Amazon Fire TV Stick owners are furious after new changes to the device are being called a 'complete waste of money.'
In the wake of Amazon's crackdown on illegal streaming via 'dodgy' Fire Sticks, the company's latest model has been hammered by scathing customer reviews after major changes to the device.
Customers hoping to sideload apps or use VPN services got an unwelcome shock that both features have been blocked. And it seems they aren't exclusive to the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select, as similar changes are being rolled out to older Fire Stick models as well.
Previous Fire Stick models allowed sideloading, which let users install third-party applications that aren't available in Amazon's official Appstore.
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However, this feature was widely exploited for illegal streaming apps that gave access to Premier League matches and premium films without paying for official subscriptions.
In response, Amazon switched from Android to its own platform, Vega, giving the tech giant greater control over what can and cannot be installed.
Vega completely restricts sideloading and, at the moment, the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select also doesn’t have any VPN apps available either.
Many customers recently purchased the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select for just under £20 in Amazon's Black Friday deal, making it the most affordable Fire Stick available.
But after plugging them in, buyers discovered the sideloading restrictions and weren't happy.
The device currently has a dismal 3-star rating out of 5 on Amazon's digital store. A staggering 40 percent of reviews have awarded it just one star, compared to the standard Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, which only has 2 percent one-star reviews.
“I need VPN, I regret buying it, I don’t want this, gonna have to probably just bin it,” one person reviewed. “Waste of my money. All I wanted to do was upgrade my old TV stick.”
Another buyer complained: “If I could give it a zero star I would have absolutely useless and a waste of money very disappointed.”
A third added: “Cannot side load 3rd party apps so this fire stick version is basically useless!”
When previously announcing these changes, Amazon stated: “Piracy is illegal, and we’ve always worked to block it from our Appstore. Through an expanded program led by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), a global coalition fighting digital piracy, we’ll now block apps identified as providing access to pirated content, including those downloaded from outside our Appstore.
The company added: “This builds on our ongoing efforts to support creators and protect customers, as piracy can also expose users to malware, viruses, and fraud."