Amazon Prime Video For Apple TV With Universal Search Feature Rolls Out

The Amazon Prime Video app is finally available for download to Apple TV users. The release of the app comes just a day after solid proof of its imminent launch surfaced online.

On Wednesday, the Amazon Prime Video app went live on the Apple TV App Store to the delight of fans and subscribers of Amazon’s internet video on demand service. This means Apple TV users can now access the service by looking for Amazon Prime Video on their device’s App Store, launching the app and signing in to their Amazon account for instant streaming.

9to5Mac reports that the Amazon Prime Video app does not show up in Apple TV Search at present, but it is expected to do so when the rollout is completed. To find the app, users for now must search for “Amazon” in the tvOS App Store. Then, they should click on Amazon Shopping and locate the Prime Video app in the “More By This Developer” section.

Previously, Apple TV owners relied on a wireless AirPlay connection to play Prime Video content on their Apple TV device. By having its own tvOS app, users will no longer need AirPlay. The Prime Video app is, unfortunately, only compatible with the 3rd-generation Apple TV and newer models. It’s also important to note that the app comes with support for Apple TV’s Universal Search feature, so the TV shows and movies that users searched for will show up on the Apple TV interface.

It’s no secret that Apple and Amazon have had a rocky relationship, so it was a bit of a surprise when the Cupertino giant announced in June at WWDC that Prime Video is coming to its Apple TV digital media player. At the time, Apple teased that the tvOS app is slated for a summer 2017 release. Summer came, but the app was nowhere to be found. Apple then issued an update saying the app’s release was moved to September, but that didn’t happen as well. No release date was since mentioned by Apple.

But just yesterday, a strong indication that Prime Video for Apple TV is finally coming emerged in Apple’s App Store. Spanish blog Applesfera spotted the Prime Video app in the iOS App Store with promotional text written by App Store editors. The listing has since been removed from the iOS App Store, but the blog managed to take a screenshot of the promotional text that says, “Watch some of the hottest entertainment around with Amazon Prime Video on Apple TV.”

Despite the competition between Apple and Amazon, it’s easy to see why the two agreed for the Prime Video app to finally become available for the Apple TV. Amazon is apparently looking to increase its viewing audience because rival Netflix is ramping up its efforts to bring more original content to its subscribers. As for Apple, this could open the doors for Amazon to once again start selling the Apple TV on its store, as pointed out by The Verge.

Amazon refused to sell the Apple TV on its store since 2015 because the streaming TV box did not have support for the Prime Video app. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos addressed this issue at Code Conference 2016 when he said, “We want our player, our Prime Video player, to be on the device, and we want it to be on the device with acceptable business terms. And if you can’t, then we don't want to sell it to our customers, because they’re going to be buying it thinking they can watch Prime Video and then they’re going to be disappointed. And they’re going to return it.”