Amazon’s Instant Video service has one of the best libraries in the world, but if you’re an Apple user, it has a crucial weakness: the only way to get it on Apple TV is to AirPlay it from an iOS or OS X device.
AirPlaying can be unreliable at times and you can’t use certain apps without cutting off your Amazon stream. That could change in just a few weeks though, according to an Amazon employee who let it slip that the company is working on an app for the new Apple TV.
Amazon Instant Video — the official iOS app of the e-commerce giant’s Prime video streaming service — has just added a great new update.
The app will now attempt to lure you in by letting users stream the first episode of selected TV shows for free, with added ad breaks before and during playback.
In addition to this, the app features new video playback controls, including one-touch play/pause and 10-second skip forward/backward buttons, alongside a handy “Next Episode” button to make your binge watching sessions even easier and more tempting. It also promises faster playback start time after hitting play.
Amazon has added AirPlay support to its popular video streaming app – Amazon Instant Video. Starting today, the new feature allows iOS users to push video from their iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad to the Apple TV. Not quite as good as having an Amazon Instant Video channel on the Apple TV, but the move is sure to satisfy Amazon Prime users for the time being.
The update also includes more IMDB integration with cast info, ratings, trivia and quotes. Amazon also says the updated app is faster, more responsive and now supports concurrent downloads. There’s also a new “Customers who watched this also watched…” feature to help users discover more movies and spend more time and money on Amazon. The free update is available now in the App Store.
Source: iTunes
Thanks: Charles!
Amazon Instant Video integration is one of a number of new features that has been added to the official IMDb app for iOS today, allowing users who have the Amazon Instant Video app to quickly jump from IMDb right into the movie or TV show they were just checking out. The update also brings a new Oscars section, recommendations, and more.
It was recently revealed that jailbroken iPads are not able to use Amazon’s new Instant Video app. The issue is a common one that similar apps, like HBO GO and DirectTV, have dealt with in the past. The reason jailbroken iPads couldn’t access Amazon’s video streams seemed to be related to DRM. Amazon may or may update the Instant Video iPad app with a fix, but in the meantime, there’s an easy way for jailbroken iPad users to get around the restriction right now.
Amazon released its Instant Video iPad app yesterday. The app allows Amazon Prime members to stream and download movies and TV shows on the iPad over a WiFi connection.
If your iPad is jailbroken, you won’t be able to watch anything in the Amazon Instant Video app. This isn’t the first time a content provider has blocked access to jailbreakers, but it’s certainly still disappointing.
If you are an Amazon Prime subscriber or otherwise rent or buy a lot of Amazon Instant Video, you’ll have a one word reaction to this story: finally. Amazon has just released an official Instant Video app for the iPad.
