As a result you’ll probably spend more time in the apps you know best instead of discovering what else is out there. And while Roku offers editorially-curated “zones” for different genres, you have to search and drill though several menu layers to access them. There’s a “Featured Free” section on the home screen that spotlights free movies and TV shows to watch, but that doesn’t help if you want to know what’s new on Netflix or Hulu. Roku’s attempts at content discovery are much more conservative.

Jared Newman / IDGĪmazon throws movie and show recommendations directly onto the Fire TV home screen. While this approach can feel inscrutable-mostly because Amazon doesn’t let you customize the recommendations that appear-it is helpful for those times when you’re feeling indecisive. Most come from Amazon’s own Prime Video service, but you might also get recommendations from other apps, such as Netflix or HBO Now. Keep scrolling past the app list, and you’ll find row upon row of suggested movies and shows to watch. The flip side is that Amazon’s Fire TV interface is better at suggesting what to watch without making you jump in and out of different apps. The favorite and recent apps rows on Fire TV can lead to some redundancies.

There’s some merit to this approach, which I’ll describe in the next section but compared to Roku, it’s harder to navigate.

The home screen is also surrounded by extra menus for movies, TV shows, and apps, each with its own layers of recommended videos. Instead of a single app launcher, there are separate rows for favorite and recent apps, along with a master app list you can access by holding down the home button. Roku’s focus on apps makes it simple to set up and use.

Fire tv stick plex