Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the forthcoming appearance of Amazon Prime Video to the Apple TV earlier this year, but the launch kept getting pushed back for unknown reasons. Now, Amazon's Prime Video app is finally rolling out on the tvOS app store. The Prime Video iOS app was recently updated to version 5.0 and the release notes state that subscribers can download a separate tvOS app on their Apple TV to watch Prime Video content on that device.
Although we were able to download it this morning, according to a report by 9to5Mac, the Amazon Prime Video app may not show up for all users in a tvOS app store search. If it doesn't show up there, you can find the new app by searching for "Amazon" in the tvOS app store, selecting the Amazon Shopping app, and finding the new Prime Video app in the "More by this Developer" section at the bottom of the page. In order to use the Prime Video app, you must have a third-generation Apple TV or newer device.
Cook first announced the launch of Amazon Prime Video for Apple's set-top box back at WWDC in June, and the first release was set for sometime this summer. But the summertime came and went and Apple TV users continued to go without Prime Video. Some suspected the launch would coincide with the iPhone X event in September, but no. Now, Amazon Prime Video joins a number of other big streaming services, including Netflix and Hulu, that have tvOS apps. Previously, any Amazon Prime Video content could only play on an Apple TV through AirPlay from another device.
This may open the door for Amazon to sell the Apple TV again on its retail website. Amazon hasn't sold Apple TV since 2015 and recently CEO Jeff Bezos said that the only way Amazon would reconsider selling the device is if its Prime Video service was accessible on the Apple TV. The release of the tvOS app appears to resolve that issue, so it's possible that Amazon and Apple will play nicely with each other (at least on this front) once again.
Currently Amazon's main streaming content feud is with Google, which announced it will pull YouTube support from Amazon's Fire TV device in 2018. Google also blocked YouTube from Amazon's Echo Show yesterday for the second time—the first occurred a few months ago, when Google claimed Amazon's implementation of YouTube violated its terms of service. Amazon found another way to get YouTube onto the Echo Show since then and Google just blocked it while announcing the forthcoming suspension on the Fire TV.
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