By Dan Moren
November 30, 2015 9:07 AM PT
Report: Amazon Video inbound for Apple TV
Note: This story has not been updated for several years.
Speaking of Amazon, it seems like the company will in fact be bringing its video-streaming app to tvOS, if this tweet by developer Dan Bostonweeks is any indication:
I sent feedback to Amazon via the Amazon Instant Video iOS app about supporting tvOS. They say it’s in development. pic.twitter.com/52fYUgtgNs
— Dan Bostonweeks (@danimal) November 28, 2015
At this point, access to the Amazon video library is the only reason I still have my Fire TV plugged in, and based on this it probably won’t be there much longer.1 As I wrote earlier this fall, when Amazon pulled competing streaming devices from its shelves, it makes sense for Amazon, as a company that sells content, to be on as many platforms as possible. By having an app on the Apple TV, Amazon not only increases the value for those customers shelling out for Prime memberships, but potentially also—if they allow playback of purchased titles, as they do on the iOS app—position themselves as a viable (if not particularly convenient) competitor to the iTunes Store.2
End of the day, it lets Amazon address more potential customers, which is what it should be focusing on. Most of these people probably weren’t going to buy Fire TVs anyway—they’d have just continued watching on their iOS devices and computers, or AirPlaying to their Apple TVs.
[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His latest novel, the supernatural detective story All Souls Lost, is out now.]
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