Upcoming Amazon Prime Video App for Apple TV May Not Be Ready for September Launch

[DNichter]

Apple better budge, I won't buy an ATV until there is a native Amazon app available

Looks like they'll be short one purchase, I'm sure they'll manage.

 

[afd]

I'm still annoyed at Apple for not giving the ATV enough attention. It's a complete missed opportunity. Content providers and games developers should have been making apps since the ATV 2, it should have been as popular as all the other i devices, instead hardly anyone knows it even exists. Apple has done nothing to promote it over the years, I can't remember ever seeing a print or TV advert.
Someone at apple must really hate it.

 

[noobinator]

They've only had like 5+ years to work on it. What do you expect?

 

[garylapointe]

I think they're moving slowly in the background. 4K will be a nice add on.

The TV app is integrating other apps pretty seamlessly. I think any app that doesn't work with this will be left behind.

They're working on Apple Music having video (which they'll eventually figure out) and it'll be a lead into their TV Streaming service.

 

[tpham5919]

Can't blame them though. They've always been consistent about ATV being not of a hobby than a serious product and it shows.

 

[anthonymoody]

It has to be ready by September 28. That's the first NFL game on Amazon, and Amazon is not going to give away potential ad revenue.

Interesting thought. With the show on Sept 12 though, it's possible that the ATV won't ship immediately or soon enough to land in your home by then.

 

[2IS]

My initial reaction was that this news sucks... Until I realized I don't actually use my ATV

 

[Braderunner]

It's probably not at the top of Amazon's list of priorities. I mean...to make their service work on a competitor's hardware.
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Interesting thought. With the show on Sept 12 though, it's possible that the ATV won't ship immediately or soon enough to land in your home by then.

The Amazon app will work on the current version of the Apple TV.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Again? WTF?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I don't understand why Amazon is being sluggish with this. Sure, they sell their own streaming media hardware, but it's so cheap it's doubtful they make a profit on it. The profit is in Prime subscriptions, and an ATV4 owner with Prime video available is a lot more likely to subscribe to Prime than one without.

Hint: there's TWO parties trying to finalize a deal.

You are right. There's profit for Amazon in getting Prime distributed to as many as possible. Apparently there are up to 18 million TV owners. So step back a bit and think about why they would avoid all that profit they could make. They certainly want the money, so it's not some kind of spite. They can't really hurt the mighty Apple by delaying a little longer. They don't want to disappoint us Prime consumers by holding this back. It's ridiculous that some of us are trying to spin this as a competence issue. So what else could be going on here?

In almost all this seemingly illogical stuff (just like this), it's almost always about the money. So think about the money and you'll probably come to realize an answer other than Amazon is a villain, Amazon is incompetent, Amazon is greedy, Amazon hates it's Prime customers, Amazon doesn't want up to millions of TV owner's money, Amazon wants us to ("then I'll just") pirate their content, etc.

 

[lsutigerfan1976]

Meh. My tv has Amazon. And I still have a fire stick laying around if I need it.

 

[Cigsm]

If Amazon wants access to Apples billion + user base, they'd be wise to do it.

Does Apple have their apps on any of the above mentioned devices? One way street with Apple the company and to add insult, Apple fans demand that Amazon have all their apps and data on Appple devices. One of the reasons Amazon is pushing back, no reciprical from Apple. Amazon gives and Appple takes one way street. When there is a business upside for Amazon and others, they will then have an Apple TV app.

 

[rjohnstone]

It's always been about the money, not the app.
Amazon doesn't want to give apple a piece of the subscription revenue.
Amazon Prime subscriptions are more than just video, so giving Apple a 30% cut is not an option.
They're probably still haggling that part out.

 

[tpham5919]

It's always been about the money, not the app.
Amazon doesn't want to give apple a piece of the subscription revenue.
Amazon Prime subscriptions are more than just video, so giving Apple a 30% cut is not an option.
They're probably still haggling that part out.

That's true. It's a substantial chunk of income that Amazon doesn't wanna give up without exhausting all of their negotiation tactics.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

It's always been about the money, not the app.
Amazon doesn't want to give apple a piece of the subscription revenue.
Amazon Prime subscriptions are more than just video, so giving Apple a 30% cut is not an option.
They're probably still haggling that part out.

Or maybe Amazon wants the same special deal Apple gave Netflix, instead of giving away 30% right off the top. And maybe Apple is resisting offering the same special deal to Amazon. The other guy is not always the villain in these matters. Apple is not the "most profitable company in the world" for nothing. And it's Apple that is striving to become the first trillion dollar company in the world. I completely doubt that Amazon is demanding zero financial benefit for Apple (they are available on various other competitions hardware and I doubt those other guys make nothing from those deals). But I find it much easier to imagine Amazon wanting as good a deal from Apple as Apple gave another major player.

