A few months back, Google and Amazon made the exciting announcement that their feud would be ending and that they would offer video services on each other’s streaming platforms. Apparently, those apps are arriving today, with YouTube for Fire TV making its return, along with Chromecast and Android TV compatibility for Amazon Prime Video.
An official YouTube app is arriving for Fire TV starting today. This marks the return of Google’s official support for the platform following its removal in January 2018 as part of a spat between the two companies. Notably, the app still isn’t available for the Amazon Echo Show. Amazon also clarified that YouTube TV and YouTube Kids will be launching “in the coming months.”
Amazon further explains that this new YouTube app on Fire TV also works with Alexa. Commands such as “Alexa, watch music videos on YouTube” or “Alexa, find makeup tutorials” will search the video service. One Amazon employee explains that “you can also use your voice to play, pause, resume, fast-forward and rewind, or even ask to go to the next video.”
Starting today, the official YouTube app on Amazon Fire TV is available worldwide on Fire TV Stick (2nd Gen), Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Stick Basic Edition, and Toshiba, Insignia, Element, and Westinghouse Fire TV Edition smart TVs.
Beyond YouTube’s arrival on Amazon’s platform, Prime Video is also making its debut on Android TV and Chromecast. While the former has had access on some hardware for some time, the platform as a whole has lacked access to Amazon’s growing service. Chromecast, on the other hand, never had official access to the service.
We can expect Prime Video to debut on Chromecast and Android TV today. Just a few hours after it was announced, the functionality is already rolling out via the Prime Video Android app.
Chromecast and Chromecast built-in users have access to over 2,000 apps for content and games, and starting today, you can cast content straight from the Prime Video app to your TV. You’ll need the latest Prime Video app and Android 5.0 or higher or iOS 10.1 or higher on your phone or tablet to receive the update.
In addition to the select Android TV devices that currently have Prime Video, many more Android TV smart TVs, set-top boxes and streaming devices will also soon have Prime Video, with rollout starting today.
Chromecast is already rolling out to Prime Video app on Android https://t.co/dnf3ph0Otq pic.twitter.com/jIIQ3TapLn
— Ben Schoon (@NexusBen) July 9, 2019
More on Chromecast:
- Amazon Prime Video is coming to Chromecast and Android TV, YouTube will head to Fire TV
- Disney+ will apparently support Google Chromecast and Android TV
- Android TV & Chromecast growth in the US remains stagnant as Roku grows rapidly
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