For an entire curated selection of original content, like Fallout, Boys and Rings of powerPrime Video has historically had a cluttered, confusing, and unintuitive layout — esp Competitors like Netflix. That changes today when Amazon begins rolling out a new Prime Video UI that, in the company’s words, “brings clarity and simplicity back to streaming.”
Prime Video’s redesign starts with a simplified navigation bar that will make it easier to find your way around. On the left, the bar includes the general categories of Home, Movies, TV Shows, Sports, and Live TV. Immediately to the right, the navigation bar continues with a dedicated tab for content bundled with your Prime membership, followed by sections for additional subscriptions such as Max, Paramount+, Crunchyroll and others. Amazon has a separate section for adding new subscriptions directly from the bar, from over 100 options.
At the same time, a new “hero rotator” at the bottom of the bar scrolls down to highlight the content available in each selected bar section. It’s similar to rival services, which doesn’t seem like a big deal on paper, but should be a welcome change for anyone who’s ever dealt with the confusing old Prime Video UI.
Not surprisingly, Amazon adds personalized recommendations created by artificial intelligence (“Made for You”) as you navigate the Movies and TV Shows sections of the bar. Using the company Bedrock AI modelmachine learning recommendations will suggest content recommendations based on your browsing history and preferences.
AI will also power recaps of new shows and movies. Amazon says the change will allow you to view their crystals faster, preventing you from having to scroll around to find out more about a particular piece of content.
Finally, Amazon says the UI features new animations, faster page transitions, and zoom effects to make the experience more “frictionless.” On living room devices, video content will automatically play in the hero rotator as you browse (like Netflix and other competitors). If you switch to the Live TV tab, the recommended stations will also play on their own until you choose something to give your full attention to.
The UI update starts rolling out on Tuesday. You can read more on Amazon announcement post.