 

[cmwade77]

It'll be ready for the event.

I don't imagine Amazon squandering an opportunity for the huge press coverage caused by the iPhone 8 announcement.

Who ever said that Amazon is the one holding up the works here? I would imagine Apple is trying to make it as hard as possible for them to get on to Apple TV.

 

[bigjohn]

when it launches i expect real-time video shopping at my local Whole Foods with same-hour delivery

 

[and 1989 others]

Looking at my media set up, xbox 1, PS4, Apple TV 3, chromcast, it really isn't a problem, there are more than enough options to get amazon video on your screen. I used to think everything should be streamlined and available through one provider, but life isn't like that, get tools for what you need, even if it means having 5 or 6.

 

[truthertech]

It's a video streaming app on a device specifically designed for streaming videos. "Not ready," my ass.

One of these two conglomerations is trying to play hardball and as usual, the customer loses out.

It's been Amazon all along that decided not to have a Prime app, not Apple.

 

[rjohnstone]

Or maybe Amazon wants the same special deal Apple gave Netflix, instead of giving away 30% right off the top. And maybe Apple is resisting offering the same special deal to Amazon. The other guy is not always the villain in these matters. Apple is not the "most profitable company in the world" for nothing. And it's Apple that is striving to become the first trillion dollar company in the world. I completely doubt that Amazon is demanding zero financial benefit for Apple (they are available on various other competitions hardware and I doubt those other guys make nothing from those deals). But I find it much easier to imagine Amazon wanting as good a deal from Apple as Apple gave another major player.

Oh I'm sure Amazon knows they have to give Apple something, it's just a matter of how much.
I'm sure "envelopes" are getting pushed back and forth across the proverbial table with demands from both parties.

Remember... Amazon doesn't really need Apple. If they did, they would have made a deal a long time ago.
ATV is still a small market compared to all the other devices out there.
Amazon video is already on almost every other major streaming device and built into many smart TVs and Blu Ray players.
They know customers would like to see them on ATV, but those terms need to be profitable for Amazon.

 

[nsayer]

The thing that really irks me about the Apple TV is that Comcast is not playing along with SSO.

I get that that's not Apple's fault, but it's not like I have any leverage over Comcast or anything.

Someday, streaming will be the normal and our grandchildren will be astonished that we wasted hundreds of megahertz of UHF spectrum on transmitting video. I doubt I'll be alive to see it unfortunately.

 

[Spankey]

The same was said about the Vudu app days before launch. That app dropped earlier than release date. Right now this seems like click bait.

http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/vudu-apple-tv-app-launch-date-1202528465/

 

[WannaGoMac]

Just get a Roku, it has everything you could ever app you could ever want including Amazon for years now.

 

[Mac 128]

I'm not holding my breath. IIRC, the early reasons we were given for no Amazon Prime Video on ATV4 was lack of WebKit support on tvOS (even Bluetooth keyboards were not supported then!). So Amazon Prime Video wasn't able to go native on tvOS at launch of the ATV4. The workaround was to use AirPlay from another Apple device. That workaround still works perfectly well today for me.

After two years, it is clear someone didn't want Amazon Prime on the ATV4. AirPlay on the same ATV4 allows it to work perfectly well from any other Apple device with AirPlay support, so for me, it's been a non-issue. In addition, I have other streaming devices with Amazon Prime support (PS3, WiiU), and switching the source is as simple as a few button presses on my TV remote. No sweat.

IMHO, the lack of support for Amazon on the AppleTV is nothing short of petty on the part of one or both of these two players, especially since most folks will still be able to watch Amazon Prime when they want to, even indirectly through the ATV4.

Does that mean any Amazon app will not work on the Apple TV 3?

I understand why people are upset about not having Amazon Prime on their ATV, but don't people realize that viewing Amazon Prime on an iPhone or iPad, and then using airplay to the ATV works like a charm? The phone acts as a perfect remote for Amazon. Am I crazy? I know it's not native to ATV but this is such an easy workaround.

Unless Apple decides to support 4K streaming from an iPhone and iPad with this ATV, then that's the problem. No 4K video on a 4K TV.

 

[RickInHouston]

This has nothing to do with being unable to make the app work correctly. It's simply Amazon taking another dig at Apple and being difficult.

Amazon doesn't sell the Apple TV or Google Chromecast because they don't want those products competing with their own Fire TV. They don't sell the Google Home and will not sell the Apple HomePod, again because they don't want them competing with their Alexa. Their entire reason for not offering an Amazon Prime Video app for the Apple TV again was to push people to their own competing device instead.

Sounds like iMessage and FaceTime, no.