Many Amazon Fire TV owners will likely never need to touch the Developer Options settings. But potential developers will need it, as will anyone who wants to sideload applications that aren’t in Amazon’s own store. Until recently, these options were easy to find in the Fire TV menus. However, a recent update from mid-June 2022 has hidden the developer options menu. You could say that this is a good move, and keeps settings that many people don’t know how to use properly out of sight.
Fortunately, Amazon has only hidden the menu, not removed it completely. It’s now actually more in line with how the developer options are available on a regular Android phone or tablet. Here’s how to access it.
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, navigate to the About section in Settings.
- Press the button on the remote seven times on the first item to reveal the now hidden developer options menu.
There is a slight variation in the steps depending on whether you have an Amazon device, such as the Fire TV Stick, or a pre-built Fire TV TV. Differences will be highlighted where they occur.
1. Open on Fire TV Settings.
2. Select My Fire TV.
3. Select About.
4. Mark the first option in the list. This should be a reference to your specific device.
5. Press the remote control as if you selected this item seven times.
6. When you’re done, you should see a message telling you that you’re already a developer.
7. Press the back button on the remote control to return to the previous menu.
If you’re using a Fire TV TV, Step 2 may refer to “Device and Software” instead, but the rest of the steps are the same. Once you have completed the steps, you will now see that the missing developer options menu has reappeared.
That’s all it takes. The menu will remain there permanently unless you accidentally reset your Fire TV. For most people, the primary reason to even access this menu is to load third-party apps from unknown sources using a tool like Downloader. While the Downloader tool is in Amazon’s store, you need to enable the required option for unknown sources before you can actually install anything with it.
Amazon Fire TV Stick
Amazon’s latest sets the standard for affordable TV sticks, integrating Alexa into the remote control and can be powered directly from the TV’s USB port.
