Many users of Amazon Fire TV will probably never have to touch the developer options settings. But by not doing so, they are losing a series of interesting additions, as you are now going to see. It’s not Chromecast, but it’s similar.
Until recently, these options were easy to locate in the menus of the Fire TV. However, a recent mid-June 2022 update has hidden the developer options menu.
It’s arguably a good move, as it keeps out of sight settings that many won’t know how to use properly. Fortunately, Amazon has only hidden the menu, not removed it entirely.
In fact, it’s now more in line with how developer options are accessed on a regular Android phone or tablet. Below we explain how to access it, because you will be interested if you have a Fire TV from Amazon.
How to Access Developer Options on Amazon Fire TV
The Developer Options menu is available on Amazon and third-party Fire TV hardware. Since it is now hidden, go to the About section in the settings.
Press the remote control button seven times on the first item to bring up the Developer Options menu, which is now hidden.
There is a slight variation in the steps depending on whether you have an Amazon device, like the Fire TV Stick, or a Fire TV (it’s similar but not the same). Differences will be highlighted where they occur.
- On your Fire TV, open Settings.
- Choose My Fire TV.
- Choose About.
- Click on the first option on the list. This should be a reference to your specific device.
- Press the remote control seven times as if you were selecting this option.
- When you’re done, a message should appear telling you that you are already a developer.
- Press the back button on the controller remote to return to the previous menu.
If you’re using a Fire TV, step 2 may refer to Device and software instead, but the rest of the steps are the same. Once the steps are completed, you will see that the missing developer options menu has reappeared, as explained in xda-developers.
That’s all. The menu will stay there permanently unless you restart your Fire TV. For most people, the main reason for accessing this menu is to load third-party applications from unknown sources using a tool like Downloader. For example, Kodi.