In a surprise announcement earlier this week, Amazon revealed it is releasing a new Fire TV Stick at the end of the month: the Fire TV Stick HD. This is a refreshed version of its entry-level 1080p streaming stick, featuring a slimmer design that can be powered exclusively by your TV’s USB port, with no wall plug required. But what caught many people’s attention about this new Fire TV Stick HD wasn’t its new design or slightly improved performance; it was its operating system: Vega OS.
Vega OS is a new Linux-based operating system that Amazon first introduced with the Fire TV Stick 4K Select last year. And in the looks department (the user interface), it’s identical to Fire OS, the Android-based operating system that has been powering Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks for over a decade.
But in the features department, there is one huge difference: Vega OS doesn’t support sideloading apps. This means if you want to download any apps from outside the Amazon Appstore on your Fire Stick, you can’t. This means apps like Downloader and Kodi are completely inaccessible on any device running Vega OS, which now includes the new Fire TV Stick HD and the Fire TV Stick 4K Select.
For Fire Stick users who rely on sideloading apps, Vega OS is seen as a step backward, and when it launched at the end of last year, there were growing concerns that Amazon might fully step away from its Android-based Fire OS altogether. In an email statement to Pocket-lint back in November, Amazon tried to alleviate these concerns, saying it was now a “multi-OS company” and that it would continue to support Fire OS and Vega OS simultaneously. However, now it seems the writing is on the wall for Fire OS Fire TV Sticks.
- Brand
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Amazon
- Bluetooth codecs
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Bluetooth 5.3
- Wi-Fi
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Wi-Fi 6
- Supported video
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1080p (HD)
- Storage and RAM
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8GB of storage
- Connections
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HDMI
Amazon might never make an Android-based Fire TV Stick again
Fire OS may keep getting updates, but new sticks might not run it
While Amazon may continue updating devices running its Android-based Fire OS for the foreseeable future, such as the current-generation Fire TV Stick 4K Plus and 4K Max, it reportedly might never release another new Fire TV Stick running Fire OS.
This information comes from a new report by Janko Roettgers of Lowpass, who says multiple sources familiar with Amazon’s plans have told him that all future Fire TV Sticks will run Vega OS.
So this means that when Amazon inevitably releases refreshed versions of the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus and 4K Max, they’ll likely run Vega OS instead of Fire OS.
…it’s entirely possible that Amazon continues to release new TVs with Fire OS, just not Fire Sticks, to maintain its “multi-OS company” approach.
Roettgers has a pretty good track record when it comes to Fire TV news, originally reporting in 2023 that Amazon was developing Vega OS, which proved true, and that Amazon was going to release its first Vega OS Fire TV Stick in 2025, which also proved true (via AFTV News). So the odds that this new report is accurate are pretty high. Though it’s worth noting that Amazon has declined to comment on its future plans.
I also think it’s worth noting that this news pertains specifically to Fire TV Sticks. It’s unclear what Amazon’s plans are for its future Fire TVs, now called Ember TVs. The new Ember Artline, Amazon’s first lifestyle TV, launches on April 22. Unlike the new Fire TV Stick HD, it still runs Fire OS. So it’s entirely possible that Amazon continues to release new TVs with Fire OS, just not Fire Sticks, to maintain its “multi-OS company” approach.
This feels inevitable to me
Vega OS is intended to stop piracy
Honestly, I’m not at all shocked by this report that Amazon might never release a new Fire TV Stick with Fire OS again. When Amazon released the Fire TV Stick 4K Select running Vega OS in October, my first instinct was that all future Fire TV Stick releases would run it as well. Now, with the new Fire TV Stick HD running Vega OS, which comes out on April 29, that certainly seems to be the case.
Also, what’s particularly interesting about the Fire TV Stick HD is that Amazon never even mentioned in its press release that it runs Vega OS. Pocket-lint had to ask Amazon whether it ran on Vega OS to find out that it did, and even on Amazon’s product page for it, there is no mention of Vega OS anywhere.
…since Vega OS doesn’t support sideloading, it’s a way for Amazon to prevent piracy on all its new devices.
According to Cord Cutter News, some users are seeing a warning message when they try to buy the new Fire TV Stick HD, stating, “For Enhanced Security purposes, this new device prevents sideloading or installing apps from unknown sources. Only apps from the Amazon Appstore are available for download.” So, this warning essentially indicates it’s running Vega OS, without explicitly stating it.
Amazon has recently started cracking down on sideloaded apps on Fire OS, “identified as providing access to pirated content.” And since Vega OS doesn’t support sideloading, it’s a way for Amazon to prevent piracy on all its new devices.
Again, Amazon hasn’t confirmed all its future Fire TV plans yet, so it’s not officially confirmed whether there will be no more new Fire TV Sticks running Fire OS. We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but based on Roettegers’ report, it seems likely that Vega OS will be the future for all new Fire TV Sticks.
