5 days ago
Netflix is dropping support for older Amazon Fire TV Stick: See if you are affected
Netflix has announced that it will remove support for the first-generation Amazon Fire TV sticks next week. While the company did not explain why it is doing so, these older Fire TV devices may likely be unable to stream shows in high quality.
According to ZDNet, Netflix has sent an email to affected users notifying them of the change and saying that the cutoff date for US users is June 3. In a statement to The Verge, Amazon spokesperson Jen Lurey Ridings said that 'Netflix will be discontinuing support for some first-generation Fire TV devices, which were introduced more than 10 years ago. Netflix remains available on all other Fire TV devices.'
Netflix spokesperson also clarified only first generation models of the Fire TV, Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote will be affected and that these device users 'may be eligible for a discount on a newer Fire TV Stick', at least in the US. If you haven't received the email and want to see if your Fire TV device is getting the axe, head over the the 'About' section in Settings> My Fire TV.
For those wondering, the first-generation Fire TV devices were launched back in 2014, which is more than a decade ago. Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600 chipset, these devices run on Fire OS 8 and come with 2GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage.
On its FAQ page, Netflix says that it ends support for some devices if it 'can no longer get necessary updates from its manufacturer or support new features'. If you are getting an error code R4, R12, or R25-1, it means that your device is no longer supported by Netflix or will be discontinued after a certain date.
This isn't the first time Netflix has ended support for older devices. The company has made similar moves in the last few years, dropping support for old DVD players, Blu-ray players, video game consoles, TVs and even tablets.
