Amazon today announced a cleaner, faster, and better organized new user interface for its Fire TV devices that I’m sure in no way does anything to fix the number of advertisements it displays. There’s also a new Fire TV mobile app and a new lifestyle TV called Amazon Ember Artline.
“Because customers are talking to Alexa+ more than 2.5 times more often than they were with the original Alexa, we knew it was time to upgrade other key parts of the Fire TV experience,” the Amazon announcement explains. “So, to kick off 2026, we’re upgrading how customers browse for content with a new, redesigned user interface (UI), launching a transformed Fire TV mobile app, and introducing our first-ever lifestyle TV, the Amazon Ember Artline.”
Here’s what’s new.
Redesigned Fire TV user interface. Amazon says that the new Fire TV UI is cleaner, faster, and better organized than its predecessor, with a more modern design, updated typography, and optimized spacing. The underlying code was improved so that it is 20 to 30 percent faster. Games, Art & Photos, and the Ambient Experience are now available by tapping the Menu button on the remote. And you can now pin up to 20 apps to the home screen, up from 6. The new UI is a free update that will launch in February, starting with the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen), and Fire TV Omni Mini-LED Series in the U.S. before rolling out to other devices.
Updated Fire TV mobile app. Amazon says that millions of customers use its Fire TV mobile app as a backup remote, but it wanted it to be more functional. So it updated the app with content browsing, watchlist management, and second screen capabilities and redesigned the UI to more closely resemble the Fire TV interface. The app is free and the update will start rolling out in February.
Amazon Ember Artline. This new lifestyle TV is the first to use Amazon’s new brand for smart TVs, Ember, and it’s designed to be used as a digital photo and art display when not being used to watch TV. It’s a 4K QLED design with a matte screen, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and Wi-Fi 6, with a thin 1.5-inch design, far field microphones so you can talk to Alexa+, and Omnisense technology that automatically turns the Ambient Experience on and off when people enter or leave the room. It offers a set of 10 optional frames, with colors like Walnut, Ash, Teak, Black Oak, Matte White, Midnight Blue, Fig, Pale Gold, Graphite, and Silver so it can match your decor. And there will be multiple sizes between 55 and 65 inches when it ships at $899 and up starting in the spring in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the UK.
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