It’s no secret that Google and Amazon are two of the tech world’s biggest competitors today. They worked together for years, but they now work relentlessly to undercut each other. Amazon pulled devices like Google Home and Chromecast from its digital storefront. Google, on the other hand, pulled YouTube from all Fire OS devices, even Fire TV and Fire Tablets.
It’s hard to pinpoint how this feud began. Regardless, it’s clear that the real victim here isn’t one of the two tech giants. It’s actually every single one of their millions of users.
The Fire TV devices including Fire TV Cube and FireStick used to have YouTube pre-installed on the devices. Since YouTube was removed, it can be hard to watch videos from the platform on TV. Fortunately, we’ve found a workaround for this issue and there are several more alternatives.
How to Watch YouTube on Firestick
In this article, we will show you how to watch YouTube on FireStick using two different methods. You can also find out how to download YouTube thanks to our tutorial.
1. Using the Amazon Silk Browser
When Google removed the YouTube app from Fire TV two years ago, Amazon scrambled to look for a solution. YouTube was back on every Fire TV app list but it was done without the YouTube logo. A blue colored tile, labeled “YouTube.com” instead of the iconic YouTube red greets you.
For most people, the YouTube.com blue tile is the quickest and most straightforward way to watch YouTube on FireStick. With this method, you simply need to open your device’s app list by pressing the Home button found on your remote. Hold the button for a couple of seconds and then select the Apps shortcut. From there, you can find the blue YouTube.com tile.
When you click the app, it launches a menu on your device, which lets you know that you will be able to access YouTube as well as other web services through the installation of a web browser. You have two options to choose from: the Silk Browser of Amazon and Firefox (Mozilla’s browser).
In Silk Browser, “Appstore” will open for you to download the app. Wait for the app to finish installing. As soon as it’s done, open the Silk Browser and begin using it!
The main page of Silk has quick links that you can choose from that allows you to launch a website automatically. In the future, simply hit the blue YouTube.com icon to launch YouTube on FireStick. For now, just select YouTube from the quick link panel.
As YouTube loads, it redirects you to a TV-friendly website, which looks like the old YouTube app on the FireStick. Log into your account on YouTube and you can view your recommended videos as well as subscriptions, just like how the app works.
The downside is that it is not as fast to load videos as when using a browser. Still, it’s a good way to access YouTube and let it run on your device. If you are interested in an app for YouTube instead of using the Silk Browser to watch your favorite YouTubers, read on for the next option.
2. Using Smart YouTube TV
Another way for you to watch YouTube on FireStick is by installing the Smart Youtube TV app, a third-party app publicly on the web and also linked in the WST Filelinked Appstore. This app will allow you to watch any video from YouTube even in 4K resolution with the same exact interface as the website option but without dealing with a browser – aka no need to download and install Silk or Firefox on your device.
You can install it easiely over our Filelinked Store. You can find a How To by clicking on the following link.
If you need any help with this tutorial, please leave your comment in the section below. Our team will reach out to you immediately.
