While you can happily load Amazon Prime Video, choose what you want to watch, and then relax and enjoy, you may miss out on some of the lesser-known features of the streaming service. In fact, everything Amazon Prime Video has to offer is worth exploring, and once you know them, you can customize them to your liking and get the most out of them.
1. Hide a Movie or TV Show
If you’re not interested in a movie or TV show and don’t plan to watch it, you can hide it from your recommendations. To do this, simply hover over the tile and select Hide Movie/Season. This is unique for each profile, so other profiles will still see it. In addition, you can see it in the search results.
To make something visible again, tap the gear icon in the top right, and then tap Settings. Switch to the Hide Videos tab, where you can click Do not hide next to something you wish to see again.
2. Host a Watch Party
If you want to watch something with friends or family from afar, consider hosting an Amazon Prime Video viewing party. To get started, select the Watch Party icon from the show’s or movie’s overview page and you’ll see instructions on how to invite people.
Up to 100 people can connect to a viewing party where you can all see everything in sync and text chat with each other. No one needs to download anything, but everyone must be an Amazon Prime Video member.
3. View Content Leaving Prime Soon
Although Amazon makes original content that can only be viewed on Prime, the company also gets licenses for movies and shows from other studios. Because of the way these contracts work, this content only appears on Amazon Prime Video for a limited time.
To see these limited-time content, click Categories in the top menu and select Play only when Prime is capped. If something leaves soon, when you hover it over the tile, the date appears on the tile and appears on the overview page (there is a date or “X days later to leave Prime”).
4. Download for Offline Playback
You can download Amazon Prime videos to watch offline. This is perfect if you live in a place with an unstable internet connection or if you are going to travel where there is no internet connection. This means you can watch shows and movies anywhere as long as you download them beforehand.
Select the Download button in the Overview section to download the entire season/movie, or click the same button next to the individual episodes. On your phone, go to “My Stuff” > “Downloads” to manage your downloads. Select Manage to control settings, such as whether episodes you’ve watched are automatically deleted.
5. Share Prime Video With Someone
If you have a full Amazon Prime membership, you can share it with one of the other adults. This means that others can enjoy Amazon Prime videos for free.
To do this, navigate to the Amazon Family page and click Add Adult. You’ll need their name and email address, and acknowledge that adding someone to your family means you’re sharing payment information.
This is because your purpose is to share your account only with people your family trusts, not as an easy way to share the costs of a primary member with friends. That is, as long as you understand the security risks, there is nothing to stop you from doing so.
6. Watch a Random TV Episode
Some TV shows are great for playing when you want to watch them quickly and comfortably, and maybe in the background while you’re doing housework. To help you do this, you can use Amazon Prime Video’s shuffle feature to shuffle episodes.
For some reason, this feature is only available on Android, and only on certain shows. Once you find the programs available for that feature, click on “More” and select “Shuffle”. Now your favorite show will loop random episodes from all seasons.
7. Disable Autoplay
Autoplay is a convenient feature when you’re binge-watching a show and want a continuous stream of episodes. But for some it’s an annoyance because it doesn’t let you enjoy the credits without rushing to grab the remote.
Save yourself the inconvenience and turn autoplay off on Amazon Prime Video. To do this, click the cog icon in the top-right and click Settings. Switch to the Player tab. Here you can turn autoplay Off for both content and trailers.
8. Use X-Ray for Cast, Soundtrack, Trivia, and More
One of Amazon Prime Video’s standout features is X-Ray, which appears every time you pause a movie or show. It displays information like the characters in that scene and the actor portraying them, the song playing, behind-the-scenes trivia, and more.
You can click View All to switch between all the X-Ray tabs, like Cast and Music, or jump to a specific section through the Scenes menu. Much of this data is powered by Amazon-owned IMDb and is something that makes Amazon Prime Video stand out against other streaming services.
9. Find Content Free to You
One of the most annoying factors about Amazon Prime Video is that it mixes paid content with content included in Amazon Prime Video memberships. You’ve probably come across situations where you scroll endlessly and end up finding something you want to see only to find that you have to pay for it.
To overcome this situation, switch to the “Free for me” tab. This will show you movies and shows that are only included in your membership and nothing else.
Prime Video has a lot to commend
Prime Video isn’t flawless, but it’s still an excellent streaming service full of handy features you might not know about. When you become familiar with these features, you can greatly improve your viewing experience.
