The Amazon Prime Video app has many movies, both new and old. Renting them is a great way to watch something specific for less and enjoy one-time viewings. Buying them means you own them and can watch them later. Usually, you can do either from your personal profile on your mobile phones and tablets.
Amazon recently removed the buttons, so you’ll go to the website to find your movies. The update came soon after Amazon stopped selling Kindle e-books and other digital products in its Shopping app. Here’s what happened.
Why did Amazon remove the rent or buy buttons on Prime Video?
Amazon took away the rent or buy buttons for films on the Prime Video app for both Android and iOS mobile devices on May 11, 2022. Now, you’ll see a How do I watch this button. Tapping it tells you to go to the website (primevideo.com).
First, visit the site on your internet browser and sign in to your Prime account. Second, complete your rental or purchase and watch it through the app. If you bought or added paid movies to your watchlist before the update, they remain in the My Stuff menu. Android TV, Google TV, set-top boxes, and most smart TVs remain among the supported devices that do video rentals directly. They likely don’t face the same fees as mobile devices.
The reason for the update is that Amazon wants to keep more of your money. In the past, the retail giant and other sellers avoided paying Google’s in-app purchase fees. The company takes 15% to 30% of all sales through their platforms, depending on how much they make and whether they join certain programs. If they earn more, they should pay a higher percentage. To clarify, a developer creates applications and makes them available on Google Play.
Google’s policy stops developers from processing transactions in their apps. If you want to rent TV shows, you’ll pay through Google Play instead of Amazon. Rather than pay the charges, Amazon prefers to remove the payment options altogether, hoping you’ll use its website.
Later, in May 2022, Google said it would let developers offer different payment options with their Play Store billing in a pilot program. Spotify was the first to test it. While developers continue to pay service fees, they have been reduced by 4%. Integration with Google’s billing Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) is a requirement, so developers can’t handle payments however they want. It’s unlikely that Amazon joined the program since they haven’t updated their app to reflect any payment methods.
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Was removing payment options in Prime Video smart for Amazon?
Whether Amazon was wise to bypass Google Play billing services is up for debate. On one hand, it made the buying process harder and discouraged impulse buying because of the extra steps. On the other hand, it saves money for users. Many people may avoid paid content.
You’ll still enjoy a large content catalog if you have a Prime membership. Buying movies outside is unnecessary, especially when you can watch movies on alternative websites for free or less. Amazon also reduced the promotion of paid content on Prime Video’s home screen.
Selecting unpaid content is easier without toggling the Free to me filter. It used to be in the upper-right corner of the old app’s search menu. You can find paid content on your watchlist or by searching. If you want to pay for content in-app, there’s a solution. Download an older version of Prime Video from the Amazon App Store. This version keeps the payment buttons, and you can use your credit cards. However, if you update it from the Play Store, it blocks rentals.
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What to do if you can’t open the Prime Video website
Sometimes, the Prime Video website takes you to the downloaded app if you access it from Google Search on mobile devices. It’s intentional and meant to make you use the app more for a better experience. You can get around this issue without deleting the app.
When searching for Prime video titles, switch your browser to desktop site before tapping the search result. If that doesn’t work, long press the result and open it in a new tab. This way, you force the movie’s page to open in the browser, not in the Prime Video app. Make sure to sign in to your Amazon account to complete transactions.
Fix Prime Video issues easily
Even though the payment system changed, Prime Video’s interface is mostly the same, so your viewing experience isn’t affected. If you paid but still can’t watch shows, it might be a technical issue. Try troubleshooting steps, such as cache and data clearing to wipe corrupt files the app keeps on your phone. Alternatively, close the app properly. Then, force stop it before restarting to end conflicting processes. If this is too much trouble, check out other streaming services like Netflix.
