Fubo Rolls Out a Newly Updated App on iOS & Android With Vertical Video Perfect For Watching On Your Phone

I’ve been using Fubo as my primary live sports app across three screens — Firestick 4K Max in the living room, a second Fire TV Stick in the bedroom, and my phone for games I catch during a commute. So when Fubo dropped a major update to its iOS and Android apps on April 9, 2026, I was paying attention. The headline feature is vertical video for Team Channels, powered by AI that actually tracks the action in portrait mode. It’s the kind of thing that sounds gimmicky until you’re watching a tight fourth quarter one-handed on the train.

Here’s what changed, what it means for your phone, and — the question everyone on a Firestick forum is asking — whether any of this is coming to Fire TV.

What Fubo Actually Updated

Fubo

The April 2026 update is the most substantial mobile overhaul Fubo has pushed in a while. It’s not just cosmetic — there’s real AI infrastructure underneath it.

Vertical Video for Team Channels

This is the marquee feature. Fubo’s Team Channels now support portrait-mode viewing, and it’s not just a cropped letterbox — the AI model tracks critical areas of the frame in real time, following the ball, the players, and the action. Watch a free kick in portrait mode and the camera logic keeps the ball and the goal in frame. Watch a fastball in portrait and the pitch-to-plate sequence stays readable.

Whether it holds up in genuinely chaotic moments — a full-court scramble in the final seconds, say — is something I’ll be testing over the next few weeks. First impressions on the soccer footage I caught on launch day were solid.

Live Video Carousels on the Home Screen

The updated home screen now shows live video previews of ongoing games directly in a scrollable carousel. You don’t have to navigate into a game to know if it’s worth watching — you can see it live, right from the launch screen. For channel-surfers used to flipping through cable, this is the closest any streaming app has come to replicating that experience.

AI-Generated Highlight Playlists

Fubo is pulling AI highlights out of full broadcasts and building auto-generated highlight playlists. You finish work, miss the game, and instead of scrubbing through a three-hour broadcast you get a curated reel of the best moments. How good the AI curation actually is will depend heavily on the sport — I’m more optimistic about this for baseball and basketball than I am for soccer, where “highlight” is genuinely subjective.

Expanded Team Channels With League Filters

Team Channels now have league-based filters, so if you follow multiple sports you’re not wading through NBA content to find your NHL team’s channel. Small UX win, but a real one.

Baseball Game Alerts and Breaking News

Push notifications for major baseball plays — think home runs, late-inning leads, seventh-inning stretches — plus breaking news alerts. If you’re a baseball fan who can’t watch every game live, this makes Fubo behave more like a sports ticker than just a streaming app.

---

What This Means for Firestick Users

Honest answer: the new AI features are not on your Firestick yet.

The vertical video, the AI carousels, the highlight playlists — as of the April 9 update, these are confirmed for iOS and Android only. Fubo hasn’t announced a Fire TV rollout date for the AI-powered features, and the search results don’t confirm they’re coming to Fire TV at all.

That said, Fubo is fully available on Fire TV devices — FireStick Lite, FireStick 4K, FireStick 4K Max, and Fire TV Cube are all supported. The app has received its own performance improvements alongside this mobile update: better navigation, enhanced streaming stability, and general polish. Just don’t expect to swipe into portrait mode on your living room TV anytime soon.

The Content Case for Fubo on Firestick

Vertical video aside, Fubo’s core value proposition is still the strongest in live sports streaming. The app carries 350+ live TV channels and is positioned as the only service that gives you every Nielsen-rated sports channel without a cable subscription — NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, NCAA, regional sports networks, UEFA Champions League, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup are all in the mix. For sports-heavy households, that breadth is hard to match.

For how to watch specific sports on your Firestick, check out our guides on how to watch live sports on Firestick and the best sports streaming apps for Firestick — Fubo consistently ranks near the top.

---

---

How to Install Fubo on Firestick

If you’re not already running Fubo on your Fire TV device, here’s the setup:

---

Fubo on Firestick — The Honest Assessment

Check Fubo Pricing & Plans

→

---

The Bigger Picture: Is Vertical Video the Future of Sports?

Fubo’s bet here is that mobile sports consumption is growing fast enough to warrant serious AI investment. They’re probably right. Short-form vertical sports content already dominates social platforms — the question is whether viewers want live sports in portrait mode, not just highlights.

The AI tracking technology is the interesting part. Cropped vertical video is nothing new — broadcasters have been doing it badly for years. AI that actually follows the action is different. If Fubo’s model is as good as the launch materials suggest, this could genuinely change how people watch live games on mobile.

Whether it comes to Fire TV is a separate question. Portrait mode is pointless on a horizontal TV, obviously — but the AI highlight playlists, the live carousels, the push notifications? Those translate to a 10-foot interface. Worth watching.

For now, if you’re watching sports primarily on your Firestick, the Fubo app is solid and just got more stable. If you watch on your phone too, update your mobile app immediately — the new features are worth the download.

For more on live TV options on your Fire TV device, check out the best Firestick apps for live TV in 2026 and our guide to watching live TV on Firestick for free if you want alternatives at a lower price point.

---

Want More Sports Channels Without a Cable Bill?

If Fubo doesn’t cover the specific content you need, or you want to supplement it with a broader live TV package, Unify IPTV is worth looking at — hundreds of channels including international sports, at a fraction of the cost of a traditional live TV subscription.

Explore Unify IPTV for Firestick

→

---

This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission when you purchase through our links, at no extra cost to you.

Last updated: April 2026