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Android users with Amazon Prime accounts haven’t had very many options when looking to stream videos through their Instant Video app. While it’s true an Android app has been awhile for quite sometime now, it’s been exclusive to Amazon’s line of Kindle Fire tablets. We’ve pretty much came to terms that it’s there the app would remain, but it seems the app is reportedly getting ready for its Google Play debut — and it’s about damn time.
PC Advisor is claiming the exclusive after they spoke with Amazon marketing director Russell Morris at a Christmas party (in July?). Morris apparently mentioned a Google Play release of Amazon Prime Instant Video is “imminent.” Other than that, details are scarce. No word on exact timing or whether the app will offer support for Google’s streaming Chromecast dongle, but we can only hope for the best.
With Amazon Prime Instant Video available on the iPad and Kindle Fire tablets, it only makes sense for Amazon to finally include their customers who own one of the many Android devices on the market.
The way Amazon’s tablet apps seem to want more and more of my data, the video app will probably require concurrent use of an Android Wear-powered rectal probe.
Only like two years late… If its even true…
Should have been had this available by now. Bad enough your whole fire ecosystem is built of android anyway.
Include chromecast and im in for Prime…
Is there a way to get the Amazon app to side load in vanilla Android? And anyone who mentions a browser and Flash is an alternative is getting stabbed in the eye :P
Gid: Amazon Prime settings let u choose To watch Prime using Flash or Silverlight.
Switch to Flash. Yes use chrome browser, Tab it, Use your chromecast. it works just fine. I will not tell U it’s the best solution, but it is a good one and it’s an easy one. So go ahead stab me in the eye. I’ll watch Amazon Prime on my 50 inch living room TV with the other eye.
The whole point is that I want to watch on my TABLET. If I wanted to watch on the TV, I could just use the PS3.
Maybe Amazon thought keeping Instant Video off of regular Android devices would drive people to buy Kindle/Fire devices. In my case it just keeps me from using Instant Video. If it does end up coming to regular Android but doesn’t do Chromecast, I probably won’t use it much.
On another note, the wording/editing in the first paragraph of this article is truly bad, even by Phandroid standards. I really enjoy reading Phandroid, but the lack of editing before the posts go live makes me sad sometimes.
I wholeheartedly agree with your first paragraph. I think (hope) that Amazon is starting to realize that their product needs to target the largest userbase possible (Netflix) instead of going for a completely vertical ecosystem (Apple). If Netflix had limited their service to one series of devices and desktop PC only, as Amazon is nearly doing, then it would have never taken off.
Netflix is the perfect example. It’s on every video capable internet connected device in my house, and my family uses Netflix daily, sometimes on multiple device at the same time. Amazon would do well to copy this model. After having a couple of cheap Nexus tablets in use at home for a couple of years I don’t think anyone in my family would be happy with the limitations of a Kindle Fire just to get easy access to Amazon Instant Video.
The strange thing is that Amazon video is almost as available as Netflix. Just not on Android (or chromecast). It is on Roku, most smart devices (tvs, blu-rays,etc), iPads and iPhones, Playstations and Xboxes… Seems kind of odd to leave out Android.
But Amazon is missing the boat on niche devices, such as my WDTV. When you factor in those niche devices, all Android devices, and lack of Chromecast support, you realize that many customers cannot watch Prime or can only do so on select screens. By comparison, I can run Netflix on every screen.
Same, I have it on my old Wii, but its really not reliable there at all. Hopefully it will work with chromecast. Id quit netflix if it does.
Amazon Prime Instant Video has never been exclusive to Fire tablets. While it may not have mattered to most people, the app has been available for Google TV for years now.
Edit: Grammars and speling.
From one marketing aspect, I wouldn’t expect them to release it to the Google Play Store until after their Kindle Fire Phone is released. From a diff marketing aspect, one would think that they would see that MORE peeps would sign up for Prime if it was available for EVERYONE.. including Microsloth Phone OS.
Yep, their style of thinking up to this point is only encouraging people to use other options like non-fire devices, netflix, and hulu. Sales are going too well for their fire phone so I think they cam to their senses. Now they just need to also make it compatible with chromecast and not half-ass their efforts.
About Fucking Time.
No doubt. I have already moved from Amazon to the Play store for purchasing my favorite TV shows. I’m surprised they didn’t get an app out earlier to keep this from happening. I imagine a lot of Android owners did the same as me. I guess they were trying to increase their Tablet sales ?? Still doesn’t seem logical to me. They had to loose a lot of sales by waiting so long.
Yup ditto I abandoned Amazon video for exactly this reason. For me this may be too little too late, feeling a little burned from their choice to not support me.
If he got the news at a Christmas party, he got the news many months ago, and still no app. So maybe it was the wine talking.
I stopped buying stuff on amazon instant video since they didn’t have the app and started buying from google. I Dont think this will bring me back to buying from amazon at this point. But at least I’ll be able to do prime videos
Well maybe I won’t cancel PRIME after all (when it expires)….. I don’t think that I order enough to justify paying for it now that they’ve raised the price too. But if they get Universal music to sign on, and add this app to the Playstore for my phone and Chromecast, it may be worthwhile to me.
To all those asking for it to work on Android AND Chromecast: it is already possible as the Chromecast now has device mirroring… well, it has mirroring for some Android devices… and is buggy… and mirroring is not as convenient as casting…
It sucks so bad I would not even call it “possible.”
Did hell freeze over
“While it’s true an Android app has been awhile for quite sometime now…”
Huh???
For the Amazon Fire line. Those devices are Android (horrible abomination of Android) so technically and Android app of Instant Video has been around for awhile.
Don’t you just love what passes for journalism these days? Not that this article passes…at all.
Its funny they didn’t release it on android to increase fire/box sales but then i thought about it and realized, i watch prime videos on my smart tv…that i bought on amazon.com, and i wish i could watch it on my chromecast(that i also bought on amazon) in another room, and might even buy another chromecast if it had amazon prime. So no matter what amazon is making money off of me…might as well just release it wide, you let me read kindle books on my android? O wait but there is a difference, the books i buy individually, the prime videos cost amazon money every time i watch them…maybe they dont really want us watching them?
Given the Christmas Party reference, I’m going to hold off on believing this. While I’d love an Instant Video app on Android, I’m actually more interested in Unbox. I get enough value out of my Prime account (shipping, Instant Video on my bluray), but I’m more interested in getting access to included copies of Blu-Rays I’ve purchased on more devices than just a PC.
On a side note, an HTML5 video player so it can be played on any modern browser without Flash or Silverlight would be appreciated.