More than a month after Amazon launched the Fire TV Stick 4K Select without VPN support, another major VPN provider has announced their app is ready and waiting for Amazon to flip the switch.
IPVanish has confirmed to users that they’ve completed development of a Vega OS version of their Fire TV app, joining NordVPN in the queue of VPN providers whose apps are essentially sitting on Amazon’s servers, ready to go live the moment Amazon pushes the promised software update.
The problem? We’re still waiting for that update.
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.”
IPVanish is now saying VPN functionality is “coming later this month” – which means sometime in November.
So the timeline has slipped. Whether by a few days or a few weeks, we still don’t know exactly when VPN apps will actually be available on Amazon’s newest streaming stick.
For anyone who uses VPNs – whether to access content from other countries or simply to protect their privacy whilst streaming – this continues to be a frustrating situation. The apps are ready. The only thing standing in the way is Amazon’s software update.
A Quick Refresher: What’s the Fire TV Stick 4K Select?
The Fire TV Stick 4K Select (see my review) launched in mid-October at £49.99, positioning itself as Amazon’s most affordable 4K streaming device.
It delivers 4K streaming with HDR10+ support, though it lacks some premium features found on pricier models – no Dolby Vision, only Wi-Fi 5 rather than Wi-Fi 6, and just 1GB of RAM compared to 2GB in the standard Fire TV Stick 4K.
But the hardware specs aren’t the real story here. What makes the Select genuinely different is what’s running underneath: Vega OS.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Select is the first streaming device to run on Amazon’s new Vega operating system, marking a complete departure from the Android-based Fire OS that’s powered every Fire TV device for over a decade.
Built on Linux rather than Android, Vega OS represents a fundamental architectural change. Every single app needs to be completely rewritten from scratch to work on the new platform.
Your existing Fire TV apps won’t simply work on Vega OS devices – developers need to create entirely new versions.
Amazon has been positioning Vega OS as a more efficient platform that allows for cheaper devices with better performance. The trade-off? A significantly smaller app library at launch – roughly 900 apps on Vega OS compared to over 30,000 on Android-based Fire TV devices.
VPN apps were one of the casualties, at least initially. And whilst Roku has never supported VPN apps at all, Amazon’s other Fire TV devices – the Android-based Fire TV Stick 4K and Fire TV Stick 4K Max – both have VPN apps available in the Amazon Appstore and they work brilliantly.
What IPVanish Announced
Popular VPN service IPVanish has announced that their Vega OS app is completely finished and ready to launch.
The app will deliver fast, secure performance using the WireGuard protocol, with access to over 150 server locations around the world.
They’ve emphasised that the app is already built and ready – it’s just waiting for Amazon to enable VPN support on Vega OS devices. The company has also confirmed they’ll continue supporting older Fire TV devices running the traditional Fire OS, so existing users aren’t being left behind.
IPVanish isn’t the only VPN provider working on Vega OS compatibility.
NordVPN confirmed back in October that their app was ready as well, with Amazon planning to enable VPN protocols “via a software update in late October.”
Amazon’s response at the time was vaguer: “We are working with VPN app developers and expect to have VPN apps available on Fire TV 4K Select soon.”
That “late October” timeline has clearly come and gone.
Whether the delay is due to technical challenges, testing requirements, or simply not being a priority for Amazon, we don’t know. But for anyone who bought a Select specifically for 4K streaming with VPN support, the wait continues.
Why VPN Apps Matter for Fire TV Users
First, there’s geo-blocking. Streaming services offer wildly different content libraries in different countries due to licensing agreements.
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, streaming services think you’re actually in America and show you the American content library instead of the UK one.
It’s particularly useful for accessing American Netflix from the UK, where the US catalogue consistently offers different films and TV shows.
Though it’s worth noting that bypassing geo-restrictions is against most streaming services’ terms of service – it’s not actually illegal, but services do actively try to block VPN connections.
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 on public WiFi networks.
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.
This Is Different from the IPTV Blocking
If you’ve been following Fire TV news recently, you might have seen our coverage about Amazon blocking dodgy IPTV apps across ALL Fire TV devices. It’s worth clarifying that this is a completely separate issue.
In late October, Amazon announced they were partnering with the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) to systematically block illegal streaming apps across all Fire TV devices running the traditional Android-based Fire OS.
That system targets specific apps that ACE has identified as providing access to pirated content.
The Select’s situation is different. Because Vega OS is built directly on Linux rather than Android, it doesn’t allow sideloading at all (unless you’re a developer) – you can only install apps from the Amazon Appstore.
That’s a technical limitation of the platform, not active blocking of specific apps.
The VPN situation is separate again. VPN apps are entirely legal. The issue is simply that Amazon needs to enable VPN protocol support in Vega OS before any VPN apps can function – even legitimate ones distributed through the Amazon Appstore.
Should You Buy A Fire TV 4K Select?
If you’re in the market for a new Fire TV device and you know you’ll need VPN support, the answer right now is probably no – not yet, anyway.
The standard Fire TV Stick 4K costs just £10 more than the Select (£59.99 versus £49.99), and it gives you VPN support right now, along with Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, WiFi 6, double the RAM, and access to over 30,000 apps instead of 900.
The only reason to buy a Select right now if you need VPN support would be if you’re comfortable waiting an indeterminate amount of time for Amazon to push the software update. That might be later this month, or it might slip into December, or beyond.
But it will be interesting to see how Amazon positions the Fire TV 4K Select in the upcoming Black Friday deals (and later, during Boxing Day deals) – and whether they’ll offer a major discount on such a fresh device.
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I can understand why Amazon is pulling away from Android & moving to Vega OS, has the fire stick name has become notorious with the dodgy streaming apps. But I would have thought that they would have had support for all the legitimate apps from launch. I.e, streaming & vpn’s