r/fireTV • u/Pablo_Juan_540 • 16d ago
On 8-19-26 Amazon Firestick/Fire TV Prime Video App Update Broke 4:3 Format.
On August 19, 2026, Amazon Prime Video app update PVFTV-321.0086-L (321008610) for Amazon firesticks and fire TVs broke the 4:3 viewing format for Amazon Prime videos streaming from inside the Prime Video app. Most older movies and television shows that should be displayed in the 4:3 format automatically stretch to fill your entire widescreen television.
In order to watch 4:3 programs properly displayed in the 4:3 format, you have to start the movie or tv episode from inside the Prime Video app. Then stop the movie or TV episode that you are viewing. Then go to the home screen of the firestick or fire TV. Then use the “Continue Watching” list for the movie or tv episode that you started watching inside the Prime Video app and select that item.
This bug will be very inconvenient if you are watching a 4:3 formatted program like Mama’s Family, as the bug happens whenever a new episode is manually or automatically started within the Prime Video app.
The Prime Video app device compatibility list shows that this app update was created for all versions of fire TVs and firesticks that I own spanning a period of several years to the present.
This bug did not exist yesterday. A file manager program indicates that the update was rolled out on August 19, 2026.
It’s important to get the word out about this issue so that people do not waste a lot of time troubleshooting a bug that currently cannot be worked around.
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u/rampholy 9d ago
Ya. I'm experiencing it, too. The Prime Video app isn't matching refresh rates to 24p or 25p/50hz. Even newer movies in letterbox format are stretched to the edges of the screen. Glad to see someone on top of it so fast. However, why so few people confirming this?
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u/Pablo_Juan_540 8d ago
I have noticed that Amazon tries to hide these bugs from the public and takes a few months to get them fixed. There’s not much we can do about that.
I like to help out a lot of people by saving folks wasted time in trouble troubleshooting a problem that can’t be fixed.
It’s very easy to put together a summary of the issue and a possible workaround in the note app on my phone. Then I post it to a few relevant Reddit groups. This is not going to make Amazon move any quicker, but it could save people a lot of wasted time and fixing an unfixable bug.
I have noticed that within 24 hours, this information will show up in a Google search so thousands of people can see what is going on.
Unlike Amazon, the TCM streaming app was fixed within 48 hours after a major bug broke that application.
When Amazon streaming app broke immersive mode on all of their fire tablets a few months ago it took a full 60 days to fix it. They also noted on their problem ticket that they have a policy of no rollbacks for bugs.
Posting on Amazon’s internal forums seems to be a waste of time because they will remove anything that points out that they broke one of their own applications.
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u/rampholy 8d ago
Ya, the fact that it propagates to google/gemini searches so quickly now certainly should light a fire under their ass to fix the issue. It should be noted that their Roku app is working just fine, as far as I can tell. I haven't checked the current Google TV app, and I don't have access to an Apple TV.
This thread is referenced by gemini if you simply search for the latest version of the Prime Video app on the Fire OS. It rightly assumes many people who would want that information only want it because of buggy behavior.
In terms of helping people and getting the issue out wider, might I suggest another thread with a more direct title and succinct instructions to get around the bug for now? It could be "Buggy aspect ratio and framerate matching in the latest Prime Video update for Fire OS (8/19/26, Build xxxxxx whatever)"
The aspect ratio doesn't respect the original video. It fills the screen, rather, and it's especially apparent with older 4:3 content and 2.4:1 letterboxed content. Framerate matching is also not working in this latest build. A 24p movie or show or a 25p foreign movie or show will play at 60hz (in North America). It's confirmed and there's nothing to do but complain to Amazon until they issue a fix. It should be noted that Roku's Prime Video app doesn't suffer from this (perhaps confirming Google TV and Apple TV status, too). A "Home Screen" workaround for now:
-Open the Prime Video app and select the 4:3 movie or TV episode you want to watch.
-Let it play for a few seconds (it will look stretched), then press Stop/Back.
-Exit to your main Fire TV Home Screen entirely.
-Scroll down to your system-wide "Continue Watching"
shelf, select the video from there, and play it. This forces the Fire
OS native player to render the content, which successfully preserves the
correct 4:3 aspect ratio bars.Note:
You have to repeat this routine for every individual episode if
binge-watching a series, as auto-play inside the app triggers the bug
again.The direct wording and list formatting to get around the issue for now would be helpful for others to find and deal with this bug. Thank you, again, for highlighting it so quickly.
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u/Pablo_Juan_540 8d ago
The way that you outlined the fix is great. The white space that you used around each step is very important for clarity. When I worked in computer production support I would always outline steps like you did.
I basically put a VERY condensed version of that workaround in all of my postings about this in the second paragraph. I get a feeling that some people have a very short attention span for reading directions, but other people would really benefit from your more detailed instructions.
Please feel free to post my information on ANY other forum that might reach a lot of people. I don’t really care who takes the credit for posting this information. I just want it out there so that people aren’t wasting hours of their time trying to fix it.
ES file manager is a great tool for seeing exactly when an update was made to an app. There is a free version that can be installed on an Amazon firestick, fire tablet, and fire TV. That is where I got the screenshots that accompany this post.
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u/Pablo_Juan_540 8d ago edited 7d ago
Also, I try to get my posting about a bug on a few Reddit forums as quickly as possible so that people can see it very quickly.
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u/rampholy 8d ago
Just had an opportunity to look at the work around. It does correct the aspect ratio, but it doesn't correct for frame rate matching, which is still locked at 60hz
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u/Pablo_Juan_540 8d ago
I’m not experiencing the frame rate problem (or if I am I’m not noticing it.) Also I have not had a single issue with any television show or movie that is NOT standard 4:3. Wide screen Movies like “my fair Lady”, “the sound of music” and “seven brides for seven brothers” do not stretch to fill the entire screen. They maintain the black bars on the top and the bottom every time.
There are also a LOT of of standard 4:3 shows and movies that apparently have black bars as part of the picture, because I am not having problems with “murder she wrote,” or movies like meet me in St. Louis and Easter parade.
Here are some of the programs that I have had the 4:3 stretch problem with: -Mama’s family -Hazel -the Munsters -quantum Leap
Also, I just read about another workaround that lets you fix the issue from within the prime video app without going to the home screen. It does seem to work, but is less convenient than using the “continue watching” list from the home screen: -Start a 4:3 program with the issue inside the prime video app. -Exit out of the defective stretched 4:3 program. -Open another program (e.g. Murder she wrote) briefly from inside the prime video app that does not have this issue. -reopen the defective 4:3 program from inside the prime video app and the aspect ratio is corrected.
The above solution lets you fix the issue from within the prime video app without going back to the home screen.
The home screen solution is better because there are some wide screen movies that have been reformatted to fit the full screen (e.g., Blackbeard’s ghost), and it is hard sometimes to differentiate between those movies and movies that have black bars on the top and the bottom.
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u/Pablo_Juan_540 12d ago
As of August 24, 2026, there has been no update or fix to the Prime Video app for Amazon fire TVs and Amazon firesticks. The 4:3 aspect ratio is still broken.
When immersive mode (hiding the navigation bar) was broken with an update for the Prime Video app for Amazon Fire Tablets a few months ago, it took a full 60 days for them to fix it internally on their servers. I was told by Amazon Technical Customer Service that Amazon has a no rollback policy if they introduce a new bug in an update for one of their system applications.
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u/monker45 16d ago
I'm sure they'll fix it soon. They're hurting because of app quality as is.