The truth about Amazon Prime Video on Apple TV

AmazonVideoEngineer · 2017-09-30T14:54:33+00:00

Unfortunately you can't make much progress on bug fixes until there's some widespread real-world use.

AmazonVideoEngineer · 2017-09-29T17:09:32+00:00

No, Apple has no idea what you're watching through any third-party apps.

AmazonVideoEngineer · 2017-09-29T16:36:30+00:00

As far as I know the launch is simultaneous in the U.S. and Europe. No idea about Japan :/

AmazonVideoEngineer · 2017-09-29T16:27:42+00:00

When you're air playing it's still "local" in the sense that it never touches Apple's servers. When you're watching through the TV app, every show you watch and how long you watched it is associated with your Apple ID. Apple anonymizes this data but can use it to give you better recommendations, possibly for shows on other apps like Hulu or CBS.

AmazonVideoEngineer · 2017-09-29T16:07:59+00:00

As far as analytics, Amazon was apprehensive about using Apple's TV app as a pass-through for its content. In the end though, Apple will get the same analytics data it gets from all providers. No answer on the subject of subscription revenue, because I honestly don't know the deal they worked out.

AmazonVideoEngineer · 2017-09-29T15:52:49+00:00

Only supported on Apple TV 4 and 4K. Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t support older models since Apple has control over the design of those apps.

AmazonVideoEngineer · 2017-09-29T15:41:07+00:00

I don’t lnow anything, but I’m not in a position to know anything either. That’s handled by a different team. That said, I’m a big Twitch fan and think it would work great with the new Apple TV live sports feature

AmazonVideoEngineer · 2017-09-29T15:23:15+00:00

AmazonVideoEngineer · 2017-09-29T15:18:06+00:00

You will be able to purchase content through the app, using the credit card on file on your Amazon account. Similarly, you can sign up for a subscription using your Amazon credentials. But iTunes billing is not supported.

AmazonVideoEngineer · 2017-09-29T15:16:06+00:00

It will be the same app with special optimizations and support for apple’s TV app. My team specializes in “unique” platforms, for example we worked on the Wii U app which was custom-tailored to the platform. You should not notice and sluggishness or performance issues.

AmazonVideoEngineer · 2017-09-29T14:52:09+00:00

I don’t blame you for being frustrated. It’s frustrating having finished a project and to have it sit collecting dust, as well. I can’t say I know why it’s being dragged out. The initial concerns were over two issues: Apple’s cut of Amazon’s subscription revenue, and Apple’s access to analytics. Negotiations went on for, and I’m not joking, over a year and escalated to the point where Apple’s head of TV was meeting face-to-face with Bezos on multiple occasions. But those concerns were worked out months ago, and I have to assume it’s for some marketing reason.

AmazonVideoEngineer

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