The ongoing tussle between Google and Amazon has led to a multitude of controversies, most of which involve either one of them withdrawing its services from the other’s platform(s). While Amazon did release the official Prime Video app for Android TV late last year, it simply refuses to work on most of the newer Android TV devices, possibly due to an outdated compatibility list.
However, there is a workaround you can employ for installing the Amazon Prime Video and getting it to work on any Android TV or Android TV Box. Here’s how.
Update: Later in 2019, Amazon has promised that the Prime Video will officially come to ALL Android TV devices. Till then follow the below guide.
Install Amazon Prime Video on any Android TV
- To get started, head over to this link* and grab the APK file which we will be using later in this process for sideloading the app.
- Next, copy the file to an external drive like a pen drive or HDD.
- On your Android TV, launch the Play Store and download a file manager like this one.
- Connect the flash drive to your Android TV. A pop up from that file manager app should be displayed on the television. Press browse.
- That should fire up the file manager app. In there, head into “SD Card”, locate the APK you transferred and click it. Select the “Install” option and you’re all set.
The Amazon Prime Video app should be now installed on your Android TV. Log in and let the binge-watching begin. The APK is retrieved from nVidia Shield which surprisingly has a working version of Amazon Prime Video, despite running on a forked version of Android TV. We tested the hack on an Android Nougat powered television, hence it’s remotely possible you may run into issues on older versions. Nevertheless, it’s certainly worth a shot if you have a subscription. Hopefully, Amazon and Google will start getting along soon and we won’t have to go through such strenuous processes to watch videos on YouTube or Prime Video.
Alternate Method: Install Apptoide Launcher
You can also install a third-party app store such as Aptoide to install unofficial apps on Android TV. Since Aptoide supports Amazon Prime video, you can use it to install Prime Video on your Android TV.
To do so, first, sideload Aptoide APK on your Android TV (be it Mi Box or any other Android TV) as mentioned above. Once Aptoide is installed, launch it and look for Prime Video in it. And then Install the same.
That’s it for this quick guide, let us know in the comment section if you’re stuck at some step.
*Disclaimer: The APK file is from a third party and we don’t vouch for the authenticity of the same. If you are paranoid about installing APKs from unknown sources, you should probably stay away as we have not done extensive checks to rule out any nefarious code inside. Excuse us now as we binge-watch the fifth season of Person of Interest on our Android TV.