Amazon FireStick is a streaming device that unlocks thousands of hours of content at our fingertips. While you can use official apps like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Peacock, the true potential lies with a jailbroken FireStick.
What is a Jailbroken FireStick?
A jailbroken Amazon FireStick is a regular Fire TV Stick that can sideload third-party streaming apps like Kodi without any restrictions.
However, the term “jailbreak” may be a bit confusing. Jailbreaking a FireStick is completely different from jailbreaking an iPhone or rooting an Android. Jailbreaking or rooting involves changing the system files and installing unauthorized apps. This may void the warranty, and if the jailbreak doesn’t go as planned, it may even harm your device.
Thankfully, jailbreaking a FireStick is neither complicated nor risky. You don’t need to modify system-level code or install firmware created by a third-party developer. Jailbreaking unlocks the Amazon Fire TV Stick, letting you access and run third-party streaming services.
When jailbreaking a FireStick, you only make minor and superficial changes, which are completely reversible.
Some vendors and online retailers have popularized the term “jailbreak” to lure consumers into buying jailbroken FireSticks. However, before we discuss the standard practices in the jailbroken FireStick market, let’s first understand what a jailbroken Amazon Fire TV Stick does and why jailbreaking is becoming popular.
What Does a Jailbroken FireStick Do?
When Amazon Fire TV Stick was launched in November 2014, Amazon opened the App Store for all kinds of apps, including unverified ones that might not have carried licensed content.
Later, the internet giant started removing these apps from the App Store and made strict rules to distribute only apps with legal content.
That didn’t, however, diminish the popularity of third-party streaming services like Kodi. Users found a way to install them on FireStick through jailbreaking.
A jailbroken Fire Stick allows you to install third-party streaming apps and services on your FireStick to enhance your streaming experience.
You can sideload applications onto devices that don’t make it to the Amazon App Store.
Since FireStick runs on an Android-based operating system called Fire OS, you can install third-party apps from unknown sources using verified APKs.
You need only an app on your FireStick that can download APKs from the web, and you are all set to install third-party streaming applications on It.
Jailbroken FireStick for Sale — What Do Vendors Do?
You may have seen vendors claiming to sell jailbroken FireStick devices on eBay or their websites. So what do they do before selling you the FireStick? How do these FireSticks differ from the ones that Amazon sells? Let’s dig more into that.
Third-party vendors buy their FireStick devices from Amazon and jailbreak them. Then, they install popular third-party streaming service apps and Kodi addons and sell them to you with guarantees of unlimited entertainment.
Sometimes, these vendors install popular IPTV services and advertise that they offer thousands of live TV channels, movies, and TV shows for free for a specific time.
Some vendors also purchase subscriptions to popular IPTV providers. They bundle the apps and active IPTV subscriptions with the Fire TV Stick and claim to offer all content for free. However, such subscriptions last only for a few days or a month.
Users often fall for tall promises and click the buy button without knowing much about the device they are about to buy.
You may want to understand the legal implications of buying/selling jailbroken FireSticks.
Is It Legal to Buy or Sell Jailbroken FireSticks?
It all depends on the types of apps and services the vendor installs or integrates with the Fire TV Stick. If a vendor bundles the Fire TV Stick only with official apps such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Peacock, it won’t get anyone in trouble.
But that’s not why a vendor jailbreaks the Fire TV Stick in the first place. Anyone can install legal apps from the Amazon Store, so what’s the point of selling a jailbroken Fire Stick with official apps?
As I mentioned, these vendors offer third-party streaming services, Kodi, Kodi addons, and IPTV apps that include movies, TV shows, and live channels to attract buyers to supposedly free and unlimited entertainment.
They install apps like Kodi or IPTV services like Yeah IPTV or Iconic Streams. These streaming apps may offer copyright-protected content without the proper licenses. This may be illegal for both the seller and the buyer.
Please remember that Kodi is perfectly legal to download and install on Fire TV Stick. After all, it is available in the Google Play Store, and Google will never host apps that offer illegal content.
