The Fire TV Stick is an incredible piece of tech, especially for its size and price. However, it’s also probably the slowest and clunkiest streaming device that I’ve ever used in my media center. And as is the case with every new piece of tech that gets periodic software updates, the Fire TV Stick becomes exponentially slower and clunkier with age.
In fact, I was ready to replace my third-generation Fire TV Stick, simply due to how excruciatingly slow it was to navigate.
However, I recently tried out a few things within my Fire TV Stick’s system settings, which, surprisingly enough, gave it new life.
Reconfiguring internet settings on the Fire TV Stick
Simply reconfiguring the DNS did wonders for the Fire TV’s network stability
If there’s one thing that really annoys me while watching a movie on my TV, it has to be streaming hitches or buffering. No one likes unnecessary interruptions while watching epics like The Lord of the Rings or, well, WALL-E. However, being tethered via Wi-Fi means streaming hitches are inevitable on the Fire TV Stick, especially if, like me, your TV is placed far away from the router. Usually, a quick restart solves most Wi-Fi-related issues.
However, I recently got to know about another really cool trick that improves network stability on the Fire TV Stick. Yes, I’m talking about manual DNS configuration on the device.
The best part: reconfiguring or changing the DNS on the Fire TV Stick is way easier than it sounds. Here are the steps to easily reconfigure your Fire TV Stick’s DNS settings:
- Go to Settings > My Fire TV > About > Network.
- Under Network, you will find your existing Wi-Fi SSID information.
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With your Wi-Fi SSID selected, press the three-line button (☰) on your Fire TV Stick remote to forget the network.
- Don’t worry, we are going to reconnect to the same network, albeit in a different way.
- Now, within the Network settings, connect your Fire TV Stick to your Wi-Fi network (again). However, this time, don’t click Connect right away. Instead, click on Advanced.
- On the Advanced tab, you can manually input the IP Address, Subnet Mask, and DNS.
- You can input the IP Address, Gateway, and Subnet Mask as the original. Simply change the Primary and Secondary DNS to the values you want.
- While not necessary, I highly recommend rebooting the Fire TV Stick after making the network setting changes.
On Wi-Fi, I always advocate manually setting up the DNS, as it eliminates any instances of DNS misconfiguration when using the default auto-connect feature.
Clearing and rebuilding application cache
It not only freed up storage but also improved the responsiveness of apps
My older third-gen Fire TV Stick only has 8GB of storage. For the most part, 8GB is the standard, unless you own the 2023 Fire TV Stick 4K Max, which comes with 16GB of internal memory. And with application sizes ballooning to nearly 500MB (or more) in some cases, 8GB of internal storage isn’t enough. On my unit, I was surprised to see that I only had 2GB of storage left, even though I had not installed too many apps on my Fire TV Stick.
Turns out, most of the storage was occupied by application cache data, which has been built up over the years since I first bought the device. Now, the app cache data is necessary for said application to function smoothly.
However, it also takes up a lot of space on the Fire TV Stick’s internal storage, leaving very little room for new apps or even updates. Thankfully, you can easily delete all cache data by going to Settings > Applications > Clear all Application Caches. This one setting made the most difference when it comes to my Fire TV Stick’s improved responsiveness.
Also, in case you were wondering, no, clearing cache data does not sign you out of your apps or the Fire TV.
Disable Autoplay for a better home screen experience
For older units, Autoplay can be a resource hog
The Fire TV Stick’s home screen/ dashboard has become increasingly more “cluttered” over the years. A few years back, the only “content” that showed up on the dashboard was your previously used apps and movies/TV shows watched on Prime. Now, half the home screen is dedicated to trailers and advertisements that autoplay as soon as you land on the dashboard. Naturally, media autoplay slows the Fire TV Stick home screen experience to a crawl.
Thankfully, you can disable autoplay on the Fire TV Stick by navigating to Settings > Preferences > Featured Content > Allow Video Autoplay. Unless you’re on a third-gen or older Fire TV Stick, disabling video autoplay is more than enough.
However, for older units, I also highly recommend disabling Audio Autoplay as well. Disabling autoplay has a noticeable impact on the home screen navigation experience. Also, it’s much more peaceful to navigate apps like Prime Video or Netflix without it constantly bombarding me with trailers.
Disabling device monitoring helps a lot
If it’s not necessary, disable it
Background telemetry services are unavoidable nowadays. Be it your brand-new phone, your PC, your Nintendo Switch 2, or even your ancient Fire TV Stick. However, like any other modern device, you can disable telemetry services on the Fire TV Stick, even though Amazon tries its best to hide those settings from users. Although disabling background monitoring doesn’t have as tangible an impact as disabling autoplay, it still frees up some CPU resources.
You can disable Device Usage Data, Collect App Usage Data, Interest-based Ads, and Data Monitoring on the Fire TV Stick via the Preferences and Privacy settings. To access these settings, navigate to Settings > Preferences > Data Usage Monitoring and Privacy Settings.
Much like most telemetry services, these settings are there mostly for the service provider, in this case, Amazon, to collect device usage statistics, instead of benefiting the end-user. As such, disabling them does not affect your streaming and TV viewing experience.
More tips and tricks to keep your Fire TV Stick working like new
Beyond the settings above, here are a few more things you can try to breathe new life into your old Fire TV Stick, or improve your streaming experience. For starters, I highly recommend using the original Fire TV remote over the mobile app. While I really liked the idea of using the remote app on my Android device to control the TV, it’s incredibly clunky compared to the original remote. Also, if you’re using a regular 60Hz panel, I highly recommend enabling the Match Original Frame Rate setting.
This lets select applications automatically switch to the frame rate the content was originally created/shot at. From my testing, this setting seems to affect Netflix and Prime Video. Most movies are usually shot at a lower frame rate (23fps, in most cases). As such, playing them at a higher refresh rate often feels jarring.
While I had gotten used to high frame rates after spending most of my time in front of a monitor, I have to admit, movies do feel more “natural” at their intended (lower) frame rate. It also reduces stress on the Fire TV’s CPU, as it doesn’t have to process the content at your display’s native refresh rate.
Lastly, the most vital tip: always reboot your Fire TV Stick at least once a week. Unless you tend to completely turn off your TV (and the Fire TV Stick), rebooting it is a great way to refresh the system and avoid overheating issues.
- Brand
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Amazon
- Operating System
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Fire OS
- Downloadable Apps
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Yes
- Resolution
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4K