Fire TV sticks are one of the most popular sticks out there, but there is also one major problem. Most Firesticks tend to slow down after a year of usage. Here, check this out. 

If I try to open apps, it takes a good 2-3 seconds to open the app. 

Sometimes the UI gets stuck while navigating the home screen.

And worst of all, all Fire TV sticks come with just 8 GB of internal storage, so if you try to install too many apps, you get the memory insufficient error!

But the good news is, if your Firestick is acting slow, there are things you can do to make it faster. This is Smart DNS Proxy and if you are new here, make sure to subscribe to this channel and hit the bell icon to get notified every time we put us a new video.

With that said, let’s see how to speed up the slow Firestick.

1.  Use the original power adapter

The first thing you need to check if your Firestick is running slow is the power supply. Are you powering your Firestick using the USB port of your TV?

As per Amazon’s description, your Firestick seems to require >900mA to work effectively. Or 1A. While most USB outlets on the TV offer 0.5 Ampere.

Now, most Fire TV sticks can work for years even on 0.5 Ampere, but if the power supply isn’t right, your Firestick might run into sluggish performance issue while doing heavy tasks such as gaming or updating the firmware. 

Therefore, it’s recommended to use a box power cable and the adapter that come with Firestick for best performance. And if you think about it, there is a reason why Amazon is spending money on these adapters, so make use of that.

2. Drill holes on Firestick

Okay, so this one comes with a disclaimer and you should not try this on Firestick under warranty or if you are not sure what you are doing.

So, if your Firestick gets too hot while you are using it or automatically shuts down, then it’s likely due to overheating of the device. To fix this, you can drill holes on your Firestick.

Use your fingernail or a flathead screwdriver to open the Firestick plastic casing. It’s relatively easy to open.

Using a small drill, carefully make holes on the casing and then put it back. Close your Firestick and enjoy improved performance.

There are several people who have tried this on Reddit and adding a head usually stops the Firestick overheating issue. Check it out. 

3. Make changes in Firestick Settings

So far, we have seen some physical changes you can make to your Firestick to make sure it performs faster. Now, let’s take a look at some settings you can change which will help to reduce the load on your Firestick.

First thing you should do is Disable Video And Sound Autoplay that automatically plays on your home screen. To do so, go to Settings > Preferences > Featured Content and turn off both the Allow Video Autoplay and Allow Sound Autoplay options.

Second setting you need to check is to make sure Automatic  downloads or updates are disabled. If you don’t already know, a major Firestick UI refresh is about to be released next month and it’s a good idea to make sure your Firestick stays updated. However, automatic updates can happen in the background while you are watching something and may spoil entire experience. To turn it off, go to Settings > Applications > App store > Automatic Updates.

Finally, you can disable some services that are ON by default but most people never use. For example, you can disable Whispersync by going to Settings > Applications > GameCircle > Whispersync for Games. 

Next, go to Settings > Preferences > Data Monitoring and turn off the single setting.

4. Force close apps you don’t use

All Firesticks come with 8GB of storage and 1 GB of RAM, which is sufficient for basic streaming but over the time, the storage gets eaten up by apps or movies and the device becomes slow.

One way to fix this is by uninstalling the apps that you don’t use. I’m sure there are plenty of them. Just go to settings, Applications, select Manage Installed Applications, select the app you want to uninstall and click on it.

If you don’t want to uninstall an app, always use the Force Stop option every time you use your Firestick. To do so, you can also use an app called Background Apps and process list to find all the app that currently running on your Firestick and then disable them all.

So, these were some of the tips and tricks to make sure your slow Firestick runs smoothly. You know what else runs smoothly - Smart DNS Proxy. Smart DNS Proxy provides an easy way to bypass geo-restricted content. If you are in New Zealand and want to watch Netflix US, you can just use a VPN and turn on all geo-blocked content not only from Netflix but also from BBC UK, Hulu, Disney Plus and hundreds of other channels.

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