So, where is the problem here? The problem arises when you add Kodi addons and other software that streams copyrighted TV shows and movies on your Amazon Fire TV Stick.
A local media company in your region may have purchased the streaming rights for such movies, TV shows, and live TV channels. Accessing such content through a third-party streaming service or Kodi addon on your jailbroken Fire Stick may get you into legal trouble in the future.
These media companies pay millions to acquire rights to stream popular sports events, TV series, or movies. Then, you access the same content from another source for a fraction of the price on your jailbroken FireStick.
According to the controversial Digital Economy Bill, those infringing copyrights can receive ten-year prison sentences. The bill warns that those downloading or streaming illegal films—using torrents—will be committing a criminal offense. Just last year, we saw users streaming content through Kodi addons receive police letters threatening them with jail.
With all the complications surrounding selling or buying a jailbroken FireStick, the next question you may have is, Should I purchase a Jailbroken Fire Stick with an Alexa voice remote? Let me elaborate more on that.
Should You Buy a Jailbroken FireStick?
As mentioned above, the term “jailbreak” is overhyped for FireStick. Anyone with little technical knowledge can jailbreak a FireStick in a few minutes.
You may not want to jailbreak a FireStick yourself, but some factors should discourage you from buying one.
First, as I mentioned, no hack or technical knowledge is required to jailbreak a FireStick at home. Besides, jailbreaking a FireStick is 100% legal (however, streaming copyrighted content is not).
Even if you buy a jailbroken FireStick with third-party apps, Kodi addons, and IPTV apps installed, you will probably need to reinstall them in the future. Developers update such apps regularly, so over time, you will likely need to sideload the updated apps onto your Fire TV.
You must go through the sideloading process on the FireStick or Fire TV. If you will need to go through that process in the future, then why not jailbreak the FireStick by yourself in the first place and save some bucks?
Besides, if you are familiar with the jailbreaking process on Fire TV, you can fix any error during APK installation or sideloading on the device. You no longer need to rely on a vendor or another person to troubleshoot issues on FireStick.
As discussed earlier, the vendors include third-party streaming apps and sometimes a subscription to an IPTV service to attract potential buyers to a jailbroken FireStick. The problem is that the IPTV subscription will expire in a month or two, and you will return to square one. You will lose access to all the content and must subscribe to the IPTV service again.
We have seen vendors getting caught by authorities for selling streaming devices with copyrighted content. Authorities charge the vendors with criminal offenses and send notices to buyers of such devices.
When you place an order online, the third-party vendor will save your address details in one way or another. The police arresting them may get access to your address via shipping details and then send you a notice letter threatening you with jail.
By jailbreaking the FireStick yourself, you can avoid all the hassle and headache and not worry about being investigated in the future. In the meantime, you won’t have to pay extra for a jailbroken device, so you can use those savings to buy a subscription to an IPTV service.
How to Jailbreak a FireStick Yourself?
As I have mentioned several times in this post, jailbreaking a FireStick at home is very easy. You don’t need to apply advanced coding knowledge or install modified firmware.
You will also learn how to sideload third-party streaming apps on FireStick by going through the jailbreaking process.
We have a dedicated step-by-step guide with screenshots for jailbreaking a FireStick. Follow the simple instructions, and you will have a jailbroken Fire TV Stick in under 30 minutes.
Popular Apps for Jailbroken FireStick
If you have followed our jailbreaking FireStick guide above, congratulations! You have unleashed the Amazon Fire Stick’s true potential.
Your FireStick is ready to welcome all the well-known third-party streaming apps, including Kodi and IPTV services. But the question is, which are the best apps for jailbroken FireStick? How can you find them on the web? And how can you install these apps on FireStick?
Thankfully, you have come to the right place. We have a separate post on the best apps for jailbroken FireStick, which I highly advise going through. We have hand-picked the top apps, including Cinema HD, Kodi, and dozens more. We have also included dedicated installation guides for the apps and Kodi addons.
Once you have installed apps with the sideloading process, remember that they may provide copyrighted content. The scary part is that watching the copyrighted content on FireStick may land you in legal trouble. So, I would urge you not to get involved in watching copyrighted streams and instead to enjoy tons of content available in the public domain without worrying about legal hassles.
