The Amazon Prime Video App is Amazon’s streaming client for watching movies, series, live channels and sports from a Prime Video account. It runs on iOS and Android phones and tablets, Fire tablets, and Windows and macOS computers. On TVs, it runs through smart TVs, streaming media players, games consoles, Blu-ray players and Amazon’s own devices. The app is free to install. Most content requires an Amazon Prime membership or a standalone Prime Video subscription. Viewers pay separately for rentals, purchases and add-on subscriptions.
Included, rented and add-on content
Prime Video mixes several kinds of content in one catalog. Titles covered by a Prime or Prime Video subscription play without extra charge and carry a checkmark icon. Titles marked with a shopping bag must be rented, bought or unlocked through a subscription.
A purchased title appears in My Stuff and is generally available to stream or download. A rental remains in the library for 30 days. Once playback starts, the viewer has at least 48 hours to finish it. The store also offers different playback quality options for the same title and sells pay-per-view live events.
Add-on subscriptions let a viewer pay for other streaming services inside the Amazon Prime Video App instead of installing their separate apps. Their shows then appear alongside the rest of the library, and viewers can cancel each subscription at any time. In the U.S. hundreds of free, ad-supported live channels are open even to customers without Prime.
Live TV and sports
A live TV section gathers streaming channels, live sports and events. Its program guide shows what is on now and what follows. A sports area groups leagues and teams with replays and documentaries. Live events carry advertising, and Prime shows and movies include limited ads unless the member pays for the ad-free option.
Offline downloads
Downloads work in the mobile apps, on Fire tablets and in the Windows and macOS apps. The viewer can save a movie from its detail page. For a series, the viewer can save a whole season or pick individual episodes from the episode list. Viewers cannot send downloaded titles to a TV through Chromecast or AirPlay.
X-Ray and playback tools
X-Ray adds information about what is on screen. Pausing or tapping during playback brings up a panel. It identifies the actors in the current scene, the music playing and trivia about the production. On a TV, the viewer swipes up on the remote to open it.
X-Ray Recaps uses generative AI to write short summaries of a season, an episode or part of one. It matches these summaries to the exact point the viewer has reached so it avoids spoilers. Viewers choose Dialogue Boost from the audio and subtitles menu on supported titles. It isolates speech in the original soundtrack and raises it above music and effects, rather than lifting the whole volume.
Profiles and parental controls
One Prime Video account holds up to six profiles: the main profile plus five adult, teen or Kids profiles. Each keeps its own Watchlist, recommendations and season progress. A Kids profile shows only titles rated 12 and under, filters search results and cannot make purchases.
A Prime Video PIN can lock adult profiles and block profile creation or removal. It can also require approval for purchases and subscriptions and enforce viewing restrictions across the account. Fire TV devices keep their own parental settings on the device itself.
