At this point, almost every smart TV platform is a billboard for ads with your apps sprinkled in, but automatically playing videos is where the line is drawn. The Amazon Fire TV now displays full-screen video ads, and you cannot turn them off. Many Fire TV users have noticed that as soon as they turn on their TV, a video ad starts playing all by itself with no way to stop it.
It seems like with the latest Amazon Fire TV updates, full-screen video ads will now auto-play as soon as the TV is on. Some people have reported that an ad begins within seconds of the TV turning on, before they can even pick up the remote control. These unskippable videos play right over whatever else is on the screen.
Amazon is not alone in showing ads, but other brands like Google TV let you hover over the ad spot to start it instead of immediately playing a video. But with Fire TV, owners say the ads play on their own no matter what. It feels intrusive to have a video ad begin playing without being able to choose to watch it or not.
Amazon says they made this change so customers can discover new content through “short content previews.” But many users feel it goes too far to autoplay videos that you cannot ignore. In the future, Amazon may change the Fire TV interface again as they plan to replace Android with their own operating system for the platform.
For now, Fire TV owners will have to put up with auto-playing video ads they have no control over whenever they use their TVs. With any luck, Amazon will listen to feedback and give users the choice to opt out of these forced pre-roll clips in a future software update.
