7 ms·

This seems more like a bad omen for the future of firesticks than it is firefox. I say that as someone that uses a firetv and a firestick every day. They become

by jgrowl 6y ago

This seems more like a bad omen for the future of firesticks than it is firefox. I say that as someone that uses a firetv and a firestick every day. They become unresponsive to input, freeze, and lag constantly. Even for amazon's own shows. It has only gotten worse over time. I'm slowly just moving towards getting a windows instance to every tv in house.

bdcravens 6y ago
Yes, I've noticed the same, as well as software getting buggier over time (I have a 1st gen Fire TV 4k, and the Disney+ app doesn't respond to pause)
- maxerickson 6y ago
  I botched the password input the first time I tried to log into the Disney+ app. It apparently stored that password to use for subsequent runs, as I was prompted for the password every time I ran it. Resetting the app data fixed the problem, so that's where the assumption about storing the wrong password is from. (I'm saying, don't necessarily blame only the hardware)
- noneeeed 6y ago
  Oh god, the Disney+ app is a complete dumpster fire. There is a fix for the Disney+ pause issue: Got to Settings -> Display -> Sounds -> Audio -> Dolby Digital Output and turn it off. Obviously that's crap if you want Dolby Digital Output, but for some reason it fixes the issue. I don't actually have a problem with the Firestick as a whole, seems responsive enough for the services I use, but Disney really needs to up their game, it's the only one I have an issue with.
Sebb767 6y ago
I've actually looked into buying one recently, but between general slowness (a friend of mine has one), price and lacking an Alexa-less option if you need 4k, I'm actually considering an used AppleTV 4k now.
- nailer 6y ago
  I had the old Fire TV Stick and can confirm the latency was bad. The 4K one is much faster (irrespective of display resolution) than its predecessors. I really like it.
- deadmutex 6y ago
  You may also want to consider ChromeCast with Google TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sb9-NOxZlg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sb9-NOxZlg . ~$50
  - craftinator 6y ago
    Yeah, but who voluntarily wants another Google product?
    - tclancy 6y ago
      I would say the Chromecast with Google tv is an impressive bit of kit and it’s not bound to their services.
      - devenblake 6y ago
        How does one de-Google a Google Chromecast?
        craftinator 6y ago
        Hammer?
        tclancy 6y ago
        Oh, I suppose you may need a Google account to set up, I didn’t really think about it. I meant that you can use it for most streaming services and it works well.
      - heavyset_go 6y ago
        I'd disagree. The new Chromecast with Google TV requires you to disable privacy settings in order to use basic features on the Chromecast. I had to make a new Google account and enable Web & App History on it just so I could use the device normally.
gizmodo59 6y ago
Out of curiosity, why did you choose firetv and firestick compared to the alternatives? (Apple TV, roku, chrome cast etc). I’m trying to decide
- CodeGlitch 6y ago
  Not OP but I chose FireTV because of the inbuilt Alexa support. Shouting "Alexa turn the TV off" from another part of the house when it's my daughter's bedtime is worth the entry fee! Also when my wife is in the car with her Echo Auto, she can say "announce that I'm coming home" and that message will play on the TV (and convert it to text as well). Ps. we didn't know the FireTV did this when we bought it. It's quite nice finding these features as you use other Alexa devices. I've not experienced much in the way of lagging or unresponsiveness. Note that they just released a major update.
  - seized 6y ago
    Chromecast devices can do this too.
deergomoo 6y ago
The Prime Video app for Tizen-based Samsung TVs is a shit-show too. Every other app I use is acceptably responsive, but Prime Video consistently feels like the UI runs at 5fps with about half a second of input latency
- notatoad 6y ago
  I have the same experience on Roku. It was bad enough that I cancelled prime and started pirating the couple of prime shows I wanted to watch. The Plex app on my Roku runs great...
  - keanebean86 6y ago
    Same on my vizio tv. Most apps are fine. Amazon is laggy and search input is basically unusably slow. Hulu also does weird stuff but we're complaining about amazon today.
heavyset_go 6y ago
I have multiple models of both the Fire TV/Stick and the Chromecast, and I agree. I really, really want someone to release a Chromecast-like device that isn't Amazon or Google, though. The latest Chromecast with Google TV barely works without granting Google access to a whole bunch of your private data. For example, you need to enable Web & App Activity across your entire Google account to use normal Chromecast features. I will pay good money for a device that uses the castv2 protocol and doesn't siphon my data to Google's servers just so I can watch videos on my TV.
- klondike_ 6y ago
  Miracast is an option
  - heavyset_go 6y ago
    In my experience, the tooling is limited and I believe Miracast support is being phased out on many devices that had it or, at least in theory, could support it.
tssva 6y ago
Given current and ever falling Firefox usage rates I find it hard to believe that the dropping of a platform by Mozilla is any kind of sign regarding the future of the platform.

