AMAZON Fire TV fans can instantly enhance the streaming experience by limiting how much data their devices consume.
Picture issues aren’t one-size-fits-all, as different factors can impact quality and network speed. However, there is a trick all Fire TV users can try.
The key lies in the Data Monitoring feature, which lives in Preferences inside the Settings menu. The tool tracks the amount of data your apps consume.
It is enabled by default, but you can toggle it off, prompting a new menu to appear. Select Set Video Quality and choose between Good, Better, and Best.
If you opt instead to leave Data Monitoring turned on, be sure your video quality is set to Best.
You may want to cut down on the amount of data your device consumes by limiting other features.
For starters, you can disable the autoplay settings for featured content, which offers a glimpse of what’s streaming on your home screen.
Select Preferences under the Settings menu and head to Featured Content.
If Allow Video Autoplay and Allow Audio Autoplay options are enabled, turn them off.
Another strategy is disabling internet-based ads. Head to Preferences once more and select Privacy Settings. Scroll down and tap Interest-based Ads to disable it.
You can also turn off automatic updates – as the device continuously checks for updates, this eats up data and processing power.
Launch the Settings menu and navigate to Applications. Select Appstore and tap Automatic Updates to toggle them off.
If your device continues to run slow, there are other steps you can take.
For instance, try deleting unused apps from your Fire Stick, as these may take up space and cause your device to lag.
Ensure your device is fully updated, which will also patch bugs and security vulnerabilities.
Restarting your Fire Stick might resolve minor issues.
Either unplug the device and wait a few seconds before plugging it back in, or manually restart it under My Fire TV in Settings.
As a last resort, you can consider resetting your Fire Stick.
This will revert the device to its factory settings, wiping any apps and channels you’ve downloaded.
This is especially useful if you’ve run into recurring errors, which indicate corrupted data or a software glitch.
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AMAZON unveiled the first Fire TV Stick back in 2014 and since then has released various versions, the newest being the Fire TV Stick 4K Max.
There are several places you can pick up a Fire Stick including:
We recommend shopping around for the best price, though Amazon usually has the best deals on Fire Sticks so should be your first port of call.
