Amazon Prime Video is, at long last, available to stream on Apple TV.
Amazon announced Tuesday that the Prime Video app is available on Apple TV 4K set-tops — as well as third-generation models of Apple TV — in more than 100 countries.
Prime Video members streaming on the Apple TV 4K will be able to access Amazon’s lineup of 4K High Dynamic Range (HDR) titles. In addition to licensed movies and TV shows, Prime Video offers a lineup of original movies and series from Amazon Studios, as well as access to 140 channel subscriptions in the U.S. and 95 channels in the U.K., Germany and Austria.
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference this past June that Amazon Prime Video would be coming to Apple TV later in 2017. The launch of Prime Video on Apple TV was first spotted by the Verge.
A dispute between Amazon and Apple has simmered for years. In October 2015, Amazon stopped selling Apple TVs (as well as Google’s Chromecast), with the company saying that “It’s important that the streaming media players we sell interact well with Prime Video in order to avoid customer confusion.” Now that Apple TV has lit up Prime Video, there’s the question of when Amazon might resume sales of the Apple TV set-tops. (Asked about this, an Amazon rep declined to comment.)
Previously, Prime Video could be streamed to Apple TVs through Apple’s AirPlay feature via the Amazon Video app, but that experience was more kludgy than a native app on the set-top. Amazon Prime Video is now integrated into the Apple TV menu and Prime Video titles can be discovered using the Siri-enabled voice remote.
“There is nothing that excites us more than delighting our customers, and we are thrilled for them to stream Prime Video on Apple TV,” said Mark Eamer, VP of Amazon Prime Video, in a statement.
Apple TV owners now have access to Amazon original movies and series such as “The Grand Tour,” season 2 which launches on Dec. 8, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “The Tick” along with the upcoming premieres of “Jean-Claude Van Johnson” on Dec. 15 and Phillip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams on Jan. 12.
Separately, Amazon and Google are engaged in a spat over devices and content: Google blocked access to YouTube videos on Amazon’s Echo Show device Tuesday, and said Amazon Fire TV users would be unable to access YouTube starting Jan. 1. In explaining the move, a Google rep cited Amazon’s unwillingness to strike a business deal to sell the internet giant’s Chromecast, Google Home and Nest devices. An Amazon rep responded that “Google is setting a disappointing precedent by selectively blocking customer access to an open website.”