by jgrowl 6y ago

bdcravens 6y ago

Yes, I've noticed the same, as well as software getting buggier over time (I have a 1st gen Fire TV 4k, and the Disney+ app doesn't respond to pause)

maxerickson 6y ago
I botched the password input the first time I tried to log into the Disney+ app. It apparently stored that password to use for subsequent runs, as I was prompted for the password every time I ran it. Resetting the app data fixed the problem, so that's where the assumption about storing the wrong password is from. (I'm saying, don't necessarily blame only the hardware)
noneeeed 6y ago
Oh god, the Disney+ app is a complete dumpster fire. There is a fix for the Disney+ pause issue: Got to Settings -> Display -> Sounds -> Audio -> Dolby Digital Output and turn it off. Obviously that's crap if you want Dolby Digital Output, but for some reason it fixes the issue. I don't actually have a problem with the Firestick as a whole, seems responsive enough for the services I use, but Disney really needs to up their game, it's the only one I have an issue with.

Sebb767 6y ago

I've actually looked into buying one recently, but between general slowness (a friend of mine has one), price and lacking an Alexa-less option if you need 4k, I'm actually considering an used AppleTV 4k now.

nailer 6y ago
I had the old Fire TV Stick and can confirm the latency was bad. The 4K one is much faster (irrespective of display resolution) than its predecessors. I really like it.
deadmutex 6y ago
You may also want to consider ChromeCast with Google TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sb9-NOxZlg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sb9-NOxZlg . ~$50
- craftinator 6y ago
  Yeah, but who voluntarily wants another Google product?
  - tclancy 6y ago
    I would say the Chromecast with Google tv is an impressive bit of kit and it’s not bound to their services.
    - devenblake 6y ago
      How does one de-Google a Google Chromecast?
      - craftinator 6y ago
        Hammer?
      - tclancy 6y ago
        Oh, I suppose you may need a Google account to set up, I didn’t really think about it. I meant that you can use it for most streaming services and it works well.
    - heavyset_go 6y ago
      I'd disagree. The new Chromecast with Google TV requires you to disable privacy settings in order to use basic features on the Chromecast. I had to make a new Google account and enable Web & App History on it just so I could use the device normally.

gizmodo59 6y ago

Out of curiosity, why did you choose firetv and firestick compared to the alternatives? (Apple TV, roku, chrome cast etc). I’m trying to decide

CodeGlitch 6y ago
Not OP but I chose FireTV because of the inbuilt Alexa support. Shouting "Alexa turn the TV off" from another part of the house when it's my daughter's bedtime is worth the entry fee! Also when my wife is in the car with her Echo Auto, she can say "announce that I'm coming home" and that message will play on the TV (and convert it to text as well). Ps. we didn't know the FireTV did this when we bought it. It's quite nice finding these features as you use other Alexa devices. I've not experienced much in the way of lagging or unresponsiveness. Note that they just released a major update.
- seized 6y ago
  Chromecast devices can do this too.

deergomoo 6y ago

The Prime Video app for Tizen-based Samsung TVs is a shit-show too. Every other app I use is acceptably responsive, but Prime Video consistently feels like the UI runs at 5fps with about half a second of input latency

notatoad 6y ago
I have the same experience on Roku. It was bad enough that I cancelled prime and started pirating the couple of prime shows I wanted to watch. The Plex app on my Roku runs great...
- keanebean86 6y ago
  Same on my vizio tv. Most apps are fine. Amazon is laggy and search input is basically unusably slow. Hulu also does weird stuff but we're complaining about amazon today.

heavyset_go 6y ago

I have multiple models of both the Fire TV/Stick and the Chromecast, and I agree. I really, really want someone to release a Chromecast-like device that isn't Amazon or Google, though. The latest Chromecast with Google TV barely works without granting Google access to a whole bunch of your private data. For example, you need to enable Web & App Activity across your entire Google account to use normal Chromecast features. I will pay good money for a device that uses the castv2 protocol and doesn't siphon my data to Google's servers just so I can watch videos on my TV.

klondike_ 6y ago
Miracast is an option
- heavyset_go 6y ago
  In my experience, the tooling is limited and I believe Miracast support is being phased out on many devices that had it or, at least in theory, could support it.

tssva 6y ago

Given current and ever falling Firefox usage rates I find it hard to believe that the dropping of a platform by Mozilla is any kind of sign regarding the future of the platform.