Amazon Prime Video gets a major UI refresh
Amazon Prime Video gets a major UI refresh
By Mike Wheatley - 20 July 2022

Amazon Prime Video is getting a major new lick of paint with a completely redesigned user interface that borrows many aspects from Netflix, HBO Max and Disney+. 

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The new interface is meant to simplify navigation throughout its platform and content offerings. To do that, it has introduced a new sidebar menu on the left that’s divided into various sub menus - Home, Store, Find, Live TV, Free with Ads and My Stuff. Each of these sub menus has their own sub-navigation panels that help users to explore the available content inside them. 

So sports programming, for example, will be found under a dedicated Sports tab within the Home section. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime’s growing collection of original programming will appear in a dedicated carousel, separate from its collection of licensed TV shows and movies. That’s similar to what Netflix does with its own original content.

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The update borrows from Netflix in other ways too. For instance, Amazon said it will soon introduce its own Top 10 Chart, which will rank titles based on their popularity over the previous week. These will be displayed in an easy-to-navigate list, the company said. 

Amazon also seems to have recognized some of its user’s frustration when it comes to understanding what programs and movies they can and can’t watch with its standar Prime Video subscription. To remedy this, it will provide visual cues next to titles that differentiate those that are free to watch and those available to rent, buy or subscribe too. The former will be marked with a blue checkmark, while the latter will be signified with a shopping bag icon, making it much easier to understand what’s available and what’s not, at a glance. For those who do subscribe to certain shows, these will appear in their own separate My Subscriptions tab at the top of the homepage, where they can be easily accessed. 

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Last but not least, the Find page will provide an easy way to search for specific titles, genres or collections, and filter those results according to 4K or standard resolution. 

Amazon said the refreshed Prime Video interface is a “clean slate” that will start rolling out to subscribers worldwide in the next couple of weeks. It will be made available first on Android TV, Google TV, Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, PlayStation, Xbox devices, as well as LG and Samsung Smart TVs first. Once they’ve all been updated, the interface will also roll out to web browsers and iOS, Amazon said. 

If you don’t see a markedly different UI just yet, head on over to the Updates section to see if it’s available to download manually.