Update to Amazon app

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Any chance the new Amazon app has a letterbox screen as opposed to filling the entire screen? I stopped using Amazon Video long ago when the app started stretching the picture out to fill the entire screen because the resulting image is distorted.

Or is there a setting I'm missing that would allow me to select a letterbox image?

 

This app and the previous one both played old 4:3 TV shows and most movies with letterboxing. You have to make sure you have your TiVo's zoom turned off before you enter the app.

 

I wasn't aware of that. I'll try that the next time before I open up the Amazon Video app.

Thanks!

 

App updates are independent of software updates but often correspond to a test cycle. So, no. you are not required to have RC13, but it is being delivered as a part of the deployment cycle.

 

OK, my Bolt still running RC13, and 1 day later the Amazon app has been updated. And frankly, I wish it had NOT. The new app is MUCH worse than the old one. I particularly miss the ability to see all the episodes for a single season on one screen, along with a clear indication of which ones have been watched.

The new app SUCKS!

 

Yeah, I thought it was weird they removed watched episode markers. On the plus side, pausing is now instant. (It took like 3 seconds to register on the previous version of the app.)

 

Maybe if you watch it in the new app? It's too useful to delete that function entirely.

Besides pause, are there any improvements to FF, RW? Any new trickplay?

 

Actually, my pause worked instantaneously on the previous version too. And I have found no other changes to any trick play functions.

Another HUGE loss to the new app is not being able to see how many seasons exist for a program from the base screen; now I have to waste time explicitly asking for it to please show me how many seasons exist! There are plenty of other problems too, but I'm sure it is just a waste of time to complain about them.

 

UGH...I can't believe they actually made it worse! This "tiles" based trend to accommodate mobile platforms is getting ridiculous. It's not rocket surgery to provide a "list view" option and for Pete's sake...how do we get the feedback to Amazon that their arcane player controls are the worst?

 

No and No.

Amazon can make updates fairly quickly (e.g., to the Echo/Alexa app) if properly motivated (they get overwhelming feedback).

If you go to the Settings menu and click on Brad Pitt's face for Feedback:

 

If Amazon had the slightest interest in making their user experience better (instead of just simpler), there would be some way to reorder the Watchlist.

 

On the plus side, you can subscribe to HBO (free 30 day trial, $15/mo), Showtime, Starz, Cinemax, etc through the new Amazon app.

Amazon/HBO apparently has the same content as HBO Now, except it uses the Amazon UI.

No need to wait on Tivo to make these app deals happen.

 

Support for "Amazon Channels" add-on subscriptions is one of the biggest improvements of the new Amazon app over the old one. (You can also add Showtime to your Hulu subscription, and fortunately the current Hulu app for TiVo supports it.) At this point, I think it's somewhat unlikely that we'll ever see HBO Now, Showtime or Starz apps appear on TiVo (something I had been hoping for for quite awhile), so for non-cable subscribers who want to combine those premium services with OTA DVR and access it all through their TiVo, at least there's a way to do so now.

I also think the new Amazon app is a little faster/more responsive than the clunky old one, although not dramatically so.

As for complaints about the UI design, I actually like the new version much more than the old one. It's more attractive and better showcases content. It's not as slick as Netflix's but it's not bad.

 

So, when you go through the Amazon app, do you separately set up accounts with each streaming service, paying them directly? Or does Amazon serve as an aggregator with payments going through it?

 

To access HBO, Showtime, etc. content via Amazon you have to sub to the service through Amazon. If you sub through some other way (via your cable system, directly, through Roku app, etc.) you will not be able to access the content via Amazon

 

Ah, interesting--glad I asked what I assumed was a silly question, as I would have thought matters would be the other way around, setting things up directly with HBO, Showtime, etc. first. Thanks.

Does that mean, then, that the user pays Amazon--and could Amazon.com gift cards/codes then be used for that?

edit: I've been glancing through matters at Amazon. To avoid being Mr. Question-man here, is there a link to a nice source or 2, at Amazon, TiVo or otherwise, explaining how the Amazon app and related system works, the mechanics, how to sign up for and use it/subs/channels, etc.? Among other things, I wasn't sure if one needs to be an Amazon Prime subscriber first, even if one only wants access to third-party providers such as HBO. Thanks, again--

 

Charges for those "Amazon Channels" add-on services are paid directly to Amazon. You must have an Amazon Prime Video subscription in place to add them. (Not really sure why Amazon wants to restrict the potential customer base that way, but they do.) You cannot pay for Amazon Prime subscription fees with Amazon gift cards; not sure about Amazon Channels but I don't think you can that either.