Author: Cameron Summerson / Source: How-To Geek
After years of feuding, Google and Amazon have finally made up. As a direct result, YouTube is coming (back) to Fire TV, and Prime Video is getting support for Chromecast and Android TV. Finally.
This change comes some 16 months after Google first pulled YouTube from Amazon’s Fire TV platform, which was an aggressive response to Amazon’s decision to stop selling Google’s Chromecast.
The whole thing was petty and generally a lose-lose for consumers.This week’s change, however, makes things “right” again. Google, in a joint announcement with Amazon, said that YouTube would be making a triumphant return to Fire TV “in the coming months.” In that same announcement, Amazon said that Prime members would get access to Prime Video on Chromecast and Android TV devices…also “in the coming months.”
What’s more, Google added that it would also be bringing YouTube Kids to Fire TV devices. But that’s the scope of it for now: Fire TV devices. There’s no word of YouTube coming to other Fire devices—like Amazon’s affordable and highly popular Fire Tablets. That’s a real shame because the Fire Kids Edition tablets remain some of the best devices available for children, and the addition of YouTube Kids would be a boon for parents. Maybe we’ll see that happen eventually—baby steps, I guess.
It’s also worth noting that this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Prime Video on an Android TV device—NVIDIA’s SHIELD TV exclusively got access to the Prime Video app over two years ago. It was the first Android TV device to get access to Amazon’s streaming platform. The app has also been available on Android devices for a while, albeit without the ability to cast.
But either way, the exclusivity period is over across the board now. Well, it will be in the coming…
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