Your local government and ISP provider can see the type of content you are consuming on your FireStick. They can also track your location via the IP address. So, don’t think nobody knows what you are doing.
Now, the question is, what if you end up streaming copyrighted content unintentionally?
I highly recommend connecting to a VPN service like ExpressVPN on FireStick to hide your online identity and browse anonymously. It is a small investment that will keep your online experience safe. Again, you should use a VPN not to stream unauthorized content but to protect your privacy.
Read our guide on how to install ExpressVPN on FireStick.
FAQ’s
Are jailbroken FireSticks legal?
A jailbroken Amazon Fire Stick is legal if you don’t stream unlicensed content. Again, I recommend using a VPN app like ExpressVPN to prevent future trouble.
What does a jailbroken Amazon FireStick do?
A jailbroken FireStick opens a world of third-party streaming apps on the device. You can have unrestricted access to hundreds of streaming services and IPTV apps on FireStick.
What channels can you get with a jailbroken FireStick?
There is no direct answer to this question. It largely depends on the third-party streaming services, Kodi addons, and IPTV providers you use. Every addon offers different TV channels, shows, and other content.
How much does a jailbroken FireStick cost?
The price of a jailbroken FireStick is significantly higher than the original FireStick. But as I mentioned earlier, there are downsides to buying a jailbroken FireStick. You are better off jailbreaking a FireStick yourself at home and saving money.
Is it legal to buy a jailbroken FireStick?
It is legal to buy a jailbroken FireStick as long as it doesn’t contain copyrighted content. However, most jailbroken FireSticks come with apps that carry such unlicensed content, so it’s advisable to avoid buying jailbroken devices.
Is jailbreaking a FireStick worth it?
In a word, absolutely. It lets you download any third-party streaming service on the device, utilizing the FireStick’s potential here.
What can you watch on a jailbroken FireStick?
It mainly depends on the type of streaming apps or IPTV services you use on your Fire TV Stick. Such apps can carry hundreds of live TV channels, movies, and TV shows.
Is Netflix free on a jailbroken FireStick?
You can’t create a free Netflix account with a jailbroken FireStick. However, you can install an IPTV provider or Kodi add on that offers thousands of shows and tons of other content.
What channels are free with the jailbroken FireStick?
You won’t get any free channels just by jailbreaking the FireStick. You are only unlocking the FireStick to install streaming apps on the device. The channels you can watch depend on the types of apps you sideload on your Fire TV Stick.
Where can I buy a jailbroken FireStick?
You can get a fully jailbroken FireStick from eBay. But as I discussed earlier, you don’t need to rely on shady vendors to get a jailbroken FireStick. You can jailbreak your FireStick at home without breaking a sweat.
Does Best Buy sell jailbroken FireSticks?
No, Best Buy doesn’t sell jailbroken FireSticks. As a reputed retailer, it’s in Best Buy’s best interest not to sell fully loaded FireSticks, as some contain unlicensed content.
Wrapping Up
There you have it. This concludes our post on everything you need to know about jailbroken FireSticks. I hope I have convinced you that a jailbroken FireStick is easy to produce at home. Go through our dedicated guide to jailbreak the FireStick and enjoy unlimited entertainment.
Related:
- How to Use a Jailbroken FireStick
- How to Install Mercury Kodi Addon
- How to Install Kodi Addons Over Builds
- How to Install Kratos Reborn Kodi Addon
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I got a jailbroken FireStick off someone last year and it’s worked brilliant . He wants an annual payment to keep it going . Once he’s done it as he the capability to turn mine off once the years date as passed or is this a bit of a con
Hi Kev, definitely sounds like a scam. No one can control your FireStick remotely. I suggest resetting your FireStick to factory settings and jailbreaking it yourself. Here are the resources from our website:
Reset FireStick: https://www.firesticktricks.com/how-to-reset-firestick.html
Jailbreak FireStick: https://www.firesticktricks.com/jailbreak-fire-stick.html