Installing a demo app on Amazon Fire TV

- Guidance Note

Introduction

Apps created for Amazon Fire TV in Zapp can be Sideloaded onto an Amazon Fire TV device. There are 2 methods

• Via a file manager app
• Via Terminal

Enable Developer Mode on Android TV

On your Amazon Fire TV device go to

>>Settings>>My Fire TV>>Developer Options and turn on ADB Debugging and Apps from Unknown Sources

File Manager app

1. Download the app ES File Manager from Amazon Store onto your Amazon Fire TV

2. Download the Applicaster Amazon Fire TV .apk file from Zapp to your PC

3. Upload the .apk to your Google Drive

4. Open the ES File Manager app on the Amazon Fire TV

• Navigate in the left menu to >>Network>>Cloud Drive
• Add your Google Drive Account to the app with +NEW button
• Once added, open your Google Drive account in ES File Explorer and find the .apk file. Click OK and follow the install process

5. The app will install and can be found in the Amazon Fire TV device by 

• Navigating on the Home Page to Your Apps and Channels
• Press Left on the remote control and select  See All Apps
• Find your app from the app selection

Terminal install

To use the terminal to install an app

1. Android Studio must be installed on your PC
• Download it here https://developer.android.com/studio/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_JyRspKC5AIVBLTtCh3r3gAIEAAYASAAEgIzSPD_BwE
• Run the install process
2. Once installed open terminal on your PC
3. Find the IP address of your Amazon Fire TV device >>Settings>>My Fire TV>>About>>Network. Make sure the PC and Amazon Fire TV are on the same WiFi or wired network
4. In terminal run the command s
• adb connect IPddressofTVdevice
• adb install dragapkfilehere

File transfer can take around 60secs and there is no progress visible until the transfer completes

If you get the error message at step 4b. $ADB_VENDOR_KEYS is not set; try 'adb kill-server' if that seems wrong 

then follow the procedure below:

1. On your PC go to this directory in Finder: ~/.android/adbkey/
2. Delete the 2 files adbkey and adbkey.pub
3. In terminal type adb kill-server then adb start-server
4. Then type adb connect IPddressofTVdevice
5. Look for the message on the Android TV device to accept the connection
• Accept the connection and then in terminal type adb install dragapkfilehere