What is Firestarter and How to Use It?
Fire TV is an amazing device. It is a media streamer that allows your TV to stream and surf over the internet, enabling you to watch videos using different applications like YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix. It also lets you play games and access all kinds of information using Alexa, a Siri-like voice assistant. However, it does come with its disadvantages. Because Amazon has a strong interest in maintaining their own customer base, the home screen is tied to content controlled by Amazon. In this guide, we will alter the home screen, a process which does not require rooting and, therefore, doesn’t risk voiding your warranty.
The default interface on the Fire TV doesn’t allow you to change the home screen or download external apps from sources other than Amazon. If you do install them, the only way to access them is from Settings, which can be inconvenient and slow. Previous solutions required rooting, which is not recommended as it voids the warranty.
This is where Fire Starter comes in handy. What it does is run in parallel with the default launcher, overriding the process to display itself instead of the default launcher. The default launcher will flash for a second, then disappear. With Fire Starter, you can configure your startup settings, such as the home button for single-click and double-click. For example, you can start YouTube with a single home button click and start Fire Starter with a double click of the home button, or any other applications you decide on.
List all user-installed apps, including sideloaded applications. Apps can easily be sorted by clicking and dragging (long-click to start dragging and dropping). Apps can be hidden from the app drawer; see settings for more details. Change sleep time and import/export settings as needed. The system displays device information like Android Version, Build Version, Hostname, Wi-Fi/ WLAN Name (SSID), IP Address, and Uptime.
Now that you know the benefits, here’s how to install it.
Method 1: Short and Quick
This one is shorter and requires nothing but a Fire TV with an ES file explorer, which can be downloaded from the Amazon Store if you don’t have it.
First, select ‘Settings’ from your Fire TV home screen.
Navigate to ‘System -> Developer Options’, then enable both ‘ADB Debugging’ and ‘Apps from Unknown Sources’ options.
Once done, open your ES Explorer application. In the left-hand menu under Favorite, there will be an ‘ADD’ button to add a new favorite.
Click on that, and write this https://qr.net/firetv in the Path text box without any quotes. Then, set the Name as Fire.
Open the favorite that you just created to download the Firestarter zip file. Once it is downloaded, open the .zip file and select the Firestarter APK file for installation. Press ‘install’ and wait for it to finish. After it has been installed, go to System -> Settings -> Applications -> Manage installed applications, and launch the Firestarter Application.
Method 2: Using FireStarter through a PC or Laptop.
This method is for those who wish to set up FireStarter via a PC or laptop. Make sure to install the Android Debugging Bridge before continuing. After installing, first, go to Settings -> System -> Developer Options. Enable both ‘ADB Debugging’ and ‘Apps from Unknown Sources’. Then, press return to go back to the System menu, scroll up, and choose the ‘About’ option. Finally, select ‘Network’ and take note of the IP Address.
Now, download the Firestarter APK from this location and the ADB Fire application from this location. Once ADB Fire is downloaded, extract it using WinRAR and then proceed to install it.
Open the ADB Fire application and choose ‘Setup’.
Enter the Fire TV IP address (noted earlier) and type in a name in the description text. This name could be anything you want; it doesn’t matter. Leave the other fields as they are in default, then click ‘SAVE’ when you’re done.
Next, we establish a connection to our Amazon Fire TV. Before proceeding, ensure that AdbFire displays ‘ADB running’ at the bottom. Then, click ‘Connect’.
The next step is to actually push Firestarter to the Amazon Fire TV. This is done by clicking the ‘Install APK’ button. A file dialog will then appear, asking you to locate the APK. Browse to the APK that you downloaded earlier and choose it. Following this, you will encounter a confirmation dialog; simply click ‘YES’. Once completed, a message stating ‘Installed’ will appear. Now close the application and switch to your Fire TV. Go to ‘System’ -> ‘Settings’ -> ‘Applications’ -> ‘Manage installed applications’, and launch FireStarter from there.
