Amazon just pushed a mandatory full screen ad to all Fire Stick users

I’ve always hoped Amazon would dial things back and make the ad experience a bit more bearable, but unfortunately, it now seems like the opposite is happening.

As first spotted by AFTVnews, Amazon has started pushing a full-screen ad for its newly redesigned Fire TV app to users, as seen in the image below.

Credit: AFTVnews

While the ad itself is pretty jarring, what makes it worse is when it shows up. It can appear right after you boot up your Fire TV device, whether it’s a Fire TV or Fire TV Stick, taking over the entire screen. Even more infuriating is that you’re forced to dismiss and acknowledge the ad before you can actually get on with streaming.

Hey Amazon, maybe don’t do this

I hope this isn’t the start of a new ad strategy

If Amazon had just placed this ad for its mobile app in the usual ad carousel on the Fire TV home screen, it wouldn’t have been a big deal.

But a full-screen ad that you have to manually dismiss before you can continue using your Fire TV is a step too far, and hopefully Amazon realizes that and pulls back on it.

…the last thing users want are pop-up-style ads they have to manually dismiss before they can start streaming.

In all fairness to Amazon, I do understand why it’s trying to draw attention to its Fire TV mobile app, since it was recently redesigned with new features such as the ability to browse shows and movies and to bookmark titles. And after using it for the past couple of months, I can say I have enjoyed the app much more than I used to, as before, it was just a backup remote. But again, this ad would’ve gone over much better if Amazon had promoted the app through its normal advertising spaces instead of forcing a full-screen interruption on users, which I think will likely annoy many people.

My biggest concern is that Amazon could start using this full-screen ad format more often in the future, whether for its own promotions or third-party ads. That would be a huge mistake. Fire TV is already packed with ads as it is, and the last thing users want are pop-up-style ads they have to manually dismiss before they can start streaming.

Amazon hasn’t commented on its new full-screen ad for the Fire TV app, but hopefully it sees the backlash from Fire TV users and avoids going further down this road.

It feels as if Fire TV is moving in the wrong direction

First Vega OS, now this

This new ad feels like just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to mine and many others’ frustrations with Fire TV. Ever since Amazon launched Vega OS last year with the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, it’s hard not to feel that the company is moving Fire TV in the wrong direction.

Vega OS is Amazon’s new Linux-based operating system, and while it looks almost identical to Fire OS, the company’s Android-based platform, the big issue many users have with it is that it no longer supports sideloading. So if you want to install third-party apps outside of the Amazon Appstore, you’re out of luck.

…with Vega OS slowly taking over Fire TV Sticks and this new full-screen ad starting to appear, it feels like Amazon is moving Fire TV toward a less user-friendly direction by the day.

Amazon has already released two Fire TV Sticks running Vega OS — the Fire TV Stick 4K Select and a refreshed Fire TV Stick HD — and the company has also confirmed that all future Fire TV Sticks will run Vega OS going forward. That means that while Amazon is still developing Fire OS 16 based on Android, it won’t come to Fire TV Sticks and will instead be limited to smart TVs.

For enthusiasts who enjoy sideloading apps on their Fire TV Stick, that’s a huge disappointment, and it’s already pushing some users toward alternatives like the Google TV Streamer instead.

That said, there are a couple of things Amazon has done recently with Fire TV that have impressed me, including its new Fire TV user interface. And beyond the software on the new Fire TV Stick HD, the device itself looks pretty solid, thanks to its slimmer design and USB-C port, both welcome upgrades. It’s just a shame that if a future Fire TV Stick 4K Max adopts the HD stick’s new slim design, it’ll be stuck running Vega OS.

All in all, with Vega OS slowly taking over Fire TV Sticks and this new full-screen ad starting to appear, it feels like Amazon is moving Fire TV toward a less user-friendly direction by the day.