Several people are reporting (and confirming) that the 1st generation Fire TV 1 and the Fire TV Stick running the new Fire OS 5 software update, version 5.0.5, can be rooted using the KingRoot rooting app. Fire TV 1 owners have been unable to root their device ever since Amazon patched the towelroot exploit back in August 2014. This is also the first time Fire TV Sticks can be rooted through software alone.

If you want to root your Fire TV 1 or Fire TV Stick, you should allow it to update to the 5.0.5 software version that is currently rolling out to device and then block software updates. You can then use KingRoot to root your Fire TV 1 or Fire TV Stick, but be warned that the Chinese company behind the rooting software has been criticised for being a bit shady. Their software is closed source, which means nobody knows exactly what it does to your device. KingRoot also installs some of its own bloatware onto your device which, while it can be removed, does not bode well for the trustability of the software or company.

Rbox, the developer behind the new rooting method for the Fire TV 2, has already started experimenting with porting TWRP custom recovery to a Fire TV 1 that has been rooted by KingRoot. During yesterday’s AFTVnewscast live stream, I explained how to intercept the 5.0.5 update package which resulted in podcast viewer Ray nabbing the update URL. I’ve passed the URL onto rbox so, with that, he should finally be able to create a pre-rooted ROM of software version 5.0.5 for the 1st-gen Fire TV.

I recommend that Fire TV 1 owners, who wish to root their device, not use KingRoot just yet. You should update to software version 5.0.5 and then wait for rbox to release TWRP and a pre-rooted ROM of 5.0.5 for the 1st-gen Fire TV. Once those are released, you will be able to root your device with KingRoot and then immediately wipe out anything nefarious left over by KingRoot when you install the pre-rooted ROM and perform a factory reset.

As for Fire TV Stick owners who wish to root, because that device has never been software rooted before, there has been no work done towards a custom recovery or ROM for that device. Rbox has told me that, while he doesn’t own a Fire TV Stick, he will look into its 5.0.5 update package and consider making a custom recovery and pre-rooted ROM for the Fire TV Stick. That is of course, if it’s even possible, which still remains to be determined.

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