Amazon Prime Video on Demand on Android TV Devices

[paratox]

would be nice if we could get HD quality. after some testing all videos look like SD quality.

 

[nobo2k]

would be nice if we could get HD quality. after some testing all videos look like SD quality.

Did you try changing the settings in the menu before starting a stream?

I know from the kodi plugin that amazon limited the streams to SD content for non-amazon apps.
It could be possible that the amazon video checks for the build.prop and also limits the stream to SD if the device is not approved

 

[hawkwind]

When it comes to installing the Prime Video Launcher app i get a parsing error, i have tried downloading it numerous times with the same error.
I can however get videos to play via the VOD APK although everything is in SD and i have tried different settings (best and wifi only)
Thanks for this though, at least i can play prime video now.

 

[earl.grey]

(amazon germany here) im also currently in holiday. will check and give feedback when im back home. lets get AIV working on our shield.

 

[Kovs]

works great on the Shield.

Nexus player on 6.0.1, I cannot get it to work. I get: "unfortunately instant video has stopped"

 

[will.blaschko]

When it comes to installing the Prime Video Launcher app i get a parsing error, i have tried downloading it numerous times with the same error.
I can however get videos to play via the VOD APK although everything is in SD and i have tried different settings (best and wifi only)
Thanks for this though, at least i can play prime video now.

What device are you using and what is the Android version? I'm not sure if the Leanback library (or other library) I'm currently using has a higher minimum SDK than what you're running.

 

[will.blaschko]

works great on the Shield.

Nexus player on 6.0.1, I cannot get it to work. I get: "unfortunately instant video has stopped"

I've added Crashlytics so the next update I post will give me information about the crashes .

 

[will.blaschko]

If anyone wants to try to get past the upgrade screen on the Sony Bravo TV Amazon VoD app, this intent gets you to the player:

String asin = "B00TU9UFTS";
Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setComponent(new ComponentName("com.amazon.aiv.us", "com.amazon.avod.playbackclient.EdPlaybackActivity"));
intent.putExtra("asin", asin);
startActivity(intent);

It still doesn't deal with the auth issues, I just figured I'd share what I have so far (as little as it is).

 

[will.blaschko]

It looks like the newer Amazon VoD apps won't play on the nVidia Shield at all because of the LeftNavSpacer null pointer exception. I'm wading through code to see what the cause is, since we know it works for phones just fine.

-- Update--

I think the cause is the res/layout-sw540dp-television-v13 folder--it has different navigation resources than the mobile app so the elements probably are missing, as expected. Anyone with the tools installed want to decompile, try to copy over the XML file from /res/layout (player_user_controls_layout.xml), compile, and see if you can get the app running on the TV?

 

[xaudiblex]

It looks like the newer Amazon VoD apps won't play on the nVidia Shield at all because of the LeftNavSpacer null pointer exception. I'm wading through code to see what the cause is, since we know it works for phones just fine.

-- Update--

I think the cause is the res/layout-sw540dp-television-v13 folder--it has different navigation resources than the mobile app so the elements probably are missing, as expected. Anyone with the tools installed want to decompile, try to copy over the XML file from /res/layout (player_user_controls_layout.xml), compile, and see if you can get the app running on the TV?

I can give it a try if you can guide me on what to do. I know how to decompile apks & some other basic things.

 

[PeterPan6754]

Thx for the Files
i test it on my shield TV, it works, but only sd content. (amazon germany )

is there some tricks to change ist to HD or UHD ?

 

[hawkwind]

What device are you using and what is the Android version? I'm not sure if the Leanback library (or other library) I'm currently using has a higher minimum SDK than what you're running.

Sorry I should have said it is the zoomtak T8 V2 running android 4.4.2
So far your VOD apk has been the only way to run Amazon prime UK albeit in sd only.
If I then install the update from Amazon then the videos won't load.
I was just about to order a Roku 3 until I saw this thread.

 

[BenjiHansell]

Great app. Works well with Amazon Underground app instead of Amazon Shopping app. The only problem is that there's no way of navigating the video once you're actually watching using the controller. I think a mouse or other pointing device is needed. Works well in the UK. I managed to get through the entire installation process without attaching a mouse to the Shield.
I would say the biggest and simplest improvement that could be made would be the app's icon. Just the Amazon Video logo on a plain background would fit in much better among the other video apps like YouTube and Netflix. Of course you might consider that Amazon owns the trademark so idk.

 

[will.blaschko]

I can give it a try if you can guide me on what to do. I know how to decompile apks & some other basic things.

