Amazon redesigns Prime Video UI: new features, live TV hub

Tv / July 19, 2022 / Admin / 0

For many Prime Video users, it will be like a breath of fresh air: Amazon is rolling out a major overhaul to the streaming service’s interface, with a modern look and feel, dynamic visuals, a new live TV hub direct, improved search and more.

The upgrade, which will start rolling out this week, is the biggest change to the streaming service in nearly a decade. The new design promises to make it easier to find and watch content on Prime Video. It also aims to solve what has frustrated Prime Video members for years: being able to quickly and easily determine what programming is included as part of a subscription service – and what is available for purchase.

Prime Video’s improved user interface incorporates new visual cues to clearly indicate which videos are included for you (denoted by a blue check mark icon) and which are available to rent, purchase, or subscribe to (signified by a golden color, shopping-bag icon). And near the top of the home screen in the My Subscriptions row, you can now access all the videos included in your Prime subscription – with just one click.

“We certainly wanted customers to understand the breadth of content available to them, with a clear entry, and to be able to know which titles cost more,” said Helena Cerna, Global Director of Product Management for Prime Video.

Amazon has been developing the new user interface for about 18 months. The new Prime Video interface is launching starting this week on connected TV devices such as Fire TV, Roku devices, Apple TV 4K boxes and the Android app, and it will be rolling out to all Prime Video customers in the world throughout the summer. After that, Amazon will bring the new user interface to Apple’s iOS devices and its website.

Prime Video’s new live TV screen

The overall goal, according to Amazon, was to improve Prime Video’s user interface to highlight the wide selection of content on the service and make it easier for customers to find the content they love. “We wanted to make the experience more cinematic,” Cerna said.

The interface is less cluttered than the previous Prime Video UI. It has a simplified main navigation menu which, on connected TV devices, has been moved to the left side of the screen. The app will launch with six main pages: Home, Store, Search, Live TV, Free with Ads (pointing to content on Amazon’s Freevee), and My Stuff. Customers will also have sub-browse options to more easily navigate by content or offer type; for example, “Movies” or “TV Shows” or “Sports” on Home and “Channels” or “Rent or Buy” on Store.

The new Prime Video app comes with new carousels that play video previews when you navigate to that part of the screen. The UI features a “super carousel” with larger poster-style artwork, to show off featured titles.

Prime Video’s “Super Carousel”

The new Live TV page functions as a hub for streaming stations, including live sports and events, listed in a cable-like program guide showing everything currently on the air and coming soon. And Amazon is adding a new “Sports” sub-menu – just in time for Prime Video’s exclusive streaming of the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” starting this fall. The sports section will also highlight content available with your Prime subscription and through subscriptions such as Paramount+ or MLB.TV, and allow you to follow content by league and individual teams.

In addition, the new user interface has a redesigned “Search” function to simplify searching. Now you have the option to search for a specific title or explore different genres and collections. Search suggestions are displayed live as you type, and you can easily filter results by genre or format (e.g. 4K UHD). The search results also pick up the new visual cues to indicate which videos are included for you (the blue checkmark icon) and which require additional payment (the shopping cart icon).