How to Install HBO Max on Amazon Fire Stick TV

Feeling bummed out because you are unable to install HBO Max onto your Amazon Fire Stick TV?

HBO Max has been released, and it has one of the broadest streaming catalogues as of right now with the likes of — HBO, Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, DC Entertainment, TBS, TNT, CNN, Cartoon Network, The CW, Crunchyroll, Adult Swim, Studio Ghibli and much more. 

However, one of the biggest gripes users have had with the launch (at the time of this writing) is the absence of 4K streaming as well as not supporting devices such as Amazon Fire TV and Roku.

Thankfully and much credit to Redditors u/0xgod and u/ryu1356 [source], the following are the steps we’ve found to work unofficially to install HBO Max on Amazon Fire Stick TV. We will figure out if there is an alternative way to getting HBO Max on the Roku platform in the coming weeks, but for now, if you’re an Amazon Fire TV / Fire TV Stick user, then the following steps will help you out.

Now before you go ahead with the steps below, please take note that this is an unofficial way of getting HBO Max onto the Amazon Fire TV platform. The method can be discontinued should AT&T (the parent company) decide to stop it.  

For now, at the time of this writing, the steps will work, but if it stops, then we will update the article with the official steps once the support arrives.

Let’s dive right in. 🙂

How to Install HBO Max on Amazon Fire Stick TV: 9 Steps

Step 1: Deleting Your Current HBO Now App (If You Have It)

This step is applicable if you already had the HBO Now app installed on your Fire Stick TV. If you don’t and you’re starting from a brand new Fire TV Stick, then skip to Step 2.

You will need to delete your HBO Now app before you can proceed to install HBO Max. Here’s how you can delete your HBO Now app:

  1. From the home screen of your Fire TV/Fire Stick, scroll to the right and select Settings (as shown below).
  2. Next, select Applications.

Install HBO Max on Amazon Fire Stick TV

  1. Now select the Manage Installed Applications option.

Install HBO Max on Amazon Fire Stick TV

  1. Scroll down the page until you locate the HBO Now app you’ve installed on your device. Once you’ve found the HBO Now app, click it.
  2. Select to Uninstall it.

Install HBO Max on Amazon Fire Stick TV

  1. Lastly, confirm your selection by selecting the Uninstall button again.

With your HBO Now app now removed, let’s move onto the next step.

Step 2: Enabling the ‘Apps from Unknown Sources’ Setting.

This is an important step! 

To install HBO Max onto your Amazon Fire TV or Fire TV Stick, you will have to install the file from online, which comes in the form of a .apk file. But before we proceed to install the file, we will need to make sure that our Amazon device is permitted to install files from online sources.

We will guide you step-by-step:

  1. From the home screen of your Fire TV/Fire Stick, scroll to the right and select Settings (as shown below).

Fire TV Settings

  1. Next, scroll again to the right until you see the My Fire TV option (on older models it will appear as ‘Device‘)
  2. Now, go down the list of options and select Developer options.

Developer Options on Fire TV

  1. Select the Apps from Unknown Sources option and make sure that it is turned ON.  We also recommend that you leave ADB debugging turned ON.

Install HBO Max on Amazon Fire Stick TV

  1. When you turn it on, you will be prompted with a message saying whether you want to confirm turning the ‘Apps from Unknown Sources’ option on. Simply confirm by selecting the Turn On button. 

Your Fire device is now capable of downloading files from online sources. Doing so will allow us to download and install the HBO Max application, which we will be doing in the next few steps.

Step 3: Download the ‘Downloader’ App and Search For “HBO Max APK”.

To look for the HBO Max application file (.apk), we will need to use a popular application called ‘Downloaded’, which can be downloaded from the Amazon Fire Store on your device.

Here’s how and what you do:

  1. From the home screen of your Fire TV/Fire Stick, hover onto your Search option and select it.
  2. Type in “Downloader” into the search

Install HBO Max on Amazon Fire Stick TV

  1. Select the Downloader app (as shown below).

Install HBO Max on Amazon Fire Stick TV

  1. Choose to Download it. Allow it a few minutes to download, depending on your internet connection speeds.
  2. Next, select to Open it.

Downloader Application

  1. You will be prompted to Allow Downloader to Access photos, media, and files on your device. Select to Allow.
  2. Again you may be prompted with an Update notes window showing what is new in the latest version of the Downloader app. Hit OK.
  3. Now with Downloader opened (if the application didn’t open, it should be in your home screen), select the Browser tab from the sidebar and search for “HBO Max APK”.

Step 4: Downloading the HBO Max APK File.

  1. Now there may be a couple of options to choose from, but we recommend going for the APKMirror option (which is usually the first result). Do take note that the file is free, and you will not be asked to pay for it at any time.

