses your home screen’s Featured section to provide you with videos which its algorithm thinks you’ll like. Left to their own devices, these videos will play in an endless loop.
But you can disable this feature to help speed up Firestick. Simply go to Settings, followed by Preferences and click on Featured Content.
Switch off the options that say Allow Sound Autoplay and Allow Video Autoplay.
4. Deactivate Automatic Updates
It’s important for your device to get automatic updates. This helps to ensure that you enjoy all the latest security patches and other features.
However, enabling automatic updates means that they’re always running in the background. Why not switch automatic updates off to speed up Firestick?
That way, you can just process them manually when you have time.
2. Click on Appstore.
3. Switch off Automatic Updates.
Don’t forget to make sure you’re operating the latest version of each app before you disable its updates.
5. Don’t Allow Data Collection
The Amazon Fire TV Stick device is designed to gather as much information as possible about each user.
Disabling these settings will not only boost your device’s security but also speed up Firestick.
The settings related to disabling data collection are contained in the Data Monitoring and Privacy menus.
Head over to Settings, followed by Preferences and Data Monitoring so you can switch off each individual setting.
6. Get Rid of All Apps and Data You Don’t Use
It goes without saying that it’s crucial to switch off any app that’s not in regular use.
This will free up a lot of space in your device while eliminating background processes that eat up its bandwidth. This significantly cools down the device.
Don’t be shy to use one of the reliable Android cleaning apps to get rid of used files as well. It’s worth noting that you should proceed with caution when using any of these apps because they can be harmful.
But there’s no native alternative from Fire TV Stick so this is the best that you can do for now.
These apps are great for getting rid of advertising content, log files, old app files, and outdated APK files.
7. Disable Services You Don’t Need
The Firestick comes with a lot of built-in Amazon services including Whispersync and Prime Photos.
Prime Photos offers a wide range of photo storage options which Whispersync tracks gaming data including high scores and progress on all of your Amazon devices.
If you’re not into either of these services, then it might be a good idea to switch them off.
To disable Prime Photos, head to Settings, followed by Applications, Prime Photos and then switch off Access Prime Photos and Allow Guest Connections.
To switch off Whispersync, visit Settings, followed by Applications, Game Circle and then Whispersync for Games.
8. Use the Original Charging Cable and Power Adaptor
A common mistake that people make is charging their Firestick device on a spare laptop or TV USB port. These are inferior power sources for your device that will compromise its performance and they won’t charge it as quickly or efficiently as a wall socket.
It’s of utmost importance that you use the manufacturer’s power adapter and charging cable whenever you need to recharge your Firestick. However, we understand that you may lose your original Firestick charger while traveling and end up needing an alternative power source.
In such cases, it’s best to use a cable and adapter combo which has an output that’s equivalent to the original. Something else worth looking into is the wall adapter’s voltage, which should coincide with your country’s standards. When combined, these solutions should speed up your Firestick due to improved energy input.
9. Restart It
f you’re one of those people who like to keep their Firestick plugged in all the time then you might be sucking all the juice out of it and compromising its performance.
Like any device, you’ll want to update your Firestick by restarting it every now and then to give it a much-needed breather. For the best results, make sure to unplug and re-plug it again. You can also restart it straight from Fire OS by following these steps:
Long press on the “Home” button. Go to Settings and select “My Fire TV.”
Select the “Restart’ option
Confirm “Restart.”
Sneaky Way to Speed Up Amazon Firestick
My goal is to help you speed up Amazon Firestick and improve the device’s performance so you can start having an even better streaming experience from your Amazon device. The Speed Toolbox helps you edit your Amazon Firestick animation speed.
Android streaming devices such as Firestick, NVIDIA Shield, or even Android phones normally come with animation scales like the window animation scale, animated duration scale, or the transition animation scale which appear when you scroll through different pages, during the transition between different screens, and when you open a different window. The animations are okay if you have a powerful phone or device as it makes your transitions and overall performance better.
However, if you have these low-power devices such as Amazon Firestick, the animations are totally useless and only end up slowing down your device. The animations normally take up resources and the bigger they are the more work your device will need to do before it eventually opens the page you want and the longer the transition from one screen to another will take.
The Speed Toolbox helps by turning off the animations to speed up Amazon Firestick and enhance your streaming experience.
How to Install the Speed Toolbox
It’s quite easy to install the Speed Toolbox on your Amazon Firestick device. To install the Speed Toolbox, start by heading over to the settings. Then go to My Fire TV and scroll down to Developer Options. Ensure that both ADB Debugging and Apps from Unknown Sources options are both enabled or turned on.
This is because you will be making an ADB connection with the new Speed Toolbox to make the necessary changes on your device. You’ll also be installing the app, namely the FileLinked app (check this guide if you haven’t installed FileLinked on your device).
Once you have enabled both ADB Debugging and Apps from Unknown Sources options, press the home key and open the FileLinked app.
Once you open FileLinked go to the WST store by typing 1 eight times or 11111111.
Search for the Speed Toolbox 2021 file and click on it.
Download the application and install it on your device.
Hit Open to open the file for the first time.
How to Use the Speed Toolbox
After you have installed the Speed Toolbox, you will see the app’s icon and you can easily move it to the home page. Click and open the app.
The first time you open it, you’ll see a prompt telling you that the app is unable to make the ADB connection and a request to open the ADB settings.
So go ahead and open ADB Settings and turn the ADB debugging OFF for a few seconds and then turn it back ON.
Press back on your remote two times and open the Speed Toolbox application again. The application should now open easily without a hitch.
Inside the application you will notice three Animation Options namely:
- Transition Animation Scale
- Window Animation Scale
- Animator Animation Scale
Each animation will also have a default value of 1.0 indicated on the right side. If for any reason you want to go back to the default values, simply click on the Reset Values and Save Values buttons. Everything will go back to where it originally was.
To understand the real impact of the values, try to increase them to around 5.0 and then press the home key.
You will notice that all the animations have significantly been increased. When you press down on the remote, you’ll see the transitions have become extremely slow. When you try to navigate around, you notice everything has a slight pause and is a bit laggy.
They may look nice but considering the number of resources being used and the time wasted for something that you totally don’t need, you’ll see why it’s important to stop the animations.
The best setting for each type of animations is basically like this:
- Transition animations 0.0
- Window animations 0.0
- Animator animations 0.0
So basically, turn off each animation and remember to save your new settings. Once you do this your device should perform faster and avoid unnecessary lags.
Here is the video from TDUK YouTube channel that explains in detail everything we already showed with screenshots earlier in this article. Take a look!
Conclusion
Many people love and use the Amazon Fire TV devices because you can use them straight out the box and they’re easy to navigate. There’s no setup required and they allow you to stream content from different sources quickly and easily.
However, slow loading time can be an issue sometimes, which is why we decided to share these tips on how to speed up Firestick. We hope this article has been helpful to you and that you won’t have to deal with this problem ever again!
Let us know in the comments what problem you have with your Firestick device!
