Amazon Prime Video on Demand on Android TV Devices

[will.blaschko]

Admin note: by the request of Amazon, we have removed the attached files. Please refrain from reposting. Thread closed.

 

[will.blaschko]

Full write up on the project here:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/prime-video-launcher-android-tv-solution-will-blaschko-ma

Screenshots:

 

[nobo2k]

Hey there,

thank you very much for the great work!
Unfortunately it does not work for me - but this must be an issue with having a German Amazon Prime Account ?
Do you think you can enable settings to also include other countries for it?

Also different issue:
I now tried to use the amazon video application and browsed the shop via RF mouse and keyboard... but whenever I select a movie to play I always get the error: Amazon Video has stopped. So it crashes on me

 

[gottahavit]

Nice work, works fine here. Unfortunately no HD, or UHD. Fortunately I have 4k amazon on my TV but would love to have on the shield. Amazon needs to stop making money selling android and then hosing all other android devices. They are only hurting their customers. I have prime, let me watch it where I want. I tried a 4k firetv, it was garbage for everything but amazon video. This is why content vendors should not play in the hardware market... they get confused

anyway, nice work. App works great.

 

[will.blaschko]

Hey there,

thank you very much for the great work!
Unfortunately it does not work for me - but this must be an issue with having a German Amazon Prime Account ?
Do you think you can enable settings to also include other countries for it?

Also different issue:
I now tried to use the amazon video application and browsed the shop via RF mouse and keyboard... but whenever I select a movie to play I always get the error: Amazon Video has stopped. So it crashes on me

@nobo2k I'll see if I can add German support to it, I'll check how the api I used handles Amazon.de. I'll have to add settings in the launcher app too. I'll try to add all the locations Amazon supports, but it might take a few days. I'll ping you with the update

 

[will.blaschko]

Nice work, works fine here. Unfortunately no HD, or UHD. Fortunately I have 4k amazon on my TV but would love to have on the shield. Amazon needs to stop making money selling android and then hosing all other android devices. They are only hurting their customers. I have prime, let me watch it where I want. I tried a 4k firetv, it was garbage for everything but amazon video. This is why content vendors should not play in the hardware market... they get confused

anyway, nice work. App works great.

There are settings pages the Amazon VOD app manifest exposes that allow you to change streaming settings for video and audio (but I think it maxes at 1080p high quality). When I'm adding international support I'll try to expose direct access to those settings as well .

 

[earl.grey]

It would be great If you add german amazon prime video. I would be eternally thankful. Will check this thread regular ! Thanks man

 

[will.blaschko]

It would be great If you add german amazon prime video. I would be eternally thankful. Will check this thread regular ! Thanks man

@earl.grey & @nobo2k the new APK should have support for Amazon Prime Germany, in theory. The intents and data seem to be working correctly, but I don't have a German Prime account to test video playback with. Let me know if this works for you, if not, we'll figure something out.
@gottahavit I've exposed the video settings page of the Amazon VoD app, it's possible to change the settings to "Best," but I think that's still just 1080p high quality. I think it looks better than the default settings. The link is below all the video feeds in the "Settings" section.

 

[DaveTheRave]

Keep up the amazing work

Awesome job, Will! You're definitely on the right track with this app, I read your full write up and I was surprised how far you've come in such a short amount of time!

That said, there's a few limitations to the current app and it would be nice to get an issue tracker going for this project (assuming you want to keep developing it!)
For example, there seems to be a considerable amount of Prime Video content missing, as the search seems to be limited to only the content displayed on the launch screen. It would be nice to expand upon this

Also I was curious to know why you recommend using the 2.0.45 version of Amazon VOD app instead of the latest 3.0.63 and version 5.4.3 of Amazon Shopping instead of 6.1.4.
If I had to guess I'm assuming only the older versions allow you to build an app like this but I'm wondering if there's any tradeoffs (aka newer versions support better video quality, more titles, etc)

Thanks again for the hard work!

 

[xaudiblex]

You have done an amazing job on this app! By any chance, can you get close captions to work?
I figured it out. You just have to enable it for one video in the original app, and it enables it for all other videos.

Also, would it be possible to add purchased videos to view in this app?

Thanks again!

 

[sidamos77]

Thanks for the cool idea and the effort. Unfortunately, it does not work yet for me (Amazon Germany, NVIDIA Shield TV).

