Though we can do development using our desktop browser by navigating to you'll want to see what the app looks like on a big screen powered by a Fire TV device. Using Python, create a simple HTTP server with this command: Open a terminal or command line, and change into the base directory of the project, and use one of the following methods to create a local web server:
This can be done through various means, including using either Python or Node.js. Once you've cloned the repository to your system, you'll need to launch a local development web server to test it out.
#APPSTARTER USAGE HOW TO#
(If you haven't learned how to use git yet, GitHub has a great online tutorial which will walk you through the basic steps, or you can download one of their easy to use GUI clients.)
#APPSTARTER USAGE FULL#
(See the documentation on GitHub for full details.) For an introduction to Web Apps on Fire TV be sure to read our other blog post, Publishing HTML5 Apps to the Fire TV.įirst, you'll need to grab the code from the Amazon GitHub repository using git - the open source version control system. Let's run through the basic steps in getting a media web app up and running using the starter kit. We've included documentation covering all aspects of the starter kit: A ReadMe document introduces the project, and architecture and styling guides walk developers through the options they have to use or customize the app for their needs.īeing on GitHub also opens the opportunity to both improve the documentation as time goes on, as well as receiving "pull requests" from those in the developer community who wish to help improve the starter kit in the future. The app then uses that data to display the media as a selectable list of categories and a rotating carousel of media content. At the bare minimum, the developer only needs to provide access to their media sources as a JSON document that includes a list of media files, thumbnail images, titles, descriptions and categories. This includes support for remote control key codes, warnings before quitting the app, handlers for when the app is backgrounded, full-screen media playback, and more. It's been componentized so that developers can pull functionality into in their own app, such as support for the Fire TV remote, or they can decide to simply use the code "as-is" and only customize the existing app by modifying the style and image files.īaked into the starter kit is the code needed to both provide the large screen experience consumers expect, as well as to pass Amazon Appstore testing during the app submission process. The project is written as a simplified MVC-based web app with few external dependencies. Hosted on Amazon's GitHub account, the project is comprised of the HTML, JavaScript, CSS and support files needed to create a media browser style app. The Web App Starter Kit for Fire TV is self-contained, open source HTML5 project for creating real-world TV-based web apps. Interacting with HTML5 via a remote control is a very different experience than that of a mouse or touch screen. The project contains code developers can re-use in their apps, as well as a design template for the couch-focused user experience as well. To address this need, we decided to create an open source HTML5 web app "starter kit" that developers can use to quickly create a simple media app, ready to be customized and published in the Amazon Appstore. Though web browsers have been on TVs since the mid 90s, developers have never really targeted big screens and thus there is a notable vacuum of examples, guides or code available that web app developers can use to get started. One of the most important pieces of beta feedback was the request for some sort of template to target the "10-foot Experience" on Fire TV. The program was a huge success, pinpointing technical issues that needed to be resolved before we opened access to web apps to the larger developer community. Over the summer of 2014, we ran an early-access beta program with a dozen or so web app developers who were interested in collaborating with us to bring their HTML5 media apps to Fire TV. Here's an example of a media app using video content from the recent AWS re:Invent conference: You can find this project on its GitHub project page here.
Features of the project include an example user interface designed for the 10-foot user experience, support for the Fire TV remote control, and sample components to create and customize a media app. The Web App Starter Kit for Fire TV is a new open source project intended to help developers get up to speed quickly creating a simple media-oriented app for this exciting new web platform. Amazon Fire TV, including both the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, now supports HTML5 web apps.
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