Wow…I’ll throw some over The Wall to you…hope you are a good catcher… 
Just kidding…makes things difficult for sure…
Can anyone tell me exactly what amazon is preventing with their updates…I’ve read where 3rd party launchers won’t load…I tried one off of the RAI & nada…anything else I can try? TIA…
They are making specific “packages” “protected” so that you can no longer modify that packages content, such as their “Launcher”.
My 4K Max was running OS ver 7.2.7.5 and I was still able to block updates. Rebooted and ran update checker again just to make sure.
Too late to save my regular 4K firestick, however.
Same here but my version is 7.2.5.5 on my Max. I got it in time to block updates. But too later for many others. I did find an odd thing this morning. I worked on a 6.2.8.1 stick and ran the update blocker and in the midst of the warning was a line that said I could not disable a protected package, but the Wolf Launcher still runs and when checking to see if there was an update I did not get the “unable to update” pop-up, it simply defaulted to last update check Jan 22.
Copy…ty MIk…I’m probably gonna retire the firestick anyway…it’s just getting too slow even for normal maintenance, much less watching anything…guess my A box spoiled me. After reading that poster’s quick review on the $20 ONN box from WallyWorld…I may just snag one & play around with it so I can see if his review was accurate…if not…well, WallyWorld has taken back everything I’ve ever wanted to return…so my $20 would be safe 
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Hey that’s a great idea @pangaeatech . We have Wally worlds here. I’l hike out and see if they have any onn’s. Sometimes I can miss the obvious. ok ok a lot of times. 
Hello. I posted a fix to block amazon updates on tduks chat group. Downloading adguard and disabling wifi to devicesoftwareota and systemupdates will block the update as ling as adguard is running in the background. If your device has already updated its too late. Tduk made on video on my fix check it out here:
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So far the best amazon blocker is ugoos 
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There is also a trick for stopping the update on a new device. I have not tried this but others have and say it works.
Turn on your mobile hotspot on your phone.
Get to the part where you connect to a network and connect to your hotspot.
As soon as it says “getting updates” disconnect your hotspot.
On the next page that says network error, hold down the back and menu buttons at the same time for a couple seconds to enter VoiceView mode.
Push the back button to exit VoiceView mode (with your hotspot still disconnected).
You should now be at the registration page. Go ahead and enter your Amazon credentials and turn your hotspot back on to connect.
As soon as your account registers and you get to the home page, proceed to use your preferred method of blocking system updates.
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Thank you but this way has a major flaw. Doing it activates their vpn, conflicting with mine, and disabling mine opens me up to the download, forcing me to constantly check and remove any “pending” updates via ADB. It’s in the vid. So for now I have been lucky enough to cross the finish line ahead of Amazon and block the updates with techdoctors update blocker. 72503 in Downloader.
Its is true adguard uses a local vpn connection. Thus you cannot run another vpn at the sametime. If you have adguard vpn and adguard adblocker you can run both because of a special proxy. Be sure your update blocker is actually working or when you reboot your device it will update. Adguard does support adding your vpn as a proxy in the app but it must be configured manually which makes switching servers inconvenient. Its the best I could come up with for the time being. A better fix is coming soon.
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Yeah, I read that somewhere, too. Personally, I would spend the extra $25-$50 bucks and get a different device. Bezos is getting ridiculous and the only way to fight him is in HIS wallet!
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Oh ya we know. As mentioned this is a start, and we all know more and better, is coming. Unfortunately turning off my VPN is an absolute deal breaker.
@Powerfader hit the nail on the head.
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To clarify, turning off your vpn in place of adguard adblocker does not allow updates to download. It blocks them, that is the whole point. If you live in the usa I recommend against using a vpn for streaming as it just slows your internet down. You only need a vpn if you live somewhere like the uk or you are downloading torrents.
At this point I have to agree with you. I wont be buying anymore amazon devices but I had just recently bought 2 new cubes for some other people when they were on sale. Mine was blocked long ago and amazon cant change it.
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oooo. Now that I disagree with entirely. Noone should ever connect to the internet without an active VPN. IMHO.
As for my comment regarding the turning off off the VPN, the comment regarding the update is also in the vid.
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Everyone wants to sell you a vpn and privacy is a good thing. If however you are in the usa there is nothing illegal about streaming and though I have ipvanish I only use it on my computer or to bypass geoblocks. I have charter spectrum and they do not throttle me. If for example you are browsing a secure site “https” your traffic is already being encrypted the only difference is whether they can see your ip address. That being said, Im gonna leave the vpn discussion alone just because it is off topic for this forum.
and I agree we should leave this topic alone, and this has been discussed elsewhere. Glad we can agree to disagree, that’s what makes this forum so good. Have a nice day.
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Same to you. Hope this helps at least a few people.