I started playing around with this last night and, honestly, it seems rather unsustainable. Both the VoD and the Store app would have to be re-signed with the same key. As a one-off this could work, but trying to always have the latest version would be difficult.

I didn't notice much difference between the 3.x and the 2.x apps as far as options for video quality (granted, I wasn't able to play anything with the 3.x). I'm going to give it one more go today and if I can't find a useful solution, I'll probably just suggest that people stick with the 2.x versions for the video player--the Underground app can be whatever version, as we see now.

If Amazon suddenly allowed 4k streaming in 4.x, then it would be worth the effort to make it work. Otherwise my time is probably better spent figuring out how to use Amazon's proper APIs so the full list of playable content is available (not just what JustWatch has).

 

[will.blaschko]

Great app. Works well with Amazon Underground app instead of Amazon Shopping app. The only problem is that there's no way of navigating the video once you're actually watching using the controller. I think a mouse or other pointing device is needed. Works well in the UK. I managed to get through the entire installation process without attaching a mouse to the Shield.
I would say the biggest and simplest improvement that could be made would be the app's icon. Just the Amazon Video logo on a plain background would fit in much better among the other video apps like YouTube and Netflix. Of course you might consider that Amazon owns the trademark so idk.

I agree; I originally had a different logo (much more in line with what you suggested), but I don't want to infringe on trademark. If there are any aspiring designers on the forum, let me know, and I can pass you the specs for the app banner (seen on the Android TV home) and the app logo (see in Settings).

 

[will.blaschko]

I started playing around with this last night and, honestly, it seems rather unsustainable. Both the VoD and the Store app would have to be re-signed with the same key. As a one-off this could work, but trying to always have the latest version would be difficult.

I didn't notice much difference between the 3.x and the 2.x apps as far as options for video quality (granted, I wasn't able to play anything with the 3.x). I'm going to give it one more go today and if I can't find a useful solution, I'll probably just suggest that people stick with the 2.x versions for the video player--the Underground app can be whatever version, as we see now.

If Amazon suddenly allowed 4k streaming in 4.x, then it would be worth the effort to make it work. Otherwise my time is probably better spent figuring out how to use Amazon's proper APIs so the full list of playable content is available (not just what JustWatch has).

So I got 3.x working, one just needs to decompile, change all resource folders with "-television" in them to "-watch" (that way references don't break, it just will only show up for Android Wear), and then recompile. The shortcoming is this new app is not compatible with Underground or any other version of the Amazon store, due to the dissimilar signing keys (which isn't 100% required for watching video, only for browsing) .

The controls for the player still don't work, but the video looks like it might be better quality (1080p?)--I'll post updates here soon for someone with a sharper eye than my own once I fix a few more small issues.

 

[JonDeutsch]

Sadly, this is not working for me on my Nexus Player. When I click on a movie, the orange circle spins for a bit, and then I invariably get the message: "Unfortunately, Instant Video has stopped."
I'm using:
Amazon 5.4.3.200.APK
com.willblaschko.primelauncher.apk
com.amazon.avod.thirdpartyclient.apk

I've seen mention of using amazon underground, but it's not in the official instructions so while I did install it at one point, I uninstalled it. It seems to conflict with 5.4.3.200 store APK.

Any insights?
Thx!
Jon

 

[will.blaschko]

I just updated the instructions as well as added the new 3.x based edited Amazon Instant Video APK.

Summary of the changes:

• Neither Underground nor any other app store is required (this was previously true)
• Option for either the 2.x unedited, or the 3.x edited Instant Video player
• Added Crashlytics for better crash tracking

If you are going to upgrade, I would suggest uninstalling all Amazon apps and installing either one or the other VoD app as well as the new version of the launcher.

 

[will.blaschko]

Sadly, this is not working for me on my Nexus Player. When I click on a movie, the orange circle spins for a bit, and then I invariably get the message: "Unfortunately, Instant Video has stopped."
I'm using:
Amazon 5.4.3.200.APK
com.willblaschko.primelauncher.apk
com.amazon.avod.thirdpartyclient.apk

I've seen mention of using amazon underground, but it's not in the official instructions so while I did install it at one point, I uninstalled it. It seems to conflict with 5.4.3.200 store APK.

Any insights?
Thx!
Jon

Try the new version of the VoD app (edited 3.x) that I just posted, let me know if that works. At some level the inner workings of the Amazon Instant video apps are a black box, so I won't be able to fix everything.

 

[readonly24]

For me it works. Didn't try a lot, but in general it's working. Thanks.