Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Amazon Updates 'Instant Video' iOS App with AirPlay Support, Full Integration with IMDb
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Can't get the new version, only the old version...
I can only get version 1.4.3 from the app store, which only supports Airplay audio. Seem to be unable to grab version 2.1 which supports Airplay video.
What's weird is that a search shows version 2.1 dated 9/17/2013, but "buying" it downloads version 1.4.3. Must be something weird going on with Apple's servers?
(This is on both and iPad 3 and iPhone 4S with the latest iOS 6 (6.1.3)).
I can only get version 1.4.3 from the app store, which only supports Airplay audio. Seem to be unable to grab version 2.1 which supports Airplay video.
What's weird is that a search shows version 2.1 dated 9/17/2013, but "buying" it downloads version 1.4.3. Must be something weird going on with Apple's servers?
(This is on both and iPad 3 and iPhone 4S with the latest iOS 6 (6.1.3)).
So I just tested this out. Not crazy about their implementation:
1) The AirPlay stops if you switch to a different app or turn off the phone display. Worried this will be a battery hog. See Plex for how to do AirPlay right.
2) The picture quality sucks. Like VHS quality. Well, it starts off sucking really badly, and then after a minute or two it seems to sharpen up, but it sometimes goes back to sucking again, and even at its best, it's a far cry from iTunes store HD. I'm not sure if the quality is worse over AirPlay, or if it sucks just as bad when watching it on the iOS device itself. I used an iPhone 5 and I think it looks pretty bad on the iPhone display as well.
I suspect that this will be "better than nothing" for the occasional show I may want to watch that Amazon Instant is giving me for free (I'm a Prime member), but I certainly wouldn't want to watch an HD action movie with it. YMMV. If you have a small TV, then you may think the quality is fine.
1) The AirPlay stops if you switch to a different app or turn off the phone display. Worried this will be a battery hog. See Plex for how to do AirPlay right.
2) The picture quality sucks. Like VHS quality. Well, it starts off sucking really badly, and then after a minute or two it seems to sharpen up, but it sometimes goes back to sucking again, and even at its best, it's a far cry from iTunes store HD. I'm not sure if the quality is worse over AirPlay, or if it sucks just as bad when watching it on the iOS device itself. I used an iPhone 5 and I think it looks pretty bad on the iPhone display as well.
I suspect that this will be "better than nothing" for the occasional show I may want to watch that Amazon Instant is giving me for free (I'm a Prime member), but I certainly wouldn't want to watch an HD action movie with it. YMMV. If you have a small TV, then you may think the quality is fine.
Wait for iOS 7, as apps that could run in the background may behave differently and do what you are expecting them to do.
Still only audio?
For anyone only hearing audio:
I originally thought it wasn't working since the Apple TV displayed the error message about the app not supporting Airplay Mirroring. But is does work... I just needed to press the Airplay button in the app itself. It's not enough just to have Airplay Mirroring turned on for the full iPad. Actually I first needed to direct Airplay to the iPad itself and then a 2nd time to the Apple TV, then it worked.
For anyone only hearing audio:
I originally thought it wasn't working since the Apple TV displayed the error message about the app not supporting Airplay Mirroring. But is does work... I just needed to press the Airplay button in the app itself. It's not enough just to have Airplay Mirroring turned on for the full iPad. Actually I first needed to direct Airplay to the iPad itself and then a 2nd time to the Apple TV, then it worked.
Last edited:
I'm happy to see AirPlay support for Amazon finally. I haven't tried it yet though. I hope this is a stepping stone to getting Amazon on the Apple TV - maybe even today.
Same here... I've used prime for years and knew of the streaming option but never really used it. I noticed they have a pretty diverse selection but a lot of titles are missing subtitles/captions which I need because of hearing loss and Netflix provides them on most titles.
I upgraded to iOS7 last night, and just tried the Amazon app again. No such luck. When I left the app, the video did continue to play for a few seconds (which seemed a little different than the other day), but then it still stopped. Picture quality still stunk, too.
Try removing the app, restarting your phone (power off and power on).
Then install again. If this doesn't work, then I'm afraid you may need to wait until an update is released.
so, if I wanted to download an HD movie from Amazon via iOS (iPhone or iPad), and AirPlay to my Apple TV will I get 1080p? Will it play DD5.1 or DD+ 5.1?
What about via blu-ray player? My BD player will play HDX DD+ ultraviolet videos via VUDU, and has an Amazon video player, will this be the better way to go?
...some things not on blu-ray are also not available in iTunes HD, but, some are available on Amazon. Not wanting SD quality, so if this is not going to give me same HD quality as iTunes, might as well buy the DVD...DVD upscaling (play in my BD player) usually looks better than SD downloads (plus DVD might have extras).
If only Apple would allow an Amazon Apple TV channel. ...They could make iTunes available to Roku, etc.
What about via blu-ray player? My BD player will play HDX DD+ ultraviolet videos via VUDU, and has an Amazon video player, will this be the better way to go?
...some things not on blu-ray are also not available in iTunes HD, but, some are available on Amazon. Not wanting SD quality, so if this is not going to give me same HD quality as iTunes, might as well buy the DVD...DVD upscaling (play in my BD player) usually looks better than SD downloads (plus DVD might have extras).
If only Apple would allow an Amazon Apple TV channel. ...They could make iTunes available to Roku, etc.
Awesome! I know why Amazon disabled AirPlay functionality, but it always seemed like a futile move. I'm sure it partly has to do with the absolute dismal sales of the Fire tablets. Amazon would be better served to make their content ubiquitous and just sell their devices as a secondary matter.