Because Amazon’s latest Fire TV Stick 4K Select video streaming device implements a Linux derivative called Vega OS, apps developed for previous generations of the device in Android-based Fire OS won’t run on them.
According to a cybersecurity expert interviewed for article on the UK’s Metro news site, Amazon is banning the sideloading of certain categories of apps in Vega OS devices, and reportedly, sideloading is only being made available from within Amazon’s Fire TV developer environment, to registered developers.
FACT and other UK-based anti-piracy advocates, as well as major media companies like Sky, have long chased and shut down pirate apps across the UK.
Vega is also being used in new-generation Amazon Echo devices. Over time, Vega-based devices are likely to replace Android devices by attrition.
Why it matters
For now, we won’t see illegal streaming through the 4K Select. But don’t confuse that situation with the inability to run illegal apps under Vega. Sideloading is still available to registered developers. Depending on the extent to which Amazon screens for copyright-infringing apps under Vega, illegal streaming apps are likely to again proliferate.
Also, Fire OS is not being entirely replaced. Amazon tells its app developers that it will continue to launch new features and devices running that environment as well. Which means that Android-based Fire TV piracy apps will continue to have homes there.
And of course, consumers who access illegal sites can simply choose a streaming device other than the Fire TV Stick 4K Select.
Further reading
Getting Started with Vega Developer Tools. Landing page. Initially posted September, 30 2025. Amazon Developer site
‘Dodgy’ Amazon Fire Sticks: Has the new model defeated illegal streamers for good? Article. October 12, 2025. by Herbie Russell. Metro (UK)
