How Fire TV works
Most Fire TV devices run Fire OS, Amazon's operating system derived from Android. The home screen, voice assistant, store and billing are Amazon's own, in place of Google's services.
Fire TV and Android TV
Because Fire OS shares its foundations with Android, an Android TV app can usually be adapted for Fire TV without being rewritten. The differences are in what surrounds the app: it is submitted to the Amazon Appstore instead of Google Play, in-app purchases use Amazon's billing, and services such as sign-in and notifications use Amazon's equivalents.
What a Fire TV app needs
- A remote-first interface that also responds to voice commands
- Playback with DRM: Fire TV devices support Widevine and PlayReady
- Testing across generations of stick, which differ in speed and memory
- An Amazon Developer account and Appstore listing with TV artwork
- Amazon in-app purchasing if you sell inside the app
Why services publish on Fire TV
Fire TV Sticks are inexpensive and widely owned, particularly in North America, the United Kingdom, Germany, India and Japan. For many services it is among the top television platforms by viewing time, and the shared codebase with Android TV keeps the extra cost low.
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