If you’re a subscriber to Amazon Prime and watch its streamer offshoot Prime Video, you’ll know what an absolutely ghastly nightmare it can be to use. Shows and movies that you can watch for “free” as a Prime member are muddled with those that you need to buy or rent, and with those that come with add-on subscription packages; it’s a confusing and frustrating experience. It seems, fingers crossed, Amazon is about to fix this.
As spotted by The Verge, the god-awful interface is going to receive a new tab that will exclusively contain programs and films that are included in the subscription. Yes, of course you would think it already had that, but no, it didn’t.
Rather brilliantly, Amazon boasts this new feature on its own site as “bringing clarity and simplicity back to streaming,” as if it’s leading the charge in the streaming wars. It is, of course, the only service on the entire planet that had obfuscated its offerings in such a way. It’s uniquely Amazon that has, so very deliberately, blurred the lines between what’s included and what’s just a purchase from the Amazon store.
It’s worth adding, it’s generally a good thing that Prime doesn’t limit its offerings to what’s “free” within the deal. (Although that deal recently got a whole lot worse, with the addition of lengthy, randomly interruptive adverts for those who don’t increase their monthly tithe.) If I’m enormously in the mood to watch Die Hard, and I can’t find it on any of the 37 streaming services I’m subscribed to, then having the option to pay a couple of bucks to rent it for the evening is a boon. The issue is having it appear front-and-centre on the Prime Video app that I pay a stupid amount of money for, and then finding out it was a trick.
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It’s hard not to imagine this confusion was also hurting Amazon. Too often I’ll entirely miss a Prime-made show because it’s so mired in their menus beneath the nickel-and-diming that I’ll entirely forget it was available. I still haven’t watched Invincible or The Wheel of Time, because Prime’s algorithm is so botched for me that they’re impossibly buried. It doesn’t bode too well that the same Amazon update boasts of its “generative AI” that will help me “discover content.” (Companies! Stop calling things “content”! No one watching ever uses this word!) That just leads to more of the same blinkered funnelling that has Amazon’s web store recommending you nothing but vacuum cleaners because you recently bought a vacuum cleaner.
“We’re always listening to customers and reviewing feedback,” says Kam Keshmiri, the VP of design at Prime Video, “and it’s clear that many are in search of a more intuitive streaming experience.” Which is bullshit for, “People just want to be able to find the stuff they’re paying for.” So, well, I’m glad that’s going to be possible.
There will also now be tabs for add-ons you’ve bought, like Max, Paramount+ and Crunchyroll, singling out their shows and films too, along with the ability to manage those subscriptions within. Which, again, sounds like a huge blessing. I hate realizing I forgot to cancel the MGM+ sub that was cheaper than renting that one film last month, and then not being able to find what it actually offers thanks to the combination of awful UI and algorithmic blind spots. (Also, everyone on Earth, add the MGM+ sub so you can watch the best thing on TV right now, From. Set a calendar reminder to cancel it.)
Now perhaps Amazon, who love listening to their customers’ feedback so much, could listen to everyone screaming at them to pay their employees properly, allow unions, and provide proper safety measures in their facilities. That’d be great!
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