The Amazon Fire TV update with a new home screen is now available

Amazon announced Thursday that its new big Fire TV software update is rolling out to devices now. It has a completely redesigned home screen and features like separate user profiles, so the recommendations for what to watch are different for each person in your family.

The software was first announced in September and made its debut on the Fire TV Stick Lite and 3rd Gen Fire TV Stick in December, but now everyone owning Amazon’s Fire TV Cube (1st and 2nd gen ) and the 3rd generation Fire TV, the Fire TV Stick 4K will be able to use the new features. Amazon says it will update smart TVs and the second-generation Fire TV Stick later this year.

The new features can help you compete more aggressively against Roku, which still has a 50% market share in hours of streaming connected TV globally with strong growth opportunities, according to an analyst note from Deutsche Bank in August.

Up to six people can create different profiles with the new software. So if you watch a lot of comedy shows, Amazon might recommend other comedies that you like. But if your spouse watches a lot of dramas, you will receive recommendations for more of that type of content. Currently, with a single profile, Amazon only recommends more based on what was seen, no matter who views it.

Personalization also extends to the home screen, where you can pin specific apps to the top for quick access. Maybe you use Netflix, YouTube TV, and Disney + often, for example. You can put new smaller icons for the ones above. Here are recommendations for the things you see in the services.

There is also a new “Live” tab that displays a channel guide to make it easy to jump straight to live TV, if you pay for a streaming TV service like Sling or YouTube TV. Amazon told CNBC in September that it designed this to be a more familiar experience for people who are switching from cable to streaming.

The update also includes deeper integration with the Alexa voice assistant, so you can say “Alexa, go live TV” and it will launch the live TV streaming service you pay for.

Lastly, there’s a new “Search” section that makes it easy to find something to look at. Show movies, on-demand TV shows, live TV, your watch list, and more.

You can update your Fire TV by opening Settings and selecting “My Fire TV”, then “About” and selecting “Check for system update.”