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The developer of FireStarter/AppStarter understands that many people will continue using the old version of FireStarter, or the forked FireStopper app, since they are still somewhat functional and have the features people care most about. The good news is you will be able to export your settings from FireStarter and import them into AppStarter if you don’t want to start from scratch.
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You will have to sideload the AppStarter apk file manually. If you still have FireStarter installed, it will not update itself to AppStarter. The app’s developer has chosen to remove two of the most popular FireStarter features because he feels it’s best to salvage what he can and focus on the useful features that remain, in order to keep his app alive. Additionally, AppStarter also retains the ability to install and update Kodi and SPMC, which is a very handy feature on its own. Without the ability to detect the HOME button or launch apps at starter, AppStarter has essentially become just a very nice app drawer that gives you a customizable way to organize and access your apps.
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This means the only way to launch AppStarter is by selecting the icon within the Fire TV interface, just like every other app. AppStarter does not have any kind of HOME button detection and it does not have the ability to automatically launch itself, or any other app for that matter, at startup.
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In order for AppStarter to stay off of Amazon’s blacklist, the developer has removed the two FireStarter features that were likely the cause for being blacklisted. It also has a new package name, which means it will not be disabled by Amazon’s current app blacklist, since Amazon targets apps by their package name. For starters, the app’s name has been changed to AppStarter. The developer of FireStarter, the popular Fire TV home screen replacement app that was recently blacklisted by Amazon, has decided on a new direction for his app.
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