The 1.1 version gets rid of the "wrong account" error message. But Instant Video crashes when trying to play a video. This also happened with some of my own tries of various Amazon Video versions (without your launcher). This may have to do with the Shield TV.

In the settings, I can only choose the quality for mobile or to use WiFi only. Also, the quality of the "SD download". It's essentially the same as on my tablet. I don't know, if this will be 1080p.

After choosing a better quality, it does not crash anymore on playback, but just does nothing.

Also, it would be nice to see my own watchlist in your launcher.

Another idea: Maybe using the official Android TV version (for Sony TVs) would be a better foundation?

Thanks!

 

[will.blaschko]

I'm taking a few days' vacation starting today. Please keep adding issues as you find them and I'll do my best to address what I can when I get back.

I used those versions of the player and store because that's what I had on hand, if someone wants to experiment with newer versions to see if they work better, please do and let me know. It should just be the VOD app, the store shouldn't matter.

I'll see if the Sony TV app has the same intents available, but it's less likely.

I can't add personalized content as is, because I'm not actually accessing your account. I could open the search function to everything however, not just free content.

I'll keep experimenting when I get back . Would love suggestions.

 

[Orbiting234]

Also I was curious to know why you recommend using the 2.0.45 version of Amazon VOD app instead of the latest 3.0.63 and version 5.4.3 of Amazon Shopping instead of 6.1.4.

Ha ha ha, was about to ask the very same thing!

Anyways, to will.blaschko: many many thanks for the work you've done already. Always annoyed me not being able to play AIV on Android TV devices. Those few days over the summer where the app from Sony TVs worked spoiled me.

 

[Santeno]

Installing the Prime Video Launcher...

I'm getting a parsing error when I try to install the APK. Any advice?

 

[dontevenwanttobehere]

works fantastically for me. beer incoming.

 

[sidamos77]

Amazon Germany, NVIDIA Shield TV.

Sometimes it plays, most of the time it does silently not (same video). When it does not, I see this exception in logcat:

V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990): CRASH HAS OCCURRED
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990): java.lang.RuntimeException: java.lang.NullPointerException: The view cannot be found by given id: audiotrack_language_list
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at com.amazon.avod.events.proxy.EventInvocation.doInvoke(EventInvocation.java:68)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at com.amazon.avod.events.proxy.EventInvocation.access$000(EventInvocation.java:17)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at com.amazon.avod.events.proxy.EventInvocation$1.run(EventInvocation.java:44)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:742)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:97)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:135)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5314)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:372)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:903)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:698)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990): Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: The view cannot be found by given id: audiotrack_language_list
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at com.amazon.avod.util.ViewUtils.findViewById(ViewUtils.java:196)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at com.amazon.avod.playbackclient.audiotrack.views.DefaultAudioTrackMenuPresenter.initialize(DefaultAudioTrackMenuPresenter.java:62)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at com.amazon.avod.playbackclient.audiotrack.views.AudioTrackMenuController.onPlaybackStart(AudioTrackMenuController.java:161)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at com.amazon.avod.playbackclient.audiotrack.PlaybackAudioTrackFeature.onPlaybackStart(PlaybackAudioTrackFeature.java:162)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at com.amazon.avod.playbackclient.audiotrack.PlaybackAudioTrackFeature.access$000(PlaybackAudioTrackFeature.java:61)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at com.amazon.avod.playbackclient.audiotrack.PlaybackAudioTrackFeature$1.onStart(PlaybackAudioTrackFeature.java:310)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at com.amazon.avod.playbackclient.listeners.PlaybackStateEventListenerProxy.onStart(PlaybackStateEventListenerProxy.java:22)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:372)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  at com.amazon.avod.events.proxy.EventInvocation.doInvoke(EventInvocation.java:59)
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990):  ... 10 more
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990): Collecting details and saving to disk
V/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990): =========================
I/com.amazon.device.crashmanager.AppFileArtifactSource( 3990): Saving crash report to file: /data/data/com.amazon.avod.thirdpartyclient/files/crashlog.v2.amzcl6fcc53ca881e351f433a43a45b7fda737e278df5
E/AndroidRuntime( 3990): Process: com.amazon.avod.thirdpartyclient, PID: 3990
E/AndroidRuntime( 3990):        at com.amazon.avod.events.proxy.EventInvocation.doInvoke(EventInvocation.java:68)
E/AndroidRuntime( 3990):        at com.amazon.avod.events.proxy.EventInvocation.access$000(EventInvocation.java:17)
E/AndroidRuntime( 3990):        at com.amazon.avod.events.proxy.EventInvocation$1.run(EventInvocation.java:44)
E/AndroidRuntime( 3990):        at com.amazon.avod.util.ViewUtils.findViewById(ViewUtils.java:196)
E/AndroidRuntime( 3990):        at com.amazon.avod.playbackclient.audiotrack.views.DefaultAudioTrackMenuPresenter.initialize(DefaultAudioTrackMenuPresenter.java:62)
E/AndroidRuntime( 3990):        at com.amazon.avod.playbackclient.audiotrack.views.AudioTrackMenuController.onPlaybackStart(AudioTrackMenuController.java:161)
E/AndroidRuntime( 3990):        at com.amazon.avod.playbackclient.audiotrack.PlaybackAudioTrackFeature.onPlaybackStart(PlaybackAudioTrackFeature.java:162)
E/AndroidRuntime( 3990):        at com.amazon.avod.playbackclient.audiotrack.PlaybackAudioTrackFeature.access$000(PlaybackAudioTrackFeature.java:61)
E/AndroidRuntime( 3990):        at com.amazon.avod.playbackclient.audiotrack.PlaybackAudioTrackFeature$1.onStart(PlaybackAudioTrackFeature.java:310)
E/AndroidRuntime( 3990):        at com.amazon.avod.playbackclient.listeners.PlaybackStateEventListenerProxy.onStart(PlaybackStateEventListenerProxy.java:22)
E/AndroidRuntime( 3990):        at com.amazon.avod.events.proxy.EventInvocation.doInvoke(EventInvocation.java:59)

