Amazon and Google announce truce over Prime Video and YouTube
It’s been going on for a couple of years now, but Amazon and Google have finally ended their streaming device squabble. The decision was announced a number of months ago, but it’s today that it all comes to an end.
You should now be able to access YouTube on your Fire TV devices and Prime Video on Chromecast and Android TV devices. There isn’t a YouTube app available for Echo Show devices yet though – but there’s nothing stopping one from coming back around now.
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The announcements were made via both companies in some pretty mild-mannered press releases – but Amazon and Google have been far from friends when it came to this issue in the past.
There’s a bit of a chicken and the egg situation when it comes to Amazon and Google’s streaming stick scuffle – having gone on for a while now. From Prime Video not working on Google devices to YouTube not being permitted on Amazon products, the issue also spilt over onto Amazon’s store.
Amazon refused to sell the Chromecast on its website – preventing the product from directly competing with its own Fire TV streaming offerings.
If you are wondering about your specific device, Amazon says YouTube will now work on Fire TV Stick (2nd Gen), Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Stick Basic Edition, and all Fire TV Edition smart TVs.
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For Prime Video on Google devices, you should now be able to cast Prime Video to all Chromecast devices including TVs with Chromecast built-in. Some Android TVs like the Nvidia Shield were already able to use Prime Video – but it should be available to them all.
An omission from both statements is the Google Nest Hub and Google Nest Hub Max. At the moment, apps like Netflix aren’t even viewable on the Google devices – so the absence of Prime Video isn’t too surprising.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.