After nearly two months of waiting, VPN apps have finally started appearing on Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Select – though you’d be forgiven for missing the news, as neither Amazon nor the VPN providers have actually announced it (so far).
NordVPN and IPVanish are now both available to download on the Select, working exactly as they do on Amazon’s other Fire TV devices.
The apps quietly became available over the past couple of days, arriving with the latest software update to Vega OS.
For anyone who’s been holding off on buying a Select because of the missing VPN support, this changes the equation – especially with the device still sitting at £19.99 in Amazon’s Black Friday sale.
But several issues still remain with Amazon’s latest Firestick.
A Quick Recap: What’s Been Going On?
The Fire TV Stick 4K Select (see my in-depth review) launched in mid-October at £49.99 as Amazon’s most affordable 4K streaming device. But it came with several caveats, one of which was no VPN support at launch.
The Select is the first Fire TV device to run Vega OS, Amazon’s brand new operating system built directly on Linux rather than Android. Because it’s a completely different platform, every app needs to be rebuilt from scratch to work on it.
Back in early October, when we first reported on the Select’s lack of VPN support, NordVPN told us Amazon planned to enable VPN protocols “via a software update in late October.”
That timeline slipped. By early November, IPVanish confirmed their app was also ready and waiting, but VPN support still hadn’t arrived. The apps were finished – they were just sitting on Amazon’s servers, waiting for the company to flip the switch.
Nearly two months after launch, that’s finally happened.
Which VPN Apps Are Available?
For now, it’s just NordVPN and IPVanish – the two providers who publicly confirmed their apps were ready weeks ago.
We reached out to ExpressVPN and Windscribe to ask about their plans for Vega OS support, but both declined to comment.
That doesn’t necessarily mean other VPN providers won’t follow – it’s entirely possible more apps will appear in the coming months as other companies complete their Vega OS development.
But for now, if you’re looking for VPN support on the Select, you’ve got two options.
Both apps work exactly as you’d expect them to. They’re proper native Vega OS applications, not cloud-streamed Android versions, so performance should be solid.
How to Get VPN Apps on Your Select
The VPN apps became available with the latest Fire TV software update, currently version 1001010051420 in the UK.
Fire TV devices typically update themselves automatically at night, so if you’ve got a Select, there’s a decent chance yours has already updated and VPN apps are ready to install.
But if you want to check manually – or force an update if yours hasn’t happened yet – head into Settings, then My Fire TV, then About, and select Check for Updates.
Once you’re on the latest software version, NordVPN and IPVanish should both appear when you search for them in the Amazon Appstore.
Why VPN Support Matters for Fire TV Users
If you don’t use VPNs for streaming, you might be wondering what all the fuss is about. But VPN apps have become important tools for many Fire TV users, for two very different reasons.
First, there’s geo-blocking. Streaming services offer wildly different content libraries in different countries due to licensing agreements.
A film or TV show available on Netflix in one country might not be available in another, because the broadcasting rights belong to a different company in that region.
A VPN creates a secure connection between your device and a server in another country – so when you connect to a VPN server in the United States, for example, streaming services think you’re actually in America and show you the American content library instead of the UK one.
This is particularly useful for accessing American Netflix from the UK, where the US catalogue consistently offers different films and TV shows. Or for people who move countries, and want to keep watching TV from back home.
It’s worth noting that bypassing geo-restrictions is against most streaming services’ terms of service – though it’s not actually illegal, and services generally haven’t been known to ban accounts for doing it.
They do actively try to block VPN connections, which is why only certain VPN providers still work reliably with major streaming platforms.
Second, there’s privacy and security. VPNs encrypt your internet connection and mask your IP address, preventing your broadband provider from seeing everything you’re watching and protecting your data when you’re on public WiFi networks – for example, if you’re using your own Fire TV Stick in a hotel.
For years, Fire TV devices have been one of the easiest ways to use VPNs on your television, because all the major VPN providers offer dedicated Fire TV apps (unlike Roku devices, which do not support VPNs).
The Select’s lack of VPN support at launch meant it couldn’t compete with Amazon’s own older devices in this regard – until now.
If you’re in the market for a VPN service, it’s worth noting that NordVPN – our Editor’s Choice provider – is currently running a Black Friday deal with up to 74% off 2-year plans.
Plans start from £2.29/month (£61.83 for 27 months) with a 30-day money-back guarantee, and include access to over 8,400 servers worldwide with no bandwidth limits.
Does This Fix the Fire TV 4K Select’s Problems?
VPN support was one of the major limitations we highlighted in our review of the Fire TV Stick 4K Select last month. At £49.99 with missing features and a limited app selection, it was a tough sell compared to the standard Fire TV Stick 4K at just £10 more.
However, the 4K Select is currently on sale for £19.99 – a frankly absurd 60% discount on a device that only launched six weeks ago.
That pricing lasts until December 1, so if you’re interested, you don’t have much time left to grab it at this price.
At twenty quid, the Select becomes easier to justify – even with its limitations. And now that VPN support has finally arrived, one of those key limitations has been eliminated.
The standard Fire TV Stick 4K is still the better device for most people. At £24.99 during the Black Friday sale, it gives you Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support (the Select only has HDR10+), WiFi 6 instead of WiFi 5, double the RAM, access to over 30,000 apps instead of 900, and the ability to sideload apps if needed.
That £5 difference buys you quite a lot.
But if you’re specifically looking for the cheapest possible way to get 4K streaming with VPN support, the Select at £19.99 now delivers that.
And if you’ve got an old Fire TV device to trade in, Amazon’s current promotion brings the price down to £15.99, which is genuinely hard to argue with.
The Sideloading Situation
It’s worth addressing the other elephant in the room: sideloading.
The Select doesn’t support sideloading at all (unless you’re a developer, and even then it’s more complicated than before) – it’s a technical limitation of Vega OS. You can only install apps from the Amazon Appstore, full stop.
This has created some confusion, especially because Amazon also recently announced they were blocking dodgy IPTV apps across all Fire TV devices.
The two issues have blurred together in people’s minds, creating a perception that Amazon has locked down the entire Fire TV range.
That’s not accurate. The Android-based Fire TV Stick 4K and 4K Max still allow sideloading.
Amazon is blocking specific apps identified as providing pirated content, but you can still install legitimate apps from outside the Appstore if you want to.
The Select’s limitations are different – Vega OS simply doesn’t support sideloading, period. That’s by design, not because Amazon is blocking anything.
For most people, this genuinely doesn’t matter. If you’re watching BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Disney+, NOW, and other mainstream services, you’re never going to notice the restriction.
But if you’re someone who relies on sideloaded apps – whether that’s Kodi, alternative media players, or niche streaming services – the Select isn’t the device for you. The standard Fire TV Stick 4K remains the better choice.
However, if you’re buying a second or third streaming stick for a bedroom or kitchen TV, and you know you’ll only use mainstream services plus a VPN, twenty quid is reasonable. Once the Black Friday deals are gone – it’s not as easy to recommend.
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