If you’ve been having issues sideloading apps on your Fire TV Stick, such as not being able to install Android apps at all through apps like Downloader, a fix is finally on the way.

In a recent statement to AFTV News, Amazon confirmed that a bug in its latest update broke sideloading for some users. The issue prevented the “Install unknown apps” list from updating properly, leaving it incomplete or empty, which meant some users couldn’t approve third-party installer apps, such as Downloader and Total Commander, to install APK files on their device. Amazon confirmed it identified the issue and will roll out a fix over the next week through a Settings update that will install automatically on affected devices. That update is already rolling out.

Since this bug was embedded in the settings menu, Amazon is rolling out what it calls a Settings update, which means the fix is arriving as a small patch, not a full Fire OS update, so it can be deployed on affected devices much faster. The bug affected all Fire TV Sticks running Fire OS 7 and 8, as well as the Fire TV Cube.

Given that the bug has been around for about a month, some Fire TV users speculated it was intentional, due to Amazon’s recent moves to block sideloading certain apps and its push toward Vega OS. But based on Amazon’s comments, it was a bug that slipped through the cracks, not intentional, and the company has fixed it. To check to see if the update has reached your device, go to Settings > My Fire TV > About > Check for Updates.

However, even with this bug fixed, a major problem remains: the future of Android Fire TV Sticks and sideloading on Fire TV devices is still incredibly bleak.

The end of Android Fire Sticks is near

Amazon has declared Vega OS as the future

While it’s great to see Amazon release a patch that fixes sideloading on its Fire TV devices, it’s hard not to think about how the era of Android Fire TV Sticks and sideloading is slowly coming to an end.

Last year, Amazon announced Vega OS, its new Linux-based operating system. While it is more efficient and offers improved performance over Android-based Fire OS, which has powered Fire TV devices for more than a decade, the biggest issue for Fire TV fans is that Vega OS doesn’t support sideloading or Android apps. That’s long been one of the biggest appeals of Fire TV Sticks in the first place.

And to make matters worse, Amazon announced earlier this year that all future Fire TV Sticks will run Vega OS. In other words, the era of Android Fire TV Sticks is coming to an end sooner rather than later.

Older Fire TV Sticks that support sideloading will retain that ability, but all new Fire TV Sticks released in the future won’t support it because they’ll run Vega OS. Amazon has already released two Fire TV Sticks that run Vega OS: the Fire TV Stick 4K Select and a refreshed version of the Fire TV Stick HD.

That leaves just the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus and Fire TV Stick 4K Max as the last remaining Fire TV Sticks that still run Fire OS. And since both devices are nearly three years old, Amazon could release new versions at any time running Vega OS instead. When that happens, it would effectively mark the end of Amazon selling Android Fire TV Sticks.

All hope is not lost, though. Amazon will continue to develop and ship Fire OS on smart TVs, and the company hasn’t said what the future holds for the Fire TV Cube. It’s possible Amazon could release a new Fire TV Cube in the future that still runs Fire OS rather than Vega OS, but that’s just speculation on my part.

All in all, while it’s nice to see Amazon fix sideloading on its Android Fire TV Sticks, it’s hard not to see the writing on the wall. Amazon is clearly moving toward Vega OS, and the Android Fire TV Stick era will eventually end.

If you want to get a new Android streamer in the future, your best bet is likely to be the Google TV Streamer or Walmart’s Onn 4K Pro.