Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick 4K Select, the first to run on its homegrown Vega OS, was supposed to be a clean break from the Android-based Fire OS.
The interface looks and feels familiar, but one thing stands out right away: there’s no native Spotify app.
Instead, Amazon directs its users to something called Spotify Connect. Think of it as more of a bridge than a real app. You can’t browse or queue up songs on the stick itself. You’ll have to pull out your phone, open Spotify there, and send the music overthrow Alexa or the Connect app.
Amazon spokesperson Melanie Garvey explained that both options still allow “full access to your Spotify content,” but let’s be honest, it’s not exactly smooth.
The missing app highlights the headaches Amazon faces with Vega. Because it’s a Linux-based platform, developers have to rebuild their apps from scratch. Some big players have already adapted and have already put in the work. Others are hanging back, waiting to see if Vega takes off before committing any resources.
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To help with the rocky transition, Amazon came up with a temporary fix: some unported apps actually run through cloud-hosted Android instances, streamed directly to your TV. These cloud apps work almost like native Vega ones, and there’s hardly any lag.
However, they can’t tap into your local network. This is kind of a dealbreaker for Spotify, since casting and queue management rely on local connectivity.
That limitation explains why Amazon opted for a lightweight Connect app instead of trying to virtualise the full Fire TV Spotify app. The whole thing feels a bit awkward, though. Users must often restart the Connect app just to get the Fire TV to appear as a playback option. Definitely not in the same league as the quick, reliable experience you get with Echo speakers.
If you’re wondering if you should get that Fire TV Stick upgrade, check out our comparison of the Fire TV Stick 4K Select and the Fire TV Stick 4K Max.