Install HBO Max on Amazon Fire Stick TV

  1. You will have to click on HBO Max: Stream HBO, TV, Movies & More dropdown menu (as shown below), and you will see the available options to choose from.
  2. Select the HBO Max: Stream HBO, TV, Movies & More (Android TV) option.

Install HBO Max on Amazon Fire Stick TV

  1. You should see a box that says ‘Download’ and ‘Requires Android TV’. Select that.
  2. After that, you will see the Variant option. Over here, click on the string of numbers that end in ‘APK’.
  3. You will be prompted a pop-up ad. Hit the X button to exit out and then scroll down to select the blue box that should read as either ‘Download’ or ‘Install’. For us, it appears as ‘Download,” but some others have reported seeing as ‘Install’. Either works.

Install HBO Max on Amazon Fire Stick TV

Update (5th June, 2020)

For convenience, if the above APK file doesn’t work, then you can try installing the APK file (Filename: HBO Max APK Android TV 50.0.1.45 Release 01 June 2020) from here: Google Drive Link.

Step 5: Start Watching HBO Max on Amazon Fire TV / Fire TV Stick!

Voila! Once after you’ve downloaded and installed the application, you should see the HBO Max application appear on your device’s homepage along with all the other apps.


FAQ: Help! I have downloaded and installed the HBO Max application, but my Fire TV remote is not working?

One of the issues we’ve first had encountered after installing the file on our TV was that the remote stopped working.

Here are the solutions that helped to fix that:

  • Uninstalling the HBO Max app and reinstalling it again (follow the above steps). This helped fix the issue for us as well as for others.
  • Some readers have reported that using the AptoidTV application instead of Downloader to search for the APKMirror HBO Max link helped fix the issue.
  • Reinstalling the Downloader app also have helped.
  • Try clearing the cache of the HBO Max app.

FAQ: Help! I keep getting a “Download. An unknown error has occurred. Check your URL and connection” Error Message.

This is an issue with the Downloader app itself. 

What you can do is Enable JavaScript option within the Downloader app settings.

Enable JavaScript in Downloader App on Amazon Fire TV

You can try to reinstall the Downloader app too. After that, retry a few times until you get it to work.

Also, make sure that you’ve enabled the Apps from Unknown Sources settings, as shown above in Step 2.

Lastly, if that too doesn’t work, then try installing an alternative application to Downloader.


That’s pretty much it! We appreciate all the support, feedback, and suggestions we’ve received from you guys over on the comments in all our posts, helping us provide more effective guides. 

If you have found a better solution to the above, please comment down below, and we will credit you when we update this article. If you’ve any questions, please feel free to comment below too. 🙂

Author

  • Jake Kovoor

    Jake is the Editor-in-Chief of Saint and an independent software developer, with a Bachelors in Computer Science from Lancaster University, UK. He loves trying out various tech from the Flipper Zero to coding Raspberry Pis for automation. He started Saint back in 2016, having written over 100 posts, with the sole purpose of creating guides for software that had yet to exist back then to help users navigate around their technical problems.

10 comments
  1. That version of the apk no longer works on firestick. And no one seems to have a newer version. After working great for a week, it now just says “update app” when you click it.

    I had to uninstall on Aptoide, and reinstall HBO NOW.

  2. The HBO Max icon is no longer showing on the home screen. You will have to install HBO Now (from your Fire TV), and then the icon will be HBO Now but instead will open as HBO Max.

    Weird but it works lmao.

    TL;DR Uninstall HBO Max > Restart Your Fire TV > Download HBO Now > Install HBO Max.

    1. When I am in downloaded and select browser, how do I search? I tried typing “hbo max apk” into the address bar but got nothing

      1. Okay I was able to download it but I can only view it. I can select any options once it’s opened

  3. How did you transfer your current billing subscription over to the FireTV without going through Google Play Store?

    I have the HBO Max app loaded on FireTV but I am unable to start a new subscription nor transfer my continuing subscription with HBO Now through Amazon. (I entered two different billing emails). The Max app requires billing through Google Play and Amazon does not support Play. In addition, If I try to subscribe directly through the app with a code, with either my current billing or a new billing, I am given a code, I enter the code given through the HBOactivate account online, and the activation screen then says, “Unfortunately FireTV not supported.” I guess the code given, signals it is on the Fire TV and not another device.

    Anybody have this problem?

  4. I stumbled across this earlier today, and then set to work to get it set up. Works like a charm! Thank you! Just a word of warning to others attempting to download the apk, be sure to use the embedded blue button in the actual field where the file appears. There’s several mirrored sites that will attempt steer you to Unlimited Downloads, and asks for a credit card. The banking info page comes up in French. The fine fine tiny print at the bottom indicates that your account will roll over after free period to $39.99 a MONTH!
    If you’re in doubt, back out of the process and start again. Bookmark the apk page, bookmark the Google search page, so it’s easy to get back in, and you won’t have to pick out all the letters from their interface to get a long string in place again.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *