1. Hoopla
Are you someone who loves going down to your local library and borrowing books? Hoopla is the Fire Stick app for you. Offered by local public libraries, there are more than 800,000 ebooks, music titles, movies, TV shows and comics available. Not only can you rent the music, movies, and TV show titles for your Fire Stick and watch and listen to them on your TV, but the app also allows you to read the ebooks and comics on your smartphone, tablet and computer. The title selection is available 24/7, and with no late fees, can be kept until you are finished. Streaming is instant, and you will not have to wait for anyone to “return” an eBook ahead of you. Just make sure you have your library card handy!
2. Haystack
Aggregating news sources from all over the world, Haystack is a great way to keep in touch with world events directly from your Fire Stick. Between local, national and international news, you can find updates from media giants like FOX, CNN, AP, BBC, NYTimes, MSNBC and more. In total, there are more than 300 sources from around the world compiled through Haystack. Want to narrow your listening to a more defined topic? There are hubs for current events, politics, tech, business, entertainment, finance and more. Select the topics, categories and sources you want to follow, and Haystack will do the rest to curate selections for you.
3. Downloader
4. Plex
There is a good chance you already own quite a bit of media on your computer that you would love to stream to a TV. Enter Plex. Everything from movies, TV shows, photos and home videos can be streamed directly from your TV to your Fire Stick and TV using Plex. Essentially acting as a method to remotely access your personal media library, Plex is a hugely popular app and one of the best for remote streaming. Plex also includes more than 80 free channels of live programming. It does require a little bit of setup ahead of time for the media server, but the free app is full of opportunity. Dive even deeper into the app with Plex Pass, and you can unlock even more capabilities.
5. Twitch
Gamers are likely already intimately familiar with Twitch and its huge selection of video game streams. The app does lack a few of the features of the website, but that’s okay considering you can watch gaming on the biggest screen in your home. Navigating the app is incredibly intuitive leaving you with almost no learning curve, so you can jump right into a stream. On top of video game streams, regular partnerships with video game developers and partners make for even more enjoyable content.
