FIRE TV Stick owners have slammed Amazon for constantly rearranging their home screens, leaving many customers lost as soon as the gadget is switched on.
The most recent change involves already existing icons switching places with eachother, like moving the My Stuff tab from the far right to the far left.
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But not so long ago, Amazon merged the Profile and Settings icons to make room for a new Games icon, AFTV News spotted.
Then before that, Amazon added in a new Free icon to make it easier to get to the content that doesn’t cost anything extra.
These are minor changes, but the regularity is beginning to get under customers’ skin.
Amazon is playing GOD again by pushing unwanted ads and other crap onto the Home Screen.
Alan Woods, AFTV News reader
Now Fire Stick owners seem to think the home screen isn’t designed for the benefit of the user, but to better display adverts instead.
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“When I called Amazon fire technical support they claimed that “Since your product cost has been subsidised by Amazon most of the home screen is no longer under your control,”” one customer claimed in response to the news.
“As a disabled user, the simplicity of a (UX) interface is a disability accommodation for me and a lot of others I know.”
Another added: “Home screen has nothing to do with the user.
“It’s for force feeding ads…. While that continues these minor changes are a nonsense.”
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Without the ability to customise, Fire TV customers say they’re beginning to feel like Amazon isn’t listening to demands – and they’re merely ‘renters’ of the gadgets.
“I wonder if I am the owner of my firestick or just the renter of it?,” another customer asked in the comments.
“Amazon is playing GOD again by pushing unwanted ads and other crap onto the Home Screen, and now on top of that they have removed ADB debugging from the devices and stopped apps that have already been purchased from their apps store from working.”
Just weeks ago, Amazon issued a Fire Stick update that blocked third-party software, which meant an app called Android Debug Bridge (ADB) stopped working.
ADB allows app developers to access software controls and hidden settings.
Android describes it as “a versatile command-line tool that lets you communicate with a device.”
The UK’s Mirror noted some of the blocked functions include “ways to clear cache, boost memory, and play gaming emulators.”
Another seemingly blocked function lets users avoid seeing Amazon’s Fire TV homepage, and as a consequence, the large adverts the company now displays on them.
The Sun has contacted Amazon for comment.
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