Run Your App on Vega Virtual Device or Fire TV Stick

Run your app on Fire TV Stick

Running your Vega app on a Fire TV Stick is essential for testing real device performance and ensuring compatibility before submitting to the Amazon Appstore. This section walks you through setting up your Fire TV Stick 4K Select for development, enabling Developer Mode, and sideloading your Vega app for testing.

Prerequisites

1. Install the Vega SDK.

2. Fire TV Stick 4K Select.

   Ensure you're using the remote that came with your Fire TV Stick 4K Select. Remotes from other Fire TV devices cause pairing issues during development and testing.

Step 1: Set up and register your Fire TV Stick

1. Connect your Fire TV Stick:

   a. To your development machine using a USB cable.

   b. To a display using the HDMI adapter.

   The remote pairing screen displays.

2. Complete remote pairing:

   a. Press the Home button when prompted.

   b. Follow on-screen instructions.

   c. Wait for the Fire TV logo.

3. Configure settings:

   a. Press the Play/Pause button on your remote.

   b. Select your preferred language.

   c. Connect to your network.

   d. Enter your network credentials.

   Warning: The device checks for over-the-air (OTA) updates. Don't power off or restart your device until the updates complete. Interrupting the update might prevent network discovery.

4. Complete device registration:

   a. Sign in to your Amazon account either online or through QR code.

   b. Follow on-screen instructions.

   c. Wait for the "Successfully registered" message.

5. Press OK when you see "Your Fire TV remote is now successfully set up."

Step 2: Register Fire TV Stick for Developer Mode

Developer Mode allows you to sideload apps and test development builds on your Fire TV device. To register your device, you need its Device Serial Number (DSN).

To find your DSN:

1. Go to Settings > My Fire TV > About.

2. Look for "Serial Number" in the device information.

   The "Serial Number" is your DSN that you need to register your device. You can also find the DSN on the original packaging box or in your Amazon account under "Manage Your Content and Devices."

To register the Fire TV Stick:

1. Enter your DSN in the Device Serial Number (DSN) input field.

   

2. Select Add Device.

   The Registered Devices section displays the DSN.

Step 3: Configure Developer Mode

1. Access the Fire TV Settings menu:

   Option 1: Using Home button

   a. Press the Home button on your remote to go to the Home screen.

   b. Navigate to the top menu bar.

   c. Scroll right to find and select the Settings icon (gear symbol).

   Option 2: Using Home button shortcut (faster)

   a. Press and hold the Home button on your remote for 3 seconds.

   b. Select Settings from the quick menu that appears.

   

2. Go to Settings > My Fire TV > About.

   

3. Select Fire TV Stick 4K Select.

4. Press the center button on the remote control 7 times.

5. Press the Back button to return to My Fire TV.

   

   The Developer Options appears in the menu list.

   

6. Select Developer Options.

   By default, Developer Mode is Disabled.

7. Select Developer Mode to enable it.

   

8. Wait for the device to reboot when you see "Your Fire TV is Powering Off."

9. After device reboot, use the Back button on your remote and navigate to My Fire TV > Developer Options > Developer Mode.

   The Developer Mode status should show Enabled.

10. Check device recognition.

    Copy code Copied to clipboard.

    vega device list
    

    Example output with one device connected:

    Found the following device:
    [Serial Number] : [Device Number]
    

    Example output with multiple devices connected:

    Found the following devices:
    [Serial Number] : [Device Number]
    [Serial Number] : [Device Number]
    

11. Connect to the device.

    • If you have one device connected:

      Copy code Copied to clipboard.

      vega device shell
      

    • If you have multiple devices connected, specify the DSN:

      vega device -d <Device Serial Number> shell
      

      Example output:

       (hostmachine)% vega device -d <Device Serial Number> shell
      
       ##################################################
      
       ##### Welcome to Developer Mode Shell #####
      
       ##################################################
      
       sh(com.amazon.dev.shell):/$
      

Step 4: Load your app on a Fire TV Stick

After you configure Developer Mode on your Fire TV Stick, open a new terminal and use the following commands to load your app:

Find your .vpkg file

When you build your app with vega build, the .vpkg file is generated in your project's build/ directory. The path follows this pattern:

build/<ARCH>-<BUILD_TYPE>/<APP_NAME>_<ARCH>.vpkg

For Fire TV Stick, use the armv7 architecture. For example, if your app is named sampleapp and you built a release variant:

build/armv7-release/sampleapp_armv7.vpkg

One device connected to your computer

Replace <my-package.vpkg> with the path to your .vpkg file.

vega device install-app --packagePath build/armv7-release/sampleapp_armv7.vpkg

Multiple devices connected to your computer

Use the following command to specify the target device. Replace <Device Serial Number> with your device's serial number and <my-package.vpkg> with the path to your .vpkg file.

vega device -d <Device Serial Number> install-app --packagePath build/armv7-release/sampleapp_armv7.vpkg

Example output:

Installing/Updating '/tmp/sampleapp_armv7.vpkg' .. success

Step 5: Run your app on Fire TV Stick

After you load your app on your Fire TV Stick, use the following commands to run your app.

One device connected to your computer

vega device launch-app --appName <component-id>

Multiple devices connected to your computer

Use the following command to specify the target device. Replace <Device Serial Number> with your device's serial number and <component-id> with your app's component ID.

vega device -d <Device Serial Number> launch-app --appName <component-id>

Example output:

(hostmachine)% vega device -d <Device Serial Number> launch-app --appName com.amazondeveloper.sampleapp
Launching app 'com.amazondeveloper.sampleapp' .. success

Troubleshoot

If you encounter issues with the Fire TV Stick, see Resolve Fire TV Stick Issues.