My 8K on Amazon Fire TV Stick
The way most of our customers watch. The only genuinely awkward part is the very first download, and there is a picture of every screen you will see along the way.
Before you start
- Your Fire Stick plugged in and on your Wi-Fi
- The email with your My 8K details, open on your phone
- The Fire Stick remote and a cup of tea
Let the stick install things
From the Fire TV home screen go to Settings, then My Fire TV, then Developer Options, and turn on Install unknown apps. Amazon words this as though it is dangerous. It is not. It simply means the stick will accept an app that did not come from Amazon’s own shop, which is how every player of this kind is installed.
Get the Downloader app
Go back to the home screen, use the search icon and type Downloader. It is the orange one. Install it, open it, and if it asks for permission to access files, say yes. That permission is what lets it save the file it is about to fetch for you.
Fetch the My 8K player
In Downloader, click the address box, type the short code from our apps page and press Go. The file downloads, then the stick asks whether you want to install it. Choose Install, then Done rather than Open, and delete the file when Downloader offers to. That last bit just tidies up the space.
Type in your details once
Open the app and choose the Xtream login. Copy the server address, username and password from your account page exactly as they appear, including any http at the front. Typing on a remote is miserable, so take it slowly and check each line before moving on. A single wrong character is the reason for almost every failed first login.
Let it settle before you judge it
The first time you sign in, the app pulls down the whole channel list and the programme guide. That can take a couple of minutes and the screen may look like it has stalled. Leave it alone until it finishes. Every load after this one is quick.
Worth knowing
- If the stick feels sluggish generally, hold the remote Home button, choose Settings, then Applications, and clear the cache on the apps you no longer use.
- Fire Sticks run hot behind a wall-mounted telly. If yours drops out only after an hour or so, heat is the likeliest culprit and the little HDMI extender in the box helps.
- Write your username and password on the back of an envelope and keep it in the drawer under the telly. Everybody in the house will thank you eventually.
No subscription yet?
It takes about two minutes from paying to having your details on the screen in front of you, and this guide will be waiting when you come back to it.
Set mine up