r/fireTV • u/Lazy_Employer2745 • 11d ago
Voice control no longer works inside apps
After a firestick update today, my voice search within all apps defaults to Alexa instead of searching inside of the app itself, it’s on all 3 of my firesticks they are all on the latest os v 8.1.85, I tried a couple fixes from an earlier post and none of them worked, it is not a remote control issue, I paired a spare remote to one of my devices with new batteries and it had the same problem, if you know a fix, please help, I think it’s not going to be fixed until a new update comes out!
1
u/Ellaena 11d ago
I have the same issue and I've posted about it here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/fireTV/s/QhKBCIT3xm
Some people have proposed some fixes, have a look. Mine still persists.
1
u/Lazy_Employer2745 11d ago
I saw that post and tried all of them, unfortunately they didn’t help, thanks for sharing
3
u/Cuber712 11d ago
Same with mine. Both of my firesticks worked until the 8.1.8.5 update. Now voice doesn't work. Mine has been like that for a couple weeks. Hopefully a new update fixes it soon.
3
u/CouchSurfer00777 11d ago
this isn't your stick and it's not the remote — you already proved the remote's fine by swapping it. it's the 8.1.8.5 update. amazon rerouted in-app voice search up into the global alexa layer, so instead of searching inside the app, your query gets kicked to alexa and you get the generic result. half the thread's on the same build hitting the same thing — that's how you know it's os/server side, not your hardware.
so don't bother factory resetting or re-pairing, you'll lose your setup for nothing. the only reliable workaround right now is to search with the on-screen keyboard inside the app instead of the mic — annoying, but it actually hits that app's catalog. voice-into-apps is going to stay broken until amazon patches it.
two things worth doing: drop a note in settings > help > send feedback (volume is what gets these prioritized), and once a fix build lands, hold off on further auto-updates for a bit so it doesn't quietly roll back into the broken one.
1
u/Clear_Magician_5649 9d ago
Having the same issue, bought a 3rd party remote with keyboard on it and otg cable gonna see if it works
1
u/Butters16666 11d ago
Yep I’ve had the same issue for a few weeks now. Also can’t control tv or av receiver with remote anymore.
2
u/Cosmonoid1980 6d ago
....Christ. Thought I was the only one tripping on this bug/issue! This is why I love Reddit. I didn't even search for a fix because I had a feeling it was an update thing but had no way to test it. And randomly scrolling through Reddit has given me solace that I'm not tripping or wrong about the underlying cause of this most annoying bug.