# 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.

> **Type:** guide
> **For:** anyone connecting a Fire TV Stick, an Amazon Signage Stick, or an Android or Google TV device as a display
> **Prerequisite:** Fire OS 7 or newer, or Android 7 or newer, on the network, and the display address from the portal
> **Where in the portal:** **Displays › display › tab Device › Display address**

## If you have many devices

For a rollout, there is a path of its own: [Connect many displays at once](/docs/displays/connect-many-displays). 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](#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

| Device | Address |
|---|---|
| **Fire OS 7** and newer (Fire TV from about 2019) | the **display address** from the portal |
| **Android 9** and newer with a current WebView | the **display address** from the portal |
| **Android 7 and 8** | first the display address. If the page stays blank or the device shows a refusal, use the **TV address**: the same address with `tv.` instead of `webplayer.` at the beginning |

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

| Setting | Why |
|---|---|
| **Autostart** of the browser with the address | After a power outage, the display must come back without a remote control. Without it, the home screen of the device appears there. |
| **Screensaver off** | After minutes without input, Fire OS and Android TV fade in a slideshow over your program. |
| **Sleep mode off** | Both systems go into sleep mode on their own. |
| **Automatic app updates off**, for the browser | An update restarts the app, possibly in the middle of the day, and not on your address. |

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.

| What | With the app | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Full screen without a toolbar | yes | the app shows only the display software |
| Start after power-on or a power outage | **after a one-time approval at the device** | From Android 10 and Fire OS 8, no app opens by itself as long as it is not allowed to appear on top of other apps. Fire OS offers no settings page for this, so whoever sets up the device arranges the approval. The portal shows in the device record whether it is set |
| Staying awake | **with limits** | After a few hours without a key press, Fire OS asks whether anyone is still watching and puts the device to sleep afterward |
| Screenshot | yes | a running movie stays black in it. If the whole picture is black, for example because a movie fills the display, the portal names the reason instead of the picture |
| Restart, switching on and off from the portal | **no** | a restart is reserved for an app that the manufacturer supplies, and Android knows no way to switch a panel off |
| Remote maintenance: system log, device updates, service menu | **no** | remote maintenance exists only on a player. Amazon updates the stick’s system, and the app updates itself through the Appstore |

**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

| | Retail Fire TV | Amazon Signage Stick |
|---|---|---|
| Which app runs | an app that you install yourself | the app of the provider you choose in the Signage Manager during setup |
| Start after power-on or a power outage | after a one-time approval at the device | the stick does it itself, in kiosk mode |
| Back and Home | leave the app | are locked, the program stays in the picture |
| Updates of the app | through the Appstore | Amazon installs them at night between 2 and 5 a.m. |
| Updates of the system, restart, reset | Amazon installs updates. Restart and reset are done at the device | Amazon installs updates. Restart and reset are also possible from the Signage Manager |
| Restart and on and off from the portal | no | through Amazon’s interface, as soon as Amazon enables the app for it |

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](/docs/devices/player-lite).

## 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](/docs/devices/platforms): all the paths compared, which devices qualify, and troubleshooting
- [Set up Samsung TVs and Samsung panels (Tizen)](/docs/devices/set-up-samsung-tizen)
- [Set up LG TVs and LG panels (webOS)](/docs/devices/set-up-lg-webos)
- [Web display: a display in the browser](/docs/devices/web-display): the limits that apply to every display without a device