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Developing for Amazon Fire TV Devices Running Fire OS 8

Fire OS 8 incorporates updates from Android 10 (API 29) and Android 11 (API 30). Below are some of the important changes you should consider while building apps for Fire OS 8 (FOS 8).

Devices running Fire OS 8 and previous fire OS releases

Fire OS 8 incorporates updates from Android 10 (API 29) and Android 11 (API 30). Some older Fire TV devices remain on earlier versions of Fire OS.

For a detailed list of Fire TV devices and versions, see Fire OS Versions.

Android 10 updates

The following is a list of important features developers should know for Android 10. For more details, see Android 10 features and APIs.

TLS 1.3 support enabled by default

Fire OS 8 adds support for TLS 1.3 and it is enabled by default for all TLS connections. We recommend updating your app to support TLS 1.3. If you need to use older TLS protocol, you can obtain an SSLContext that has TLS 1.3 disabled by calling

SSLContext.getInstance("TLSv1.2")

Foreground service type for accessing location

If your app targets Fire OS 8 (API level 29) or higher and accesses location information in a foreground service, declare the location foreground service type as an attribute of your <service> component.

<manifest>
    ...    <service ... *android:foregroundServiceType="location"* /></manifest>
Foreground service type Example use case for a service that should declare this type
dataSync Download files from a network
location Continue a user-initiated action
mediaPlayback Play an audio book, podcast, or music
mediaProjection Record a video of the device's display over a short period of time

You should add foregroundServiceType to your library manifest.

Access to device location in background

Apps targeting API 29 or higher do not have access to location information when in the background. To receive location information while the app is in the background, you must declare the ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION permission in your app's manifest.

<manifest ... >  

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION" />

</manifest>

Restrictions on starting activities from the background

Starting in Android 10, the system places restrictions on starting activities from the background. This behavior change helps minimize interruptions for the user and keeps the user more in control of what's shown on their screen. As long as your app starts activities as a direct result of user interaction, your app most likely isn't affected by these restrictions.

High Efficiency Image File (HEIF) format

Fire OS 8 tablet now has native support for HEIF image format. If your app works with static images, consider adding support for HEIF format. It provides better image quality and smaller file size, compared to the JPEG file format.

Android 11 updates

APK Signature Scheme v2 now required

Apps targeting Fire OS 8 (API 30) that are currently signed with APK Signature Scheme v1 only, must now also sign APKs using APK Signature Scheme v2. Users will not be able to install or update apps on Fire OS 8 devices that are only signed with APK Signature v1. To ensure support for devices running on older Fire OS versions, you should sign your APKs using v1 and then v2 or higher.

You can check which signature version you are using on your APK with apksigner.

apksigner verify -v <apkname.apk>

One-time permissions

Starting in FOS 8 (targeting API 30), whenever your app requests a permission related to location, microphone, or camera, the user-facing permissions dialog contains an option called One-time permissions. If the user selects this option in the dialog, your app is granted temporary permissions. Follow the best practices for checking and requesting permissions at runtime to ensure you have necessary permissions.

Package visibility

Apps targeting FOS 8 (API level 30) will see a filtered list of installed apps by default. In order to access a broader list of installed apps, your app can specify information about apps they need to query and interact with directly. This can be done by adding a <queries> element in the Android manifest.

<manifest package="com.yourapp.name">
  …

  <queries>

// If you know package names of app you need to interact with

    <package android:name="com.anotherapp.firstapp" />
    <package android:name="com.someapp.secondapp" />


// If you want to query for all apps with specific intents

    <intent>
      <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEND" />
      <data android:mimeType="image/jpeg" />
    </intent>

  </queries>
  …
</manifest>

Foreground services for accessing camera and microphone

If your app targets API level 30 or higher, and accesses the camera or microphone in a foreground service, declare the camera or microphone foreground service types respectively, as attributes of your <service> component.

<manifest>
    ...
    <service ...
        android:foregroundServiceType="camera|microphone" />
</manifest>

Compressed resource files

Apps that target Android 11 (API level 30) or higher can't be installed if they contain a compressed resources.arsc file or if this file is not aligned on a 4-byte boundary. Check your zipalign logs to ensure resources.arsc file is not compressed if you get an error.

