Set up Fire TV, Signage Stick, and Android devices

These devices are small computers, not panels: They do not come with a “show a web address” mode, but with an app environment. The route therefore goes through a browser that you set to start automatically. This page explains how, and what is different from a Samsung or LG panel.

If you have many devices#

For a rollout, there is a path of its own: Connect many displays at once. There, all displays are created in one go, and you get a file with one connection address per display.

Caution: The Szenera package for Android and Fire OS is built and in review but not yet available. It will then read this file from a USB stick and connect every display without typing. Until then, the file is still useful: It replaces twenty codes read off the displays with twenty addresses that you copy from a list or bring to the device as a QR code. Ask support about the status.

How it differs from a panel#

A professional panel from Samsung or LG has a built-in URL Launcher, a mode in which it opens an address and can do nothing else. A stick does not have that. What you set up there is three things instead of one:

1. A browser that opens an address in full screen and shows no toolbar.
2. The autostart, so that this browser comes up by itself after power-on.
3. The address in that browser.

The Amazon Signage Stick does not take this path: It starts only the app of a provider from Amazon’s list and accepts no browser. With Szenera, you use it as soon as Szenera is on that list, see Amazon Signage Stick.

Caution: Which browser you choose is a decision about the software that runs on this device permanently. Ask support for the recommendation for your device before you install an app from a catalog. A browser with ads or its own home screen makes the display unusable, and one without updates makes it a risk.

Which address you enter#

On Android, it depends on the WebView, not on the Android version alone: The WebView comes through the Play Store and, on a well-maintained device, is newer than its system. On a device without the Play Store, it stays at the version it shipped with, and there the row for Android 7 and 8 applies, even if the system is newer.

The four settings that go with it#

You set the night shutdown on the TV, not on the stick: The stick has no line that switches a panel off, and a TV without a signal falls asleep by itself.

The Fire TV app and its limits#

The Szenera Display app for Fire TV and Android replaces the browser and autostart with an app: It opens the display software in full screen without a toolbar, and the portal recognizes the display as Fire TV app or Android app. Until it is in the Amazon Appstore, the browser route above applies.

Back on the remote control shows a notice on the first press and quits the app only on the second. An accidental press therefore leaves the program in place.

Amazon Signage Stick#

The Amazon Signage Stick is Amazon’s stick for displays in stores, medical practices, and restaurants. It looks like a Fire TV Stick 4K Max but carries a version of Fire OS built for continuous operation: without a streaming offering and without an Appstore on the device. It is managed in Amazon’s Signage Manager, in the browser or with the accompanying app.

What the stick does differently#

There is no Szenera remote maintenance with system log and service menu on the stick. The Signage Manager fills that role.

Szenera appears only after Amazon enables it#

The stick starts only apps from providers that Amazon has added to its list. Szenera is not yet on this list. Until then, you cannot choose Szenera during setup, and the stick does not accept a browser in autostart.

Caution: Do not buy a Signage Stick for Szenera until Szenera is available for selection during setup. Ask Szenera support about the status.

What you do once Szenera is on the list#

1. Set up the stick in the Signage Manager and choose Szenera there as the provider.
2. The stick downloads the Fire TV app and then shows a pairing code.
3. Enter the code in the portal under Displays › Pair display, as with any other device.

Amazon installs new versions of the app by itself at night, when the stick is running and on the network. You do not have to do anything for this.

What works today#

Nothing on the Signage Stick itself yet. The Fire TV app is prepared for it: If it runs on a Signage Stick, the portal calls it Fire TV app on the Signage Stick, and the Software card says that the manufacturer manages the device. The app takes screenshots itself. Restart and on and off through Amazon follow once the interface is enabled, and only then do the buttons for them appear in the portal. For a display that runs reliably without anyone touching it today, use a player.

What appears on the display afterward#

On first launch, the device shows a six-digit pairing code and a QR code. Enter the code in the portal under Displays › Pair display, or scan the QR code. With only a remote control, scanning is the faster way. After that, the device shows your program.

Related pages#

• Platforms: which devices run Szenera: all the paths compared, which devices qualify, and troubleshooting
• Set up Samsung TVs and Samsung panels (Tizen)
• Set up LG TVs and LG panels (webOS)
• Web display: a display in the browser: the limits that apply to every display without a device