If you need further confirmation that Google and Amazon have now buried the hatchet, the thing that users have been asking for is actually happening now. YouTube, the official version of Google’s video app, is finally back on Fire TV devices after being pulled out due to a dispute between the two tech giants. They will also bring YouTube Kids and YouTube TV to Amazon devices later this year. On the other end, Amazon Prime Video is now also available on Chromecast and Android TV devices.
Earlier this year, the two companies promised their own consumers that the issue has been resolved and they are bringing back their respective services to their respective devices. Amazon finally announced that the official YouTube app is now once again available on the following devices: Fire TV Stick (2ndGen), Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Stick Basic Edition, and all Fire TV Edition smart TVs like with Toshiba, Insignia, Element, and Westinghouse.
YouTube will now appear in the “Your Apps and Channels” alongside the other previously supported services like Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, STARZ, Showtime, CBS All Access, etc. It will also work with Amazon’s digital assistant Alexa so you can give commands like “Alexa, watch music videos on YouTube” or “Alexa, find how to make pizza videos on YouTube”. But if you’re in the app already, you can just ask Alexa to search for videos without having to mention YouTube anymore.
Later this year, they will also be adding YouTube Kids, the family/kid-friendly version of the app, and YouTube TV, the live and on-demand paid service, will also be available for Fire TV devices later this year. They will also be adding more Fire TV devices to the line-up. And if you have a Chromecast or Android TV device and you subscribe to Amazon Prime Video, you’ll now be able to watch videos from the service again.
Consumers can now breathe a sigh of relief now that Amazon and Google have patched up their differences. We’ll probably see more inter-platform connectivity again with their other apps and devices.
