Why Is My Firestick So Slow? Learn How to Speed it Up Here!

Ever since they rolled out, the Amazon Firestick TVs have taken the world by storm. I must admit, these devices have made watching movies and TV shows with friends and family much more fun and enjoyable. However, sometimes I find my Fire stick lagging, and trust me, it is a frustrating experience. 

One of the reasons Amazon has managed to gain traction with their consumers is due to their ability to adapt. The brand has put out a number of revolutionizing innovations, which have really pulled the masses in. However, despite being a game-changer in the market, their star product – the Firestick – does come with its fair share of issues. 

One common issue is the laggy hardware. Furthermore, sometimes it takes a lot longer than necessary for an application to open. No doubt, when you face this problem enough, you end up asking yourself, “why is my Firestick so slow?” 

If you are new to the world of Firesticks, you might have noticed your Fire stick lagging or frozen and wondered what the issue is. Sometimes, the menu also freezes when you start scrolling. This takes up a lot of time before the lag goes away. It gets even more infuriating when you are in for a movie night with your friends or your significant other. The good news is, there are ways out of this hassle if you play your cards right. 

The next time you ask yourself, “why is my Firestick so slow?” you must apply what I am about to tell you, and I am sure you will soon be out of the mess. There are two ways out of this. You can either tweak the settings or tweak the storage a little bit. Both these techniques have their advantages, but your plan of action depends on the problem that has paved the way for all this sluggishness.

Main reasons behind firestick running slow are Overheating and Bloatware.

So in this article, I will be discussing both these issues in depth, then we will go to the fixes section. Towards the end of this blog post, I will also touch upon the issues of audio delays. 

Why Is my Firestick Running Slow: Reasons

As I mentioned above, a Firestick runs slow due to: 

• The device is overheated 
• The device has too much making it bloated or bloatware as it is called.

It took me some time to understand this. One of the common issues with Amazon Firesticks is overheating. Later on, I realized that I wasn’t the only one struggling with it. Things have gotten better just a little bit, ever since they came out with the 4K version, but honestly speaking, the problem hasn’t really gone away. 

Overheating not only makes your Amazon Firestick slow, but it also impacts the hardware. Sometimes, it affects your connectivity to the internet as well. In some cases, the Firestick is connected to the internet but continues to restart, which can affect your experience. 

Every time my Firestick slows down, besides the overheating issue, I check for bloatware. Bloatware are the extra applications on a device that are added by the manufacturer. Not only do these apps occupy large space, but if left running in the background, they can slow your firestick down. If you suspect bloatware on your firestick, make sure to check the applications on your device. Some of them might be utterly useless to you. 

How to Remove Bloatware from Your Firestick

If you’re looking to get rid of the bloatware on your Firestick, here’s what you need to do:

1. Ensure your Firestick is on and connected.
2. Hold the “Home” button on your Firestick remote.
3. Click on the “Apps” button.
4. Search through the list of apps for the app you’re looking to uninstall.
5. Click on “Uninstall.”
6. You will receive a confirmation pop-up. If you’re sure you want to uninstall the app, click “uninstall.”

How to Keep Your Firestick from Overheating

Here are some tips to keep your firestick from overheating. 

Let the Firestick Cool Down 

To stop your Firestick from overheating, you can simply unplug the firestick and allow it to cool down. Unplug the TV set and the USB power source, and place the TV in an area that is well ventilated. After the TV has cooled down, you can plug it back again. 

Use a Different HDMI Port

Chances are, your TV has HDMI ports in various locations. If your firestick is overheating, you should move your firestick to a different port. If there are ports toward the front or on the sides, the firestick won’t overheat in those areas due to the better ventilation. 

Use an HDMI Extender 

Sometimes, you might not find ample clearance around the HDMI port on your TV. In this case, you can plug an HDMI extender into your TV’s HDMI port, and then plug the Firestick into the extender. Another benefit of the HDMI extender is that it allows you to position the firestick a few inches away from the TV, which helps you keep your firestick from overheating. 

Use a USB Port Instead of an Adapter 

If you have a USB port on your TV, you can use it instead of using a USB power adapter. The benefit of this is that the Firestick powers down when the TV shuts off. When it is plugged into an adapter, the Firestick will stay on as long as the adapter is on, which can cause it to overheat.

How to Make Firestick Faster

Now, let’s take a look at some tips on how to make Firestick faster. First of all, let’s talk about settings. 

Sound and Video Autoplay

The Amazon Firestick uses its algorithms to figure out content you might be interested in. The videos it plays are the ones that appear in the “featured” section of the homescreen. I would suggest that you disable this feature to minimize the load on your CPU. Here is what you need to do. 

• First, head over to settings. 
• Then go to “featured content.”
• Then, turn off the video autoplay and the sound autoplay. 

Notifications

There are different types of notifications you will find within your Amazon Firestick. The Firestick will provide you with notifications regarding services and application updates. Moreover, the installed applications also create their own notifications. 

These notifications primarily revolve around the latest news, as well as newly available content. 

If your Amazon Firestick is slow, you need to disable these notifications as they’re taking up valuable processing power. To disable App Store notifications, here are a few steps you must follow. 

• Head over to settings. 
• From settings, move to applications, and from there, move to the app store. 
• Next, go to the notifications to turn them off. 

If you want to disable notifications from other applications, here is what you must do. 

