Amazon appears to have quietly removed a much-used function on some of its streaming devices – and users are not happy about it
If you’re a Fire TV Stick owner and have noticed something missing, you’re not the only one. It seems Amazon has decided to discreetly remove a popular feature on some of its streaming devices, leaving users so frustrated that some are threatening to say goodbye to their devices for good.
AFTVnews has reported that the latest Fire OS update has eliminated the ‘Hide Apps’ option from the menu panel. This function previously allowed users to hide apps easily, with just a few clicks, as opposed to removing them entirely.
While this might not seem like a huge issue initially, Amazon’s pre-installed apps—such as Freevee and Prime Video—which can’t be removed or deleted, were often hidden by users to simplify their viewing experience. The featured helped to de-clutter their home screens, but it was also useful for keeping apps that weren’t age-appropriate hidden from younger family members.
It was in 2021 that Amazon first introduced the feature as a part of the current Fire TV interface redesign. This introduced prominent user profiles to Fire TVs for the first time, which allowed for apps to be hidden in one profile and visible in the other. While it wasn’t initially possible to hide Amazon’s own preinstalled apps, the feature was later added.
This option has now been removed on devices including the premium Fire TV Stick Max and 1st-gen Fire TV Stick 4K. AFTVnews believes more Fire TV Sticks will receive this update in the coming weeks.
They said, “The removal of the option to hide apps has been confirmed on both the older 1st-gen Fire TV Stick 4K, running Fire OS 6, and the current 2nd-gen Fire TV Stick Max, which uses the latest Fire OS 8, so it’s likely that this change will be applied to all Fire TV models.”
It might appear to be a minor tweak, but Fire TV Stick users are seriously irked by the recent update. Venting frustration on Reddit, one disgruntled owner posted: “Hey everyone, I’m on a Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen) and just noticed the option to hide apps has disappeared with the latest update.”
Echoing this sentiment, another chimed in: “Yeah, I’ve been trying to get them off too, but you can’t now, which sucks.” The discontent escalated with one user declaring: “It makes Fire Sticks officially a deal breaker. If I am unable to get rid of the useless Amazon bloatware icons, I am done with Fire Sticks.”
However, there does seem to be a sneaky way around the problem. According to YouTuber TechDoctorUK, the third-party app atvTools restores the ability to delete unwanted apps from your home screen; it’s just not quite as straightforward as before.
To delete apps using ATVTools, you have to open up the app and connect your Fire TV stick. Then, simply go to your list of apps, search for the app you want to hide, tap the three dots, and select the ‘disable’ option. Once you refresh the app’s grid on your TV, you should no longer be able to see the app.
It appears the issue is prevalent on devices operating on Fire OS 8.1.2.7, and, as it stands, not all Fire streamers have noticed the missing “Hide Apps” feature. To many users’ dismay, there’s no current means to halt the update, with Amazon going ahead on making the changes to devices.