So it was a nice surprise to find a message on my Echo Show 15 this morning prompting me to update. A few taps and a quick five-minute download later and the update had been installed, complete with a shortcut to the Fire TV interface in the top-right of the Echo Show 15’s UI. As expected, turning the Echo Show 15 into a Fire TV really does make it a more compelling offering. It’s now able to take full advantage of that large display, and no more workarounds using web browsers to get YouTube – arguably the biggest omission from the Echo Show 15 until now – and other content. It’s a particular boon for those who want to use it as a small kitchen TV to watch news and more. As Fire TV supports user profiles, different members of your household can sign in to see their personal content libraries for each user of the Show 15. Essentially, it has gone from a smart display that would occasionally remind me about shopping lists and upcoming events to a product that I actively want to use. You can pair an Alexa Voice remote with the Show 15 for easier control than using your voice (or the touchscreen) – and you’ll be prompted to do so during the setup process – but there’s also a virtual Fire TV remote that appears on-screen in apps that are designed around remote input rather than touch. If you don’t see the on-screen Fire TV download prompt on your Echo Show 15, you can try to force the update by heading to Settings, selecting Device Options and tapping Check for Updates.
Can you sideload apps onto the Echo Show 15 with Fire TV?
With that said, if you were hoping to side-load Kodi onto the Echo Show 15 to stream your personal movie library, I’m afraid you’re out of luck!
Are you excited about the new Fire TV functionality, or is it not enough to tempt you to buy the Echo Show 15? Let us know on Twitter.
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Lewis Painter is a Senior Staff Writer at Tech Advisor. Our resident Apple expert, Lewis covers everything from iPhone to AirPods, plus a range of smartphones, tablets, laptops and gaming hardware. You’ll also find him on the Tech Advisor YouTube channel.
