While the primary activities on Fire TVs are undoubtedly watching movies and TV shows, these streaming devices have always doubled as powerful music players. In the early days, before the series of home screen interface overhauls, the original Fire TV interface featured a dedicated “Music” tab for tracking and exploring the current playlist, albums, and playlists. However, this tab was removed with the first major Fire TV interface update. Despite the simultaneous launch of the Amazon Music app, certain functionalities of the “Music” tab were lost. Amazon is now restoring these functionalities with the introduction of an entirely new built-in music and audio interface for Fire TV devices.
The newly introduced audio hub on Fire TV is named “Music & More,” providing users the ability to browse and play music, radio stations, and podcasts. Accessible either by vocal command (“Open music and more”) or by selecting the “Music & More” tile in the Fire TV’s “Find” tab, this audio hub closely resembles the familiar Fire TV interface.
The upper section of the “Music & More” screen features a rotating banner showcasing various audio recommendations. Below that, navigation tabs include For You, Music & Radio, and Podcasts, each offering a variety of suggested content from Amazon Music. Integration with other music services like Spotify and Pandora is mentioned, but it may take time for third-party content to appear in the Fire TV’s new music interface.
One notable feature is the “Recently Played” row at the top of the “For You” tab, listing recently played Amazon Music tracks. However, there seems to be a separation between content played through Alexa and the new interface, potentially causing some confusion. Content played through Alexa may eventually appear in the new music interface, but it doesn’t happen immediately.
A previously overlooked feature of Fire TVs is their ability to play music in the background even after exiting the app. The “Music & More” screen reintroduces this capability, displaying a “Now Playing” tab that lists the currently playing audio and its source. This tab functions similarly to the notification interface on phones or tablets, allowing easy navigation back to the appropriate app.
While some may argue that Fire TV already has Alexa and standalone apps for playing audio, the addition of the “Music & More” screen fills a long-existing gap. This feature not only brings back the ability to see what audio is playing in the background but also serves as a promising starting point for aggregating more third-party audio content, despite its current focus on Amazon services.