Failure [-124: Failed parse during installPackageLI: Targeting R+ (version 30 and above) requires the resources.arsc of installed APKs to be stored uncompressed and aligned on a 4-byte boundary]

Dynamic Intent Filters

To receive intents, apps must now declare which data types can be received through an intent filter in the app’s manifest. These are called MIME groups, a manifest element introduced in Android 11. To use a MIME group, include a data element in your app manifest with the android:mimeGroup attribute.

Custom toasts from background are blocked

Toasts containing custom views sent from the background are now blocked. However, text toasts are still allowed when using Toast.makeText() , rather than the deprecated setView().

Fire OS 8 parity with Android 11

All features implemented in Fire OS 8 are at feature parity with Android 11, which doesn't necessarily mean that everything in Android 11 is available in Fire OS 8. Some Android 11 features aren't yet supported in all Fire OS 8 devices.

Also, remember that although Fire OS 8 has parity with Android 11, you can't use Google services on Amazon Fire devices. Instead, you must use the Apps & Games Services SDKs for the services you need, such as in-app purchasing.

Target your app for Fire OS 8 devices

Users might run your app on a Fire OS 5, Fire OS 6, Fire OS 7, or Fire OS 8 device. To maximize your app’s compatibility with the Fire OS version on the device, we recommend you target the device based on the SDK level.

In your code, you can check whether the Build.VERSION.SDK_INT is greater than or equal to 30 (The Android 11 API level) to target Fire OS 8 devices.

Also see Supporting Different Platform Versions in the Android documentation.

Test your app's compatibility on Fire OS 8 devices

You can test your app's compatibility with Fire OS 8 by connecting to an actual device.

What to set for minSdkVersion and targetSdkVersion

Set your minSdkVersion to the minimum API level for the applicable Fire OS version.

Fire OS Version minSdkVersion
Fire OS 5 22
Fire OS 7 28
Fire OS 8 30

Set the targetSdkVersion to the highest API level that you're targeting.

See Device Filtering and Compatibility for more information on minimum API level requirements.

How minSdkVersion affects supported devices

In your app manifest (or build.gradle file), the minSdkVersion attribute sets the minimum SDK level that your app needs in order to function properly. (Devices that don't support that API level won't allow the app to be installed on that device — this is how device filtering and compatibility works with the Appstore.)

Fire OS 5 devices are based on API level 22 (Lollipop 5.1). Fire OS 8 devices are based on API level 30 (Android 11). By setting the minSdkVersion to 22, you're saying that your app requires the device to have at least API level 22 for it to function properly.

By setting the minSdkVersion to 22, your app will also install on any devices that have a higher API level (such as 30), because Android levels are backwards-compatible. API level 30 usually includes all the APIs for levels 1 through 30 (each release adds to the previous).

However, suppose you want to take advantage of APIs in Android 11 (API level 30). If you set your minSdkVersion to 22, your app will install on Fire OS 5 devices that don't have level 30 APIs. Therefore, you must code in a defensive way to check the device level and fall back to alternatives if the device doesn't support that API level. Your code might look something like this:

if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 30) {
 Log.v(TAG, "Yes, this is an API level 30 or higher device");
} else {
 Log.v(TAG, "No, this is not an API level 30 or higher device");
}

This code checks whether the device's API level is greater than or equal to 30, and if so, runs the code. If not, it falls back on the else logic.

By default, if the targetSdkVersion is not specified, it uses the same value as the minSdkVersion. The targetSdkVersion lets you set the latest API level that you have tested your app against. Based on this value, Android will ensure proper behavior on devices at this level.

For example, if you set your targetSdkVersion to 25 or higher (Nougat’s release), Android will apply the runtime permission checking features included in Nougat. But if targetSdkVersion is lower than 25 (prior to the runtime permission checking release in Nougat), Android will not apply this behavior to your app.

Although not recommended, if you need to prevent older apps from appearing on Fire OS 8 devices, you may set maxSdkVersion to Fire OS 7 (28).

For more information, see the following:

Wake lock changes

If a customer hasn't interacted with an app that's in focus and awake within 4 hours, they will receive a “Are you still watching?” prompt and if not acknowledged, they will be taken back home. For more information, see Wake Lock Requirements.

This feature can be turned off in Settings. If the app is a signage app, contact Amazon to be exempted.

Support

If you notice any issues with your app on Fire OS 8, note the issue in the Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick forums.