Finding TV shows and movies that you can stream on Amazon’s Fire TV devices for free without any subscriptions is about to get much simpler. The company is adding a new “free” tab to the main Fire TV navigation bar. In this section, you’ll be able to browse content that can be viewed at no charge — aside from dealing with ads — from apps like Pluto TV, Tubi, Crackle, IMDb TV, the CW, and Amazon’s News app.
“Over the past year, we’ve received great feedback from Fire TV customers about their growing interest in watching free content and their desire for an easier way to find the free content that is available on Fire TV,” Amazon’s Michael Polin wrote in a blog post. “We wanted to build a curated experience that provides a simple way for customers to find movies and shows they love while also highlighting apps that offer free to watch content they may not have known about.”
Amazon says the free tab will be refreshed regularly and cycle in new content and themes:
Most of the free tab consists of a collection of curated and thematic rows of movies and TV shows from our content providers. It also features a set of personalized, recommended rows of free movies and TV shows across categories like new, trending, and popular, as well as a dedicated row for news content powered by the News app on Fire TV.
Roku, Amazon’s chief rival in the streaming hardware business, has taken similar steps by adding a “Featured Free” section to its main menu that highlights ad-sponsored shows and movies.
One difference between the two, however, is that Roku lets you hide its free section if you don’t ever plan to use it. There’s currently no way to hide the new free tab on Fire TV.
