Apple TV Should Support Amazon Instant Video
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 2/3/2015 1:00:00 AM
What are they waiting for?
One of the things holding Apple TV back from widespread use is the lack of support for Amazon Instant Video. While it's still a great way to play photos and videos from your phone, a lot of people buy it just to play streaming movies using services like Netflix. Now that Amazon Instant Video has a lot of original and exclusive programming, a lot of people are forced to purchase other devices, such as Roku because it works with all the biggest video streaming services.
The heart of the problem is that Apple doesn't like putting subscription services on Apple TV unless they get 30% of the revenue, but since the revenue for Amazon's Instant Video service is linked to Amazon Prime, which extends beyond just streaming videos, they have to way to quantify Apple's revenue share.
The solution is simple. Apple should just add Amazon Instant Video support. They will sell a lot more Apple TVs, and make a lot more customers happy.
The funny thing is they have similar royalty rules for Apps in the regular App Store, but somehow they allow you to play Amazon Instant Videos there... sort of.
Here's the whole story.
If you have an iPhone, or iPad, you can get an App that lets you play movies that are included in your account, which includes videos you already purchased, or those listed as Prime. The loophole here is you can't subscribe to Prime or make new purchases from the App. They have the same restriction on the Kindle App, where you can view your books, but not purchase them directly from the App.
So, as long as you subscribed to prime or made movie purchase from the web, they are linked to your account. This lets you play them on your iPhone or iPad, but not directly on your Apple TV.
Technically, there's a way to play Amazon Instant Video on your Apple TV, but most people don't realize it.
By using the AirPlay screen redirection feature, that lets you play whatever is on your phone on your Apple TV, you can indirectly play Amazon Instant Video on your TV, but most people don't realize it, and it only works with iOS devices, so people with Android still need to look elsewhere to play Amazon Instant Videos.
My original thought was that they didn't support Amazon because they didn't want alternative sources to their own movie purchase and rental options, but they do support Netflix. Very odd.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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