Prime Video is one of the best streaming services you can subscribe to, but its dedicated app for Apple TV has always felt a little perfunctory: functional, but without any real thought about the platform it's on.
That’s set to change with a major patch rolling out right now that will bring some significant improvements to Prime Video subscribers using the Apple TV platform.
The update is available for the app on all versions of Apple TV — from the original Apple TV HD up to the 2022 refresh of Apple TV 4K — and Amazon highlights six improvements that users can look out for.
First up, there’s faster scrolling. This takes full advantage of the Siri remote, with owners able to use a swipe in any direction to scroll through all the shows and movies on offer. This also extends to new touchpad gestures, which “make fast forwarding and rewinding a breeze”, Amazon says. “Customers can now simply swipe to their desired playback point,” the company explains.
The next one is a big improvement, and non-Apple TV users may be surprised to learn it wasn’t a feature before. The in-app search function will now automatically populate search results as you type each letter, making finding what you’re looking for significantly easier. You can also use voice dictation to quickly find results, if you want something faster.
The in-app search function will now automatically populate search results as you type each letter, making finding what you’re looking for significantly easier.
It’ll look a lot more polished too. The app will now use “higher resolution images” throughout, and you’ll find added sound effects when swiping through content. Amazon says “features like parallax effect for added visual depth” have also been added, meaning you can expect background images to move at a different speed to the tiles in front of them.
Finally, there are some very welcome improvements to accessibility. Amazon says the updated app adds “Apple’s best-in-class suite of accessibility features”, so you can expect VoiceOver, Hover Text and Bold Text to help those with visual impairment.
A string of solid improvements
As I wrote on our sister site LivingEtc a few years ago, though Apple TV is the definition of a luxury purchase in an age where it’s nigh-on impossible to buy a television that isn’t laden with smart features, it is one that I’m hugely fond of.
While my 65-inch LG OLED TV has a brilliant picture, the built-in apps are sluggish and with occasionally blurry image quality in fast-paced scenes. The iPhone-class chipset of Apple TV is undoubtedly overkill, but it doesn’t half make for a smooth experience, and because it shares the DNA of iOS within, app updates are speedy too.
Plus, it means I can turn off WiFi on my TV to prevent recommended content and other sneaky ads slipping through.
As well as having a better range of apps than most other places (you don’t get National Theatre at Home on webOS, I can tell you), the experience is a bit nicer in most of them too — which is why Amazon’s Prime Video experience felt oddly dated in comparison. With these improvements, I’m looking forward to enjoying Amazon shows with the polish I’ve come to expect elsewhere on the Apple TV platform.
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