Amazon Fire TV is getting a pretty major refresh. Not just in the hardware department — there are new Fire TV Sticks on the way — but in software. The Fire TV OS user interface tolerated by many and loathed by just as many is about to be completely reimagined, the company announced today during its annual product event.
The new UI is "designed to be more personalized and customized, with new content-discovery features, enhanced Alexa voice integration, and user profiles."
Most of that stuff already lives in Fire TV OS, of course, save for the personalization and customization. The biggest obvious change? It looks way different. The top navigation has been moved to the middle. There's still a ton of content — maybe too much — but it's all graphically driven and not all that bad on the eye.
"We redesigned the Fire TV experience to build on the things customers love," Amazon wrote in its live blog of the closed press event, "with new features like a simplified Main Menu, Find destination, Profiles for up to six users, and voice-first experience with Alexa."
It's the biggest user experience update Amazon's done, the company said.
Also on the way: Support for Logitech USB webcams through a Fire TV Cube — the most powerful Fire TV hardware available at the moment — as well as support for Zoom video chats.
No word on when to expect the update — or how far back the update will reach its vast Fire TV bench — other than later this year.