• First, head over to settings. 
• Then, go to preferences and from there move to “notification settings.” 

From there go to app notifications, and disable them in a case-by-case manner. 

Automatic Updates

Automatic updates are necessary for a number of reasons. For starters, they ensure you have the latest security fixes and updates. However, as long as they are enabled, these updates can continue to take place in the background, causing your Firestick to lag. 

However, if you turn off these automatic updates, you can actually take control of the entire process. You can spare some time here and there when you aren’t watching anything and run this update process manually. 

To disable this feature, here is what you need to do. 

• Head over to settings. 
• Move to applications, and from there, move to the app store. 
• Lastly, head over to automatic updates to disable the feature

It is important to ensure that you are running the latest version of the application. Even if you disable the automatic updates, make sure to check for updates manually so that you’re always up to date. 

Disable Unused Services 

The Firestick comes with Amazon services built in. This depends on the device and the operating system you are using. Some of the most common services are Whispersync and Prime Photos. As the name implies, Prime Photos provides unlimited storage space for image files. However, this feature is only available for Prime customers.

On the flipside, Whispersync is used for syncing gaming data, progress, and high scores across different Amazon devices. If you aren’t currently using any of these services, it is better to turn them off. Here is what you need to do. 

• First, go to settings, and then move to applications. 
• Then, move to Prime Photos, and disable “guest connections” and “access prime photos.” 

As far as Whispersync is concerned, here is what you need to do. 

• First, go to settings, and then go to applications. 
• Then, move to Game Circle. 
• From here, make your way to Whispersync for games and disable it. 

Data Collection

The Firestick also collects a lot of data. If this feature is turned off, not only will it enhance your privacy, but it will also make it run faster. 

The collection techniques are background progresses and extremely power hungry. Therefore, when they are running, they compromise the performance of your Amazon Firestick. The 

settings you need to disable can be found in the Data Monitoring and power menus. Here is what you need to do. 

• First, go to settings and move to preferences. 
• From there, move to privacy settings. You will have to disable three settings, which include interest-based ads, collect app data usage, and device usage data. 
• Lastly, go to the preferences in the settings section and then go to data monitoring. Once there, turn off the single setting. 

Audio Delays Explained

Two common questions that come from Firestick users are “why is my Firestick glitching” and “is my Firestick too old?” Little do they know that all Firestick models struggle with problems of audio delays. In this section, I will educate you on Firestick audio delay problems and what you can do about them. 

Why Do Firestick Audio Delays Occur? 

There are several reasons an audio delay occurs. Sometimes, it happens due to a glitch in your media, or the application you are using, and sometimes, it is due to the streaming service itself. Syncing problems can also occur due to the Dolby digital settings on your Firestick. A slow internet connection is also to be blamed. Sometimes, casting an Amazon Firestick to a secondary device wirelessly can also be a cause of audio delays. 

How to Fix Audio Delays on a Firestick 

Let’s look at ways to fix an audio delay on your Amazon Firestick. Firstly, the fire stick slow internet connection should be fixed, or else the delays won’t go away. 

• Sometimes, the audio delay is app-specific. To solve this problem, make sure to shut the app right away. By force-stopping the application, the problem with the audio-video syncing can be solved. First of all, move to the settings section. From there, go to applications and then to “manage installed applications. Then, select the affected application, and force stop it. To reopen the application, click on “launch application”. If the issue persists, try the solutions mentioned below. 

• You can also try restarting the Firestick TV. An audio delay can be a small glitch within the streaming services on your TV. Enter the settings menu, and from there go to my Fire TV. By restarting the device, you can restore its normalcy. You can also do so on your remote. Just press the select button along with the play/pause button for five seconds. You can also unplug the TV, and then replug it again.

• Clearing the cache can also make the audio delay go away. Navigate to the settings menu on, and then select “applications”. Then select “manage installed applications. Now, select the affected app. Once you locate the selected application, you can easily clear the cache.

• Make sure to check the content you play on your Firestick TV. Some people complain about audio delays only when they play specific files. Chances are, the content is too heavy for the application, or your Firestick TV to handle. Try playing other files, and see if the audio delays persist. If they don’t, it is better not to play the same content again. 

• Also, if your TV uses Dolby Digital Plus, try enabling it. By doing so, you can improve the  audio output on your Firestick TV. However, there are some downsides, such as audio-video synchronization problems, especially if Dolby Digital isn’t supported by your HDMI devices. Sometimes, turning off Dolby Digital can do the trick. Here is how to do it. 
  
  • Go to the settings menu, and select display and sounds. 
  • Next up, select “audio”. 
  • Then select “Dolby Digital Output”. 
  • From there, you can turn off Dolby Digital.

FAQs

Q1. What To Do When There’s No Sound on Your Firestick? 

Answer – Use the remote to switch HDMI inputs and restart the Firestick. If the issues persist, try unplugging the TV for 30 seconds before turning it back on again. 

Q2. Why Is There Audio But No Picture? 

Answer – If you can hear the audio but the screen remains black, try using a different HDMI port. If the problems are still there, unplug the device and wait for 30 seconds before trying it again. 

Final Word 

Your Firestick slowing down and audio delays aren’t as rare as you think. Considering the audio and visual experience the Firestick provides you with, these issues are but a small tradeoff. However, if you are faced with such issues, make sure to check out the solutions I have listed above.