I cracked down on amazon, I highly recommend it
this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2025
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Me too. At least with Temu and Wish I know the majority of my money is going directly to some crook in China and not to Bezos. Cut out the extra middleman. Same low quality of goods, direct from the drop-shipper lying about them or perhaps even the factory counterfeiting them. It's a substantial improvement in supply chain honesty and legitimacy, you're left with no illusions about the products and all the reviews are fake, so it's deeply refreshing to not have to try to figure any of it out. It's always 100% consistent. You know exactly what to expect, with no worry you're accidentally going to overpay for something you think is genuine and receive a box full of rocks that's obviously been opened, stolen and returned, nah not on these sites. You'll get exactly what's pictured (not to scale necessarily, though). Way more reliable than Amazon.
Just go to AliExpress instead of Temu / Wish. Save you some cash.
Can confirm, great result.
I’m not watching ads.
Like I’ll just not watch anything. It really is that simple for me.
But until then 🏴☠️
"the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, which runs on Linux instead of the easily-modified Android software used on previous TV streaming hardware"
Ok... who wants to break it to them?
The Select is even more locked down, it uses Vega OS which doesn’t permit any sideloading at all. The only apps are HTML5
Looks like I left Fire Sticks just in time. They say they are going to block apps that allow piracy. So are they going to block their own shitty web browser?
Probably use some AI bullshit to scan what you're watching/doing on it and block the sites that way.
You were lucky! But I am sure there will be some ways around it in a matter of time. Maybe with some way to sideloading them or something.
In this day and age, why even use that smart tv shit?
I switched to an old PC connected to HDMI and a mouse that works like a wii controller. Firefox with AdBlock, audible, Spotify no problem at all here.
I think only tech illiterate people should even consider using smart tv, everyone else: get back you autonomy ffs, there are alternatives to that crab
Hey, mind sharing which mouse you're using?
They are all more or less the same chinese products with different cases, but it's pretty cheap
It doesn't work as well as the Wii controller since it uses the accelerometer, but you get used to it. The keyboard on the backside too, works for urls and some searching but you most likely don't want to type longer texts with it.
Worst streaming devices I used was a Fire stick and a fire cube, so painfully slow I couldn't wait until I got something different. Went with a Shield and the only disappointment I have is my TV's built in stuff is just as good for my usage so no need to hook up the shield.
It doesn't specify what apps... how broad will this be? The good news is i was already looking for alternatives a few months ago, and I think i see a few that will be a better solution anyway. Screw Amazon, and i hope they underestimate the percentage of people that only use this for those reasons. From everyone I know, I am pretty sure none of them use it for just legitimate reasons. I dont even use it for illegal streaming, but will they consider apps like plex, emby, and jellyfin as potential threats?
Amazon sell these devices at a loss to drive usage of their platform. They would prefer people using them to sideload would fuck off.
I wonder how many that is in %. Got to be a good chunk who side load. They ain’t gonna suddenly convert and set up prime subscriptions.
I don't stream anything illegal but I have had to sideload a couple of things that weren't available to download for whatever reason. I'm not going to give up that ability.
It's one thing if it was never available because they didn't want to put in the work. I'm talking very generically here, not about Android or the Fire Stick in particular. Like, no one is really going to be upset that something like an MP3 player or a DVD player can't run whatever software you want. But if your company is intentionally removing such functionality, you can fuck right off. Greed is the only reason to do it.
It doesn’t sound like they are saying the are going to block sideloading, just sideloading stuff like Kodi that are often used for illegal streaming
It says you'll only be able to download stuff from their store.
EDIT: I should have specified that I was talking about the new fire stick. Not whatever they plan to do with existing ones.
That’s just for Vega OS devices, which will be the low end ones.
Say what you want about Amazon, these were a decent deal. You could find a guy on your local marketplace that would sell one of these fire sticks preloaded with a custom IPTV app that had a bunch of channels for about £20-£40 permanently, no reoccurring cost.
If you got one before the police started cracking down on them you’re golden.
Is there a good alternative that's in the same compact size?
Got a Xiaomi TV Stick 4k arriving today 🤞
Not quite as compact but I think you can r pi a little media box pretty easily.
Hmm I was thinking of using it when travelling so I don't think that fulfills the same use case.
Onn/Thompson sticks. They also use the stick form factor but they run Google TV so they shouldn't be affected.
I've just been using a Chromecast and my phone for nearly a decade now.
I'd personally rather not use something that requires Chrome and has miracast support too.
It doesn't require Chrome. No idea about Miracast, because I just use the Chromecast in-app connection on my phone.
I was thinking more for streaming from a laptop. I've tried it before and it doesn't work, you need Chrome to start the connection.
For that I think you need Chrome. I haven't done it in a while, because from my phone I can use Jellyfin or Web Video Caster.
I use the OSMC vero V to have a nice Kodi interface for my liberated films and TV shows, which I have on my PC with a network share. It's great.
Amazon? Never heard of it.