I do not get the "Instant Video has crashed" message box anymore, not even after deleting data of all 3 apps.

One more thing:
When I enter Instant Video Settings the first time, I do not see the audio language setting, only 2 settings for video quality.
When I enter Instant Video Settings the second tine, I see audio language setting and it is set to german. When I open it and set it to english, I cannot set it back to german. I have to delete the data of the launcher.

 

[ludanatic]

Thanks for the cool idea and the effort. Unfortunately, it does not work yet for me (Amazon Germany, NVIDIA Shield TV).

The 1.1 version gets rid of the "wrong account" error message. But Instant Video crashes when trying to play a video. This also happened with some of my own tries of various Amazon Video versions (without your launcher). This may have to do with the Shield TV.

In the settings, I can only choose the quality for mobile or to use WiFi only. Also, the quality of the "SD download". It's essentially the same as on my tablet. I don't know, if this will be 1080p.

After choosing a better quality, it does not crash anymore on playback, but just does nothing.

Also, it would be nice to see my own watchlist in your launcher.

Another idea: Maybe using the official Android TV version (for Sony TVs) would be a better foundation?

Thanks!

Just tried to install the 3 given apks and everything is working as supposed.
I'm from Germany too so i guess the problem must be another in your case.

The only issue i have got so far is, that after i watched a movie i cannot load another one. If thats the case for you too, try to delete the data from the Shop and Instant Video Apps and sign in again

 

[sidamos77]

Yes, correct, it works one time, sometimes with correct language, sometimes not.

Second time, I get the exception above (sometimes with crash message box, sometimes not).

So, it is something with the audio language, I guess.

When I use search to find a show, it seems to find the english version, although I have set locale to Germany in the launcher.

 

[will.blaschko]

I'm getting a parsing error when I try to install the APK. Any advice?

Sounds like you might have had a download error. I'd try to download the apk again and see if it works.

 

[will.blaschko]

Yes, correct, it works one time, sometimes with correct language, sometimes not.

Second time, I get the exception above (sometimes with crash message box, sometimes not).

So, it is something with the audio language, I guess.

When I use search to find a show, it seems to find the english version, although I have set locale to Germany in the launcher.

If you wanted to try a few other VOD versions from APK mirror, maybe it's an issue with the old APK not working with the current server settings for certain videos.

If not, I'll see which is the most recent that works when I get back. The marshmallow APK didn't work, I found. It crashed every time I launched. The one posted is the only other one I tried.