Free reprogramming app for Fire TV remotes is hindered by Amazon

You shouldn't tamper with the buttons on the Fire TV remote, according to Amazon. After all, Amazon receives ad money from those buttons that link consumers to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max just received a software update from the manufacturer that disables Remapper, a free tool that enables users to remap the third-party app-launcher buttons on the remote. Since 2011, when Netflix began doing it, buttons that are special to a certain TV streaming service, like Disney+ or Peacock, have been a strategy for streaming services to try and promote subscriptions and watching. Businesses that include a streaming service button on their remotes, like Amazon and Roku, are paid for doing so. Amazon has not revealed how much revenue it generates from this feature, but according to a 2019 Bloomberg story, Roku costs streaming services $1 for each remote that has a button for the service. Photo Credit: Roku A software upgrade (7.6.2.4) that Amazon released last week prevents the Fire TV Stick 4K Max from using the Remapper app. While the restriction only applies to Fire TV Stick 4K Max, the app's creator, AFTVnews' Elias Saba, stated that they anticipate Remapper to also be prohibited from other Fire TVs. Saba remarked, "I don't expect a new hack to be discovered to make Remapper work once more. Remapper was released by Saba two years ago. Only Fire TV remote buttons that link to streaming services like Amazon Prime Video can be reprogrammed using this feature. It's a waste of space if you don't sign up for the service the button directs you to. Remapper functions by imitating the app that the remote is designed to open. The catch is that you can't use that app on your Fire TV after it has been reconfigured. Remapper was momentarily rendered inoperable by a software update that demanded that any app launched by an app button be downloaded from Amazon's Appstore a year after its debut. However, Saba was able to get past this by adding a few extra stages to the setup procedure to deceive the Fire TV. Photo Credit: Amazon.com But the most recent software update seems to be the last straw for Remapper. It "has a more advanced way to determine whether the app being launched by the remote app buttons is the desired app or not." "The message "App [app name] is not trusted" appears when you try to remap an app button using Remapper. showing in the Fire TV's log file as "Aborting launch," "Saba clarified. The Alexa Voice Remote Pro, which Amazon debuted in September, features two programmable buttons with the digits 1 and 2, as opposed to being imprinted with a streaming-service logo. Remapper was a free app, while The Remote Pro, which works with Fire TVs, is $35. Nevertheless, whereas Google TV and Android TV still allow you to remap their remote buttons, as observed by 9to5Google, Amazon's remote still has four third-party (non-reprogrammable) app buttons. Photo Credit: AFTVnews By limiting customisation, Amazon appears to have gained more control over its Fire TV platform. Custom launchers could not be used instead of Fire TV's default, ad-filled launcher, according to a Fire OS upgrade earlier this month. At a time when it's reported that Amazon's Alexa hardware segment is "under crisis," such actions might help the company increase revenue from its Fire TV business. Amazon said in January 2022 that it had sold more than 150 million Fire TV units since the product's launch.