The Firestick has more capability than many users realise. These tips and tricks help you get more out of your device — from speeding it up to discovering features you may not know existed.
Remote Tips
- Hold Home for quick access: Press and hold the Home button on the remote for a shortcut menu with Sleep, Mirroring, and Settings options
- Restart without menus: Hold Select + Play/Pause simultaneously for 5 seconds to restart without navigating to Settings
- Volume shortcut: Once TV Controls are set up, use the Volume buttons on the remote to directly adjust TV volume — no need to switch remotes
- Voice search everything: Press the microphone button and say what you want to watch, search for, or do — "Find action films", "Open Netflix", "Go to Settings"
Interface Tips
- Disable home screen autoplay: Settings > Preferences > Featured Content > Featured Autoplay — turn it off to stop videos playing automatically and improve performance
- Customise the home screen: Long-press any app to move it or mark it as favourite
- Quick search across apps: The search function searches across multiple apps simultaneously — use it instead of opening each app individually
- Screen mirroring: You can mirror your Android phone or laptop screen to the Firestick via Settings > Display & Sounds > Enable Display Mirroring
Performance Tips
- Use 5GHz Wi-Fi: If your router broadcasts on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, connect the Firestick to 5GHz for faster speeds
- Clear app cache regularly: Settings > Applications > Manage Installed Applications > select app > Clear Cache
- Uninstall unused apps: Every unused app takes up storage and may run background processes
- Restart monthly: A monthly restart clears accumulated memory and keeps things running smoothly
Alexa Tips
- Use Alexa to search across apps: Say "Alexa, find [show/film]" to find content across multiple streaming services
- Control playback by voice: "Alexa, pause", "Alexa, fast forward 10 minutes", "Alexa, turn on subtitles"
- Check the weather: "Alexa, what's the weather today?" works without leaving the Firestick
- Set up Echo devices: If you have an Amazon Echo, link it to your Fire TV under Settings > Alexa
Accessibility Tips
- Subtitles and captions: Available in most apps via the Settings button during playback; also controllable via Alexa voice
- Text size: Settings > Accessibility > Subtitle Settings — adjust caption size and style
- VoiceView screen reader: Settings > Accessibility > VoiceView — reads screen content aloud for visually impaired users
IPTV Tips
If you have an IPTV subscription from FirestickHub, move the IPTV player app to the front of your app list for the quickest access. Use the EPG guide to see what's on rather than scrolling through channels. Bookmark favourite channels within the IPTV app.
For more, see our guide to using IPTV on Firestick.
Frequently Asked Questions
Screen mirroring, the remote restart shortcut (Select + Play/Pause), the full Alexa integration, and the ability to disable home screen autoplay.
Disable home screen autoplay, clear app caches, uninstall unused apps, use 5GHz Wi-Fi, and restart monthly.
Yes — if you have Amazon Echo or other smart home devices linked to the same Amazon account, Alexa on the Firestick can control them.