Fire TV cache clearing to minimize buffering

Fire TV: Settings/Applications/Manage applications
I’ve gotten into the anal habit of clearing the caches of all apps every day when I start the Fire TV to minimize any chance of buffering. Also, if I’ve watched Cinema the night before, I first unplug and reboot the Fire TV before I clean the caches.These are the steps I take whenever I experience buffering while watching, so I figure I might as well try to avoid any annoying buffering while I’m watching live TV by habitually taking these steps before watching anything.
When my fiancee wants me to turn on the TV she says “Get to clicking, Buddy” and refuses to learn the process herself.
When I go down the apps list to clear caches, there are Amazon apps I don’t use that can’t be uninstalled but must connect since their caches do collect data. I would love to permanently remove or disable Alexa Shopping, Amazon Free Time and Game Circle. And AppStore always builds a cache, I’m sure I must need it but not sure why it is building a cache.
My question is do these unused apps actually cause buffering when they are active during a live TV session? Is it possible to permanently disable those Amazon Apps I would never use?
I only need a few apps to work buffer free to be a happy camper, and I believe that extraneous or unused apps loaded on the Fire TV both take up storage space and maybe compete for bandwidth even when not in use by updating, etc. Trying to get my Fire TV lean and mean as as possible.
Thanks for your suggestions.

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The default programs installed on the firestick/amazon devices will not hinder your buffering when using Kodi or an APK. 3rd party installations will create a cache and those you can disable or uninstall. A GREAT way to resolve a buffering issue, if you use the Kodi/APK programs frequently is to sign up and PAY for Real Debid. It will significantly improve your media streaming and open up new sources/hosts to increase your option for a low traffic, high quality host.

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I’d like to second the recommendation to sign up for a Real Debrid account. It has significantly improved my streaming experience. Publicly available links aren’t very reliable–it’s a hit or miss thing, in my opinion. Keeping cache memory clean is a good practice but by using Real Debrid and keeping IPVanish connected to the nearest geographically located servers, I feel that I’ve pretty much optimized my streaming experience. I renewed my Real Debrid subscription tonight, $18.01 for 180 days. Money well spent.

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Hello @luptak Your suggestions would really help a lot of people. Me, I already do that and have done it since I first got into this hobby since my background is computers. Clearing a cache solves all kind of issues for me too. Do use real-debrid too and with a few tweaks, you can have a flawless experience viewing content.

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luptak, I have done this too:
Have always wondered if their can be an autoexec.bat and config.sys equivalent to what we used
to boot up computers in DOS/Windows 3.11 and Windows 95, some command to clear all caches.

I been using the free real-debrid account and configure it in all apps I use since 2017 and have good results.
The other day, I did download the free Developers Tools Shortcut for Fire TV and currently looking at the individual modules to see if any of those can help in the streaming experience. They are small in size and could be useful.

Also, within your VPN, configure a city close by to your geographical location to use each time you start your fire stick.
That helps.

Tom

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Thanks for joining us @tscole Great advice about the vpn cities. It does make a difference. Gonna have to look at the Developers’ Tool. I’m a computer guy like yourself and lived by autoexec.bat and config.sys. I thhink in the case of Kodi, you will need to set cache clearing in each app. When I start Kodi I have cashes clearing but don’t remember where I set them up. I will look into it and get back to you if I find a way to do what you ask. Welcome and keep posting.

RESET TO FACTORY SETTINGS TO RECLAIM STORAGE SPACE. After 3 years of using my Fire TV I was down to about .5 G of space and was getting occasional space warnings. Yes I have all my apps on a chip, but the FTV was still over-loaded. I had uninstalled a few apps including KODI. I noticed KODI must have left files after uninstall. I download the Maid from Troypoint which didn’t clean anything but caches which I could do myself. So I decided to bite the bullet and follow a early post of Troy’s talking about resetting my Fire TV to factory settings. I did this and used Troypoint installer to reload my IPVanish, my 2 $5/mo APKS and 2 favorite movie apps with real-debrid, which is what my Fire TV showed were my only apps (except for Amazon useless mandatory junk). VOILA! MY Fire TV shows 50% free storage! No more space warnings, no more buffering.
The entire reset and reload process took me about 1/2 hour. Just need to have user names and passwords available for the pay apps. First thing was to use the Amazon search to download IPVANISH and log in. Then also install Downloader from Amazon search. Then, with Downloader, use the link for the Troypoint app which is in every email for members. Everything else I wanted was easy to download from the Troypoint app.