Amazon explains the reasons for switching from Android to VegaOS for Fire TV

Amazon has outlined the motivations behind the replacement of Android with the new proprietary operating system VegaOS on the Fire TV platform. The explanations came during an interview with Aidan Marcuss, vice president of Fire TV, who addressed the main concerns that arose after the change. One of the most discussed topics is the abandonment of an open ecosystem like Android in favor of an internally developed platform.

According to Marcuss, the choice was primarily driven by the ability to create an extremely lightweight operating system that can also run on devices with very limited hardware specifications. An example cited was the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, which has just 1 GB of RAM. Amazon claims that VegaOS allows for the continued introduction of new features even on the more affordable models, thus providing greater flexibility in the development of future devices.

Another highlighted element concerns security. Marcuss explained that one of the priorities was to limit risks related to applications manually installed via sideloading, a very common practice also used for illegal streaming software. According to Amazon, some of these applications may contain harmful code or unwanted behaviors, posing a potential danger to users.

Further details on Amazon's use of VegaOS

During the interview, a major limitation of the transition was also addressed: VegaOS is not compatible with the numerous Android applications available on previous versions of Fire TV. Consequently, thousands of apps do not work on the new devices. Marcuss downplayed the issue, asserting that most users only use a limited number of applications and that the most popular streaming services are already available on the new platform. Amazon is also continuing to expand the catalog of supported applications, gradually including initially absent categories, such as VPNs.

For developers who have not yet adapted their applications, Amazon continues to offer a temporary solution based on running Android versions via the cloud. The company stated that it does not intend to discontinue this service, although it did not clarify whether there may be additional costs in the future. Despite the explanations provided, the interview did not reveal any concrete and immediate benefits for consumers arising from the switch to VegaOS.