Amazon Fire-TV Recast: Accessible over-the-air TV channels with no cable bill

Bill Holton

Is it time for you to cut the cord, avoid the ever-growing expense of cable TV in favor of a complete diet of streaming programming? Over the past months AccessWorld has devoted a number of articles to help you get started with the various video streaming services. So far we’ve covered Netflix, YouTube TV, Disney+, Apple TV+, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, HBO+, and Discovery+ Even with all these resources, you may decide there is still one missing piece to the cord cutting puzzle: access to local broadcast TV channels. For many, it’s the best if not only way to keep up with local goings-on. You may be reluctant to cancel your cable subscription as this is the easiest way to watch and the only way to preview and record local broadcast TV. In this article we will show you how you can do all of this and more using a popular networked over the air DVR: the Amazon Fire-TV Recast.

What you’ll need

To use Recast you will need a Fire-TV stick, a television with Fire-TV built in, or an Echo Show. You will also need a digital antenna, and smartphone running the iOS or Android Fire-TV app to set up the Recast and, if you like, stream live and recorded programs. Recast comes in two models—the difference being the number of tuners and the DVR storage. The 500GB has two tuners—you can watch one channel while recording another, or record two programs simultaneously. The higher end model includes 4 tuners. The lesser unit also offers a half terabyte of video storage—enough to record up to 75 hours of programming. The higher end offers a full terabyte which will hold 150 hours. At the time of this writing the 500 GB model costs $229, the terabyte model $279, but I’ve seen it on sale, both at Amazon.com and Best Buy. For this review I purchased the terabyte version, and evaluated it with an iPhone 12.

Getting started

Recast connects to your home network either via cable or Wi-Fi. No network cable is included. Over-the-air broadcast signals move from your digital antenna—purchased separately—to the Recast, where they are processed and recorded. Depending on your Fire-TV resolution, a processed signal is then sent through your router and from there to the device, also via Wi-Fi or cable, depending on how your Fire-TV is connected. With Recast within Wi-Fi range of your router—it does not need to be near your TV--install and open the Fire TV app. Beneath listings for your current Fire TV devices, you will find the option to setup a new device. . Choose Recast and the setup will begin.

I found the Recast setup process completely accessible using VoiceOver, though there were a few spots where the process was confusing and physically inaccessible. For example, early in the setup process I was asked for my antenna range. I chose the maximum, 50 miles. A channel scan turned up over 70 channels. However I later discovered many of the more distant channels would not play, leaving a number of unusable listings in my channel lineup. Unfortunately, there is no way to redo this step without resetting Recast to factory defaults and starting from scratch. The various channels mostly presented themselves by call letters—which VoiceOver and Amazon’s Voice Guide didn’t always do a good job pronouncing. Unfortunately, there is no way to assign new names to these channels, either on the app or your Fire-TV device.

At another point I was instructed to attach the power cord and plug in the included power adapter. (Note: both the antenna and power connectors are e easily located via touch. I was then instructed me to wait until the LED on the front of the Recast was flashing white, then press next. There is an app error message when you can’t see the light, but it only advises you to unplug and re-plug the device and wait another five minutes. Go ahead and press next. There is another way to accomplish this.

At this point the setup menu prompts you to change your Wi-Fi to the temporary Amazon network. If after a minute or so you don’t see this option in your list of Wi-Fi networks, try this. On the back edge of Recast, about halfway between the power and antenna connections, there is a recessed Connect button. Press and hold this button for five or six seconds. The Amazon temporary network should soon appear. Returning to the Fire TV app, my phone warned me that my current Wi-Fi network was not connected to the Internet—did I wish to use my cellular network in the meantime? Assuming the Recast needed to use the Amazon network I selected No. Apparently, I should have pressed Yes, because when I did this on a subsequent try things worked smoothly and the installation proceeded.

Finally, you are asked to choose a Wi-Fi network and password. Be sure to use the same network your Fire TV devices use. The app then performs a channel scan and lists all the channels within the specified radius.

Click Next and the installation is complete.

Accessible channel surfing

The preferred way to access over-the-air broadcast channels from the Amazon Recast is via a Fire-TV device. Fire-TV sticks start at under $30, and Fire-TV enabled TV sets can often be found on sale for under $100. If you’re new to Fire-TV, Arron Preece reviewed the Insignia Smart TV, Fire TV Edition in the December 2018 AccessWorld. You can also get started by visiting Amazon’s Accessibility Features for Fire-TV web page.

To begin watching live TV go to the—yes—“Live TV” tab on the Fire-TV menu. Cursor down to Recast and you’ll see a list of broadcast channels, usually listed by call letters. As mentioned before, the pronunciation can be less than optimum, and there is currently no way to rename them to more Voice Guide-friendly names.

Selecting Recast from the main menu Settings tab will offer you the option to manage channels. You can favorite or unfavorite a channel, or hide a channel—particularly handy if you wound up with channels you will never watch or the signal is too weak to stream. Press the Select button to toggle between favorite and unfavorite, and the Play/Pause button to hide the channel. Favorite channels will be moved to the top of your channel list. However if you have favorited a dozen channels there is no way to modify the list so that your very favorites rise to the top.

In the settings menu you can also set the default DVR options. By default you can record a single episode of a show or multiple episodes. You can also set the DVR to begin ahead of the scheduled time and end after the scheduled time—particularly handy if your favorite program begins after a sports event.

Accessing the program guide allows you to cursor through the channel’s schedule. The schedule runs a 14 days ahead, and a few seconds after a cursor key press the voice guide will announce both the channel and the date. However this hint announcement seems to cease voicing after just a few days. Double pressing the Menu key at any point will call up the DVR Record options.

You can also initiate a DVR recording using the Voice Control button on your Fire-TV remote. “Record Wheel of Fortune” will set the DVR, even if you are not on that particular listing. Access DVR recordings from the Live TV menu, where you can play and/or delete programs.

Recast on your smartphone

You can view live TV and DVR recordings on your smartphone, however the feature set is less than complete. You can view a channel or DVR recording, pause, move back and ahead, and set the current or next program to record. However there is no functioning guide. The only programs listed are the current and next listings. There is one handy feature. In the More/Recast/Data Usage menu option you can set the quality of the video stream. You can also do this on your Fire-TV are device, however the app includes an additional option. Along with several resolution options which can help limit band width if you are using a data connection to stream video, you can also set Recast to stream audio only to your smartphone.

Final thoughts

All in all, I found the Recast paired with my Fire-TV and iPhone 12 to be a fairly pleasant experience. I have few gripes about the voice accessibility. Any suggestions for improvements are all feature based. For example, I wish the iPhone app were more feature complete. Many people would like to be able to view the complete program guide remotely and set DVR recordings. I also wish there was a way to move my favorite of favorites to the top of the channel lists. And I am sure Voice Guide and touch screen reader users are not the only ones who wish they could rename channels in the guide. If you’re thinking of cutting the cord, there are several over-the-air DVRs to choose from. However I would recommend the Amazon Recast—the company has a stated commitment to accessibility.