When I first got my Fire TV stick I absolutely loved it, but after I had it for a week I wondered if I could record to it. That way I could store movies and shows for later, and use it in another part of the house where the Wi-Fi isn’t as good. So, I researched the topic and put together this helpful article to explain what I found.
So, can you record on a Fire TV stick? You can record on a Fire TV stick but you need an additional device. The internal storage on an Amazon Fire TV stick is only 8 Gigabytes (GB), which isn’t enough space for high definition TV shows and movies. There is no feature to record on your Fire TV stick, out of the box.
You can store small parts of shows using apps available on the app store. But, only a short video of you playing a game, or a 10 minute clip from a TV show or movie.
However, for recording full movies and TV shows, you will want to get an Amazon Fire TV Recast:
So, read on to discover how to record to your Amazon Fire TV Stick, and what your options are to increase your storage.
How Do You Record Directly to Your Fire TV Stick?
To record short segments you can use a screen recorder application that is available on the Fire TV app store. Here’s how you do that:
| 01. Go to the app store and search for an application named ‘screen recorder’. |
| 02. Install the application |
| 03. Open up the application and select what resolution you want to record in. |
| 04. Press record. |
| 05. Once you’ve finished recording press stop recording in the screen recording application. |
The internal storage of the Amazon Fire TV stick is 8 GB, but only 4.5 GB is available for storage. Where the rest is needed for the essential applications the Fire TV stick needs to run.
Depending on how many applications and games you have installed on your Amazon Fire TV stick you will have a bit less than that.
1GB of 1080p is 30 minutes of recording. The screen recording application only records up to 1080p. 4K resolution movies and TV shows are very large, according to Venturebeat.com one 4K movie needs about 100 GB of storage space.
Because the Fire TV stick is 4K compatible, and 4K looks a lot better, you’ll want to record in 4K to make the most of your Fire TV stick. So, to record in 4K you need a separate device with more storage, and for that the Amazon Fire TV Recast is ideal.
The Amazon Fire TV recast comes in two sizes – 500GB and 1 Terabyte (1000 GB). If you are recording in 1080p resolution then the storage size is virtually unlimited.
But, if you are recording in 4K HD, it equals about 10 hours of movies or TV shows with the smaller sized Fire TV recast, and 20 hours of movies or TV shows with the bigger 1 terabyte model.
Or about 30 TV shows (20 minutes each) on the 500 GB model, and 60 TV shows on the 1 Terabyte model.
They are very similar in price – $129.00 and $179.00 so if for 4K HD recording I’d say it’s better to buy the bigger 1 Terabyte model. But, if you’re only looking to record in 1080p then you can store more than enough with the smaller 500 GB model.
It’s a special device that works by plugging into your TV antenna. But, it also works with all Amazon Fire TV devices. Which means it works with your Amazon Fire TV stick. You connect them over the Wi-Fi network.
How Do You Record on An Amazon Fire TV Recast?
To record on your Amazon Fire TV Recast it is very easy. Once it’s all set up you simply need to go to the channel. Hit ‘menu’ and then scroll down and hit ‘record’. It will ask you if you want to record just this episode or the complete series.
Select the option you want and it will record it to your Amazon Fire TV Recast. The full step by step instructions for how to set up your Amazon Fire TV Recast can be found in the user manual that comes with it.
The cool thing about the Amazon Fire TV Recast is that it can record up to two shows at the same time.
With the Fire TV Recast, you can also ask it to record each episode of a series, and schedule out what you want to record in advance. But, you can also record small parts of shows as you are watching them.
Recording devices similar to an Amazon Fire TV Recast
There are many other devices that work very similar to an Amazon Fire TV Recast. They all function in a similar way, where you plug in the Fire TV Recast to the recording device, and then follow the instructions for each device to begin recording.
I haven’t personally used any of them. But, I have seen various videos online of people who say they work great. It’s my personal preference to go with the Amazon Fire TV branded device. But, if you’re technically minded, and are willing to do the research then I recommend going for it.
Related Questions:
Can you send recordings from an Amazon Fire TV Recast to a computer or Smartphone?
If you’re a tech geek, and are good with electronics you can open up the internal harddrive on your Amazon Fire TV Recast and copy the files to a computer.
But, this will void the warranty on your Fire TV recast. If you want to go this route a full step by step breakdown is provided by AFTVnews.com, which you can read by clicking here.
Once the files are on your computer you can copy them to your iPhone using iTunes, and the VLC application which you can download from the App store. An article I recommend how to do can be found here. The article is for an iPad, but an iPhone and an iPad work the same way.
For copying the files to an Android smartphone, you can use the File Explorer which comes up automatically when you plug your Android smartphone into your computer.
There is no way to send shows from your Amazon Fire TV Recast, to your computer, unfortunately. They are locked to your Fire TV Recast.
How long are recordings stored on your Amazon Fire TV Recast, or directly on your Fire TV stick?
The files are stored forever on your Amazon Fire TV recast. They are stored like files on a computer, and won’t expire or get automatically deleted after a certain amount of time. But, if you set it to keep 5 episodes of a series.
The oldest recording will be deleted when the latest episode comes out. So, that you always have the latest 5 recordings on your Fire TV recast. If you want to keep the entire series, then it’s best to select the option to record the entire series.
Conclusion
You have two options when recording to your Fire TV stick. You can store a small amount of movies, recordings of games, and tv shows directly to your Fire TV stick using a screen recorder app that you download to your Fire TV stick.
But, most people will need more storage, and for this it’s best to get an Amazon Fire TV Recast.
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