Counterboard

Guides

A menu board on a Fire TV Stick

A Fire TV Stick turns any TV with an HDMI socket into a menu board. There are two ways to set it up: a two-minute way to see your board on the wall today, and a ten-minute way that comes back on by itself every time the TV is switched on. Both are here, one step at a time.

Start free → See how it works

Fourteen days free, no card. Works on any TV with a web browser, or any TV with an HDMI socket and a streaming stick.

The board of Smash Street Burgers, an example burger bar, with burgers, make it a meal, sides
Drawn by Counterboard AI in about a minute, from a few words and a price list. Smash Street Burgers is an example shop: yours is drawn to your own description, with your name and your prices on it.

Before the stick

First, the board to put on it

You are the designer. You say what you want in your own words: the colours, your name across the top, what goes where. AI designs the finished board in about a minute. Not quite right? Say what to change and it is drawn again. There is no design software to learn, and nobody else trying to guess what is in your head.

Sign up at counterboard.com on your phone, say how the board should look, and put your prices in by typing them or taking a photo of your price list. About a minute later the finished board is there. Do this before you start on the TV.

Which stick

Check it says Fire OS on the box

A Fire TV Stick 4K or Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the one to get, from a supermarket, an electrical shop or online. Check the box says Fire OS. Some of the newest Amazon sticks run a system called Vega OS instead, and those will not show a menu board. A Google TV stick or Chromecast with Google TV works too.

  1. Plug it inPut the stick into any HDMI socket on the back of the TV, and its small cable into the plug. Do this on the TV the menu is going on.
  2. Find it on the TVPress Source or Input on the TV remote until you see the stick.
  3. Give it your wi-fiThe first time it comes on it asks for your wi-fi and the password. That is the only time it asks.

The two-minute way

See your board on the wall today

  1. Get the Silk browserOn the Fire TV home screen, search for Silk Browser. It is Amazon’s own and it is free. Press Get.
  2. Open the addressOpen Silk and go to counterboard.com/tv.
  3. Six letters come upThe TV shows six letters and numbers, something like HY9CJT.
  4. Type them into your phoneIn Counterboard on your phone, open Your TVs and type the six letters in. Your board is on the TV seconds later.

The one thing this way does not do is come back by itself. Switch the TV off and on and you open Silk and the address again. For a screen that is on all day, use the ten-minute way below.

The ten-minute way

A board that comes back on by itself

This puts a free browser called Fully Kiosk Browser on the stick, set to open your board every time the TV comes on. You do it once and never touch it again.

  1. Let the stick install appsOpen Settings, then My Fire TV, then About. Press the button on Fire TV Stick seven times. Go back one screen: Developer Options is now there. Turn on Apps from Unknown Sources.
  2. Install DownloaderOn the home screen, search for Downloader. It has an orange icon. Install it: it is free.
  3. Fetch the browserOpen Downloader. Type counterboard.com/fully into the box, nothing else and no https, and press Go. When it has come down, press Install, then Done.
  4. Give it your board’s addressOpen Fully Kiosk Browser. In the Start URL box type https://counterboard.com/player/ exactly. Leave Fullscreen Mode on and the other three off. Press START USING FULLY.
  5. Pair itSix letters come up on the TV. In Counterboard on your phone, open Your TVs and type them in.
  6. Make it come on with the TVOn the remote, press and hold Back to open the settings. Open Device Management. Turn on Launch on Boot and Keep Screen On. Press Back to return to your board.

Switch the TV off tonight and on again in the morning: your board should come straight back. A setting called Kiosk Mode stops anybody leaving the board with the remote. It is a one-off paid extra in Fully Kiosk Browser, worth having in a busy shop but not needed to get going.

A Counterboard app for Fire TV is on its way to Amazon’s app store. Until it is there, these are the two ways, and Counterboard walks you through the same steps inside the dashboard.

What it costs

Priced by how many screens you put up

Fourteen days free, and no card to start. After that £14 a month for one screen, £22 for two, £32 for three or four, and £45 for five or more. No VAT charged. The price list on the front page shows it in dollars and euros too.

Every feature is included at every price. Each TV you put up gets a board drawn for it. Changing prices is free and unlimited. A new look, or adding and removing items, is one change a month, included. More boards or more changes can be bought one at a time inside Counterboard, with no change to your plan. No contract: cancel any time.

Start free → See how it works

Questions

What people ask

Does it work without the internet?

The stick needs the internet to get your board, and to get a new price when you change one. Once the board is on it, the TV keeps showing it if the connection drops.

Which Fire TV Stick should I buy?

A Fire TV Stick 4K or 4K Max that says Fire OS on the box. Avoid the ones that say Vega OS: they will not show a menu board.

Can I use an Android TV box instead?

Yes. Open Chrome or the Internet app on it and go to counterboard.com/tv, or install Fully Kiosk Browser from Google Play and give it the same Start URL so it comes back on by itself.

Is my TV too old?

If it has an HDMI socket, a Fire TV Stick will run on it.

More guides

Other questions shop owners ask

How to put your menu on a TVHow to change the prices on your TV menu from your phoneA price list on a TV for your salon, barber or nail barA digital menu board without a designer: what each way costs

Counterboard is for any business with prices on a wall, in any country. See how it works.