Amazon's Fire TV Sticks have long been among the most popular streaming devices, and it's easy to see why. But there's another reason Fire TV Sticks have remained so popular: for years, they all ran Fire OS, which is based on Android. That freedom Android offers, such as the ability to sideload apps and install custom launchers, made Fire TV Sticks far more flexible than competing streaming platforms like Roku and Apple TV. In other words, the end of Android-based Fire TV Sticks is inevitable. Looking further back, it announced the Fire TV Stick 4K Max and Fire TV Stick 4K, later renamed the 4K Plus, at its September 2023 event.