Fire OS engineering
Amazon Fire TV app development
Fire TV runs Fire OS, Amazon's own build of the operating system, and its apps reach viewers through the Amazon Appstore instead of Google Play. FreeCast Watch shipped there, and Claro TV+ was built for Fire OS alongside Android TV.
Fire OS is Android, with Amazon's services underneath
Amazon's own developer documentation describes Fire OS plainly, as the operating system based on a fork of the Android Open Source Project. It goes further: most apps that work on Android also work on Fire TV, because Fire TV is built on Android, and the real difference sits in the services layer, where Fire TV calls Amazon's services instead of Google's. That is the practical shift when I bring an Android codebase to Fire TV: isolate the Google Play Services dependent pieces behind their own interface, swap in Amazon's equivalents, and leave the rest of the Kotlin alone.
Getting through the Amazon Appstore
Amazon's submission guide is direct about the gate before release: a submitted app or game has to pass Amazon's own tests before the Appstore will publish it. FreeCast Watch's Fire OS build went through that gate on its way to the Appstore.
FreeCast Watch on Fire OS
FreeCast Watch's Fire OS build streamed live linear channels and on-demand video over HLS and DASH with Widevine DRM, and it shipped on the Amazon Appstore while its Android sibling, Select TV, shipped on Google Play.
Claro TV+ on Fire OS
Claro TV+ was a greenfield app built for Android TV and Fire OS together, for one of Brazil's largest pay-TV operators, streaming 4K video over DASH and HLS with multi-DRM protection.
Questions I get about Fire TV work
- Is Fire OS really just Android?
- According to Amazon's own developer documentation, Fire OS is built as a fork of the Android Open Source Project, and most apps that work on Android also work on Fire TV.
- What has to change to bring an Android app to Fire TV?
- Mainly the services layer. Amazon's documentation is direct that Fire TV apps call Amazon's services where an Android app would call Google's, so that layer needs a Fire OS specific implementation.
- Which Fire TV apps have you worked on?
- FreeCast Watch, whose Fire OS build shipped on the Amazon Appstore, and Claro TV+, a greenfield app built for Fire OS and Android TV.
- What does Amazon check before publishing an app?
- Amazon's submission documentation states that a submitted app or game must pass Amazon's own tests before the Appstore will publish it.
Related pages
Android TV app development, Android TV vs Fire TV, and Media3 and ExoPlayer playback.
Talk about a Fire TV build
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