Amazon launched an iPad client for its on-demand Amazon Instant Video service on Wednesday morning, offering further competition to similar services like Netflix and Hulu Plus. The free app allows users to stream video included in an annual Amazon Prime membership, or access and download videos purchased from Amazon's website.
We downloaded the app and took it for a spin. Prime subscribers will have access to a wide variety of content, but this first version has a few omissions that mar an otherwise pleasant experience, not the least of which is the lack of support for streaming video to an Apple TV via AirPlay.
Like Kindle for video
The Amazon Instant Video app takes numerous design cues from the latest version of the Kindle iOS app. You can view your library of purchased movie and TV content, comparing what's stored in the "cloud" on Amazon's servers, and what has been downloaded to your device. Video can be streamed directly, or it can be downloaded for offline viewing.
And while the app gives you one additional viewing option for Amazon's library of content for rent or purchase, it is definitely geared more toward users who want to stream content available via an Amazon Prime membership. The $80 annual fee not only gives you free shipping options and access to Kindle "library" items, it also allows you to access a fairly large library of streaming video.
From the main screen, you can browse through a selection of "featured" movies and TV shows available for Prime streaming. You can also browse longer lists in the categories called "Featured in Prime Instant Video" and "Featured in Prime Instant Video: Kids." Finally, you can view lists of video saved to a "watch list," similar to Netflix's "queue," or your own video library. All four lists are categorized into separate "movie" and "TV" lists.
Unfortunately, that's about as far as you're going to get browsing for content. You cannot browse by genre, though the home screen does show a limited selection of "dramas" and "comedies." You can't browse by actor, director, TV channel, movie studio, or any other potentially useful criteria. Not only that—there are no search options of any kind, either.
And what limited browsing is available is only for Prime streaming content. If you were hoping to browse for non-Prime content to rent or purchase, that requires a trip to a browser. Thankfully, Amazon has updated its Instant Video webpages to be useful when accessing them from a mobile device; previous incarnations heavily relied on Flash-based layouts that were next to useless on an iPad.
So, you can browse through and search for movies and TV shows available for an additional charge in Safari, adding them to your centralized "watch list." You can view information within the app about any non-Prime content added to your watch list, but you won't find any buttons or any ways to purchase them directly. This is an unfortunate side-effect of Apple's rule mandating that it gets a 30 percent cut of any content purchased within an app itself. This is the same reason that Amazon removed any references to purchasing Kindle format e-books from its iOS apps, and some content providers have followed suit.
You can view trailers, though you'll annoyingly get switched over to the Amazon Instant Video app to view them. Once you view the trailer, you have to manually switch back to Safari to continue browsing for content. The overall experience is disjointed; at least here it seems Amazon could have simply streamed HTML5 video for trailers, which would play back in Safari directly.
Likewise, you'll also have to switch into Safari to browse or search for additional Prime streaming content outside of what Amazon currently features. Once you add it to your watch list, however, you can stream it within the app. And all video purchased or added to your watch list is quickly synced across all devices connected to your Amazon account, including the iPad, Kindle Fire, Roku, smart TVs, game consoles, and your Mac or PC.
Prime viewing?
Those limitations aside, there is a pretty wide variety of content featured in the app itself. You're very likely to find something to watch while flicking through lists of recent and catalog movie titles, like Goon, Melancholia, Mission Impossible 3, Footloose, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and The Incredible Mr. Limpet. There are dozens of TV shows, from 90210 and ALF to Sons of Anarchy and Jersey Shore. BBC and Discovery channels are well represented, as is reality TV, older sitcoms, and all manner of sci-fi.
(As an aside, I could watch How It's Made pretty much non-stop if things like "work" and "sleep" would stop getting in the way.)
Tap on the icon for a particular movie or TV show to get a popover info window. In the case of TV shows, you have to select a season, and each available episode is arranged in a list. Tap on a "play" icon, and the video starts streaming. You can also add content to your watch list with a tap on another button to watch later.
Playback was generally smooth, as long as I was in relatively close proximity to my WiFi router. When signal starts to drop, however, video may pause for the dreaded "Buffering....". This isn't as smooth as the adaptive streaming used by iTunes or Netflix, and I personally found it a little annoying. Your experience, of course, may vary.
Amazon Instant Video uses the standard iOS playback controls, so you can scrub back and forth (with extra buffering), pause, jump back 30 seconds, or skip to the end. You can also have letterboxed content fill your iPad's screen.
In general, video quality was "good enough," but not as good as iTunes or Netflix. Even with strong WiFi and a 25Mbps broadband connection there were noticeable compression artifacts. Again, your personal sensitivity to these artifacts will vary, but I consider them to be just on the side of acceptable. It's probably good enough for watching something in the office, in the kitchen, or even on the go.
AirPlay? No way
In what we think will be a thorn in the side of pretty much every Apple TV owner, Amazon Instant Video restricts AirPlay streaming to audio only. The same is true of some other video streaming apps, such as HBO Go, Max GO, ABC, and others. The restriction is likely due to some draconian licensing restriction, but Amazon would not comment on the matter to Ars.
Still, such restrictions become laughable in the face of ubiquitous desktop video streaming via AirPlay, both using Mountain Lion's built-in AirPlay Mirroring feature and third-party solutions like AirParrot. If I can play it on a Mac or Windows PC and stream to my TV, why can't I do the same from my iPad?
The limitation makes even less sense when you consider you can get the exact same functionality via devices like a Roku or Xbox 360. Whether a customer is streaming Prime video or purchasing a movie, that customer is paying for the privilege; it just feels like a slap in the face to limit AirPlay streaming.
But hey, it's free
All chiding aside, the app is free, and it gives users one more way to view Amazon Instant Video content. We think it would be nicer if you could browse in the app for more than just the featured content. It's clear why there's no mechanism for purchasing non-Prime content, but there's no good reason for not being able to browse and search the complete library of available Prime streaming video. Improvements to the streaming video quality would be appreciated, but it's not a deal-killer given the situations we think the app would most likely be used. Lack of AirPlay support is really the most glaring feature omission, and we hope Amazon works to add it into a future update.
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