FireTV Maintenance and Kodi Performance

Many people think that the Fire TV and stick require little or no maintenance, until they try to install and use Kodi (which will tax the processor and available memory, regardless of which version they are using, particularly when streaming movies and videos). They then wonder why Kodi doesn't perform very well, gets memory issues or even crashes. Sometimes this can be alleviated by performing maintenance, which should be done at regular intervals.

There are 3 potential reasons that can have a big impact;

• You've got lots of applications that you no longer use. These eat up memory space and should be deleted. They can be reloaded if you find you need them later.
• When you exit an application, it's actually not shut down; instead it's kept in a queued state, maintained in a cache, so that it launches faster the next time you use it. The problem is that if you have a lot of applications, after a while, you will seriously degrade the amount of free memory.
• Another issue lies in something we've likely all done; you didn't like an application, so you uninstalled it. The problem is that this can leave junk files behind; and that eats at your available free space. Even downloads and installs can leave junk behind.

What About Memory Issues in Kodi Itself?

It seems that no matter which answer you discover on the Net for storage messages, 3 areas in Kodi are mentioned time and again that need to be cleaned regularly. These are

• Caches
• Thumbnails
• Packages

There are several third party add ons with wizards that can address this, either selecting it manually or doing it automatically when Kodi starts.

How do I Delete an Application From My FireTV / Stick?

Go to Settings, then Applications then Manage Installed Applications. Then select the application you want to remove. First use Force Stop, then Clear Data (which removes user data and any settings), then Uninstall. After you completed removing your apps, you will want to use Clean Master to wipe junk files and reclaim the space you just cleared.

Where Can I Clear My Cache in the Kodi App on Fire TV?

Go to Settings, then Applications then Manage Installed Applications. Go down to Kodi on this panel and use Force Stop and Clear Cache. In fact you should perform these steps on any software that you have installed or use often. Never use the Clear Data option unless you wish to delete all of your settings and data from that application. If you do this in Kodi, it's similar to doing a fresh install.

Adjust Your Video Resolution

Sometimes buffering and stuttering can be caused by a mismatch between the resolution the server sends the video (say at 1080p), while your FireTV is set at something lower. There's a little known trick for adjusting this on your FireTV described in this article

Are There Tools To Make This Process Easier?

There is a great deal of information available on how to optimize your FireTV / Stick. There are 2 generic search links below that will bring up any number of YouTube videos. There are 3 in particular that, when taken together, should greatly help in this odius task. Feel free to add to this list as needed.

Generic Searches

• Optimize Your AFTV
• Optimize Your Fire TV Stick

Recommended Viewing

• 9 Ways to Supercharge Your FireTV Numerous tips to clean up and improve the performance of your FireTV or Stick

• How to use Clean Master on your Fire Stick You can use Clean Master to do several maintenance tasks on your Fire TV and Stick. Note that it doesn't always work on sideloaded apps, though.

• Firestick - free up space manuelly (sic) - Uses ES File Explorer to perform some cleanup tasks

Related Links

• Android/ATV2 Maintenance Tool from Kodi TV Forum
• Caches explained
• Fire Stick Extremely Slow
• You will find many YouTube videos and websites recommend modifying the advancedsettings.xml file as a buffering solution. This page describes this file in detail

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