Channels App not showing up in Fire App Store

Channels Fire TV
#1

I just got a 4K Fire Stick and can't find the Channels app. I have a server on my LAN for the DVR and have been using Channels on Apple and Android devices for years, I have another Fire TV and have Channels on that, but when I search for "Channels DVR" or "Channels app" on this Firestick, Channels does not show up in apps or apps and subscriptions at all.

Is there a problem with different model numbers or OS updates or changes that creates this issue? Or is there some known reason I can't find Channels on this Fire Stick?

#2

https://www.amazon.com/s?i=mobile-apps&rh=p_4%3AFancy%2BBits%2C%2BLLC&search-type=ss

#3

Yeah - on Amazon, but not in the App Store on my Fire stick. So am I supposed to download it onto another system and somehow transfer that to the stick and install it?

#4

Don't know as I don't use one.
Just following the official instructions here Channels Support - Channels on Fire TV
Sometimes the site documentation is not up to date.

#5

If you have a Fire Stick TV 4K Select -- the one with Vega OS, then Channels DVR will not work with it. See this thread for more information: Native Vega OS app for new Fire TV devices?

2 Likes
#6

Thank you!

Read that and set up a return for it. Looking at a TiVO box that runs full Android and claims to have the "full Play Store" available, so I can run Channels on it. Since I posted my question, I also checked and found other apps that weren't on it. Even if I didn't use Channels so much (for local OTA viewing), after reading that thread you linked to, I wouldn't consider the newer Fire devices with Vega acceptable. It means any small developers will take time to recompile for Vega and it sounds like it's different enough that it's going to break a lot of apps.

Sounds like Amazon is focused on taking control at an even higher level. Don't want to deal with that.

#7

Happy to help. It is a very new OS that amazon is hoping that they can get developers to adopt. Even most large developers are not on board yet and their apps are being run in the cloud. The attempt to lock down these devices will either work out or fail miserably for them but only time will tell.

#8

I can see why an app like Channels just does not make sense running on a cloud. But for me it's a bigger issue. I live in a rural area. (Odd - the north end of the county is next to Richmond, VA, and does not have the issues we have here!) So I can't get wired internet and depend on Starlink, which works most of the time, but can go out in heavy storms. When we first moved out here, we were stuck with ViaSat, which is horrid. Since then, I've learned that without wired internet (or even with it), then you just can't count on it. I avoid anything that requires an internet connection to function locally unless it's the only possible solution.

Personally, I can see why a lot of people would not go on board with that kind of cloud solution.

#9

The 4K Max doesn't suffer from this failure of the Select, but I can see not wanting to enter into a house that seems to be constricting down on itself.

#10