Amazon today announced that popular live TV apps Sling TV, YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV will be supported by Amazon Fire TV's discovery features. This means it'll be easier to browse content from these apps on your device, with the 'Live' tab functioning as a one-stop destination for all of your available live channels. You'll also be able to use Alexa to switch to the live channel of your choice.
Sling TV and YouTube TV discovery support is available in an update from today, while Hulu + Live TV is coming in the next few weeks. To get started, Amazon says all you need to do is download one of the integrated apps and log in. After you've got the app and logged in, you'll see available channels pop up across the Fire TV interface.
In the UK? Scroll down for information on Amazon's recent addition of over-the-air TV to Fire TV Cube devices.
Amazon touts the following benefits to your live TV browsing experience:
- Live channels will appear in the Recent and On-now rows of your device's home screen.
- The Live tab sorts live TV options by category (sports and news, for example), what you've watched recently and by content provider.
- Fire TV's channel guide will provide an overall integrated look at your available programming.
- You can also customize the interface by selecting channels as favorites, which will affect how content is displayed in the rows as you browse.
While we haven't tested it yet, it should give live TV viewers a better integrated experience on Fire TV devices, which can't be a bad thing.
If you've not seen the Live TV tab in action yet, see the video below for more:
Note that this only applies in the US. But UK Fire Cube users have reason to be excited, too - just scroll to the bottom of this page for more.
Which live TV apps and channels work with Fire devices?
Amazon listed them all off in the announcement. Check them out below:
- Sling TV
- YouTube TV
- Hulu + Live
- Philo
- Pluto TV
- Red Bull TV
- Twitch
- HBO
- Showtime
- Starz
- Cinemax
- MLB.TV
- PGA Tour Live
- NBA League Pass
What about UK Amazon Fire TV users?
If you own a Fire TV Cube and you're based in the UK, you can now watch over-the-air TV on your device from today (9 July). How do you do it? Well, go into the Fire TV Settings menu, and then the Equipment Control menu. Choose 'Manage Equipment', then 'Add Equipment' and 'Live TV' to set up your over-the-air TV tuner.
Note, though, that we haven't had the opportunity to test this out ourselves yet. Compatibility information can be found here.
Alexa voice control will let you select the channel of your choice, too, with Amazon saying that naming your favorite channels will tune into them for you.
