GoKawiilThe writing was on the wall, and now it’s on Amazon’s website. Newly released Fire Sticks will not support the sideloading of Android apps or any other software from outside Amazon’s official app store.
The proof comes from an update to Amazon’s website for developers, which currently reads:
Starting with Fire TV Stick 4K Select [which came out in October], all future Fire TV Sticks will run on Vega.
According to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, the website has included that statement since at least January. But Amazon hasn’t made this declaration so outrightly to consumers, many of whom are just now learning about Amazon’s commitment to its new, proprietary operating system (OS), Vega OS. Amazon declined to comment to Lowpass this week after “multiple sources with knowledge of” Amazon’s plans reportedly told the publication that all future Fire TV sticks would launch with Vega.
Vega doesn’t support the sideloading of non-Amazon Appstore apps. One of Amazon’s prerequisites for an app to run on a Vega-powered Fire device is that it “is already published in the Amazon Appstore,” per Amazon.
Some users have reported seeing a notice on the Amazon product page for the new Fire TV Stick HD announced this week that says, “For enhanced security, this device prevents sideloading or installing apps from unknown sources. Only apps from the Amazon Appstore are available for download.”
Vega devices can still support sideloading, but only for developers who register their devices.
In November 2023, Lowpass reported that the Echo Show 5 was the first device to run Vega. The Echo Hub that Amazon released in April 2024 runs Vega, too. In October, Amazon released its first Vega-powered streaming stick, the Fire TV 4K Select.