YouTube finally returns to Amazon's Fire TV devices

YouTube returns to Amazon's Fire TV product line, and the Amazon Prime Video app will add support for Chromecast and become more widely available on Android TV. These two developments, announced jointly by the two companies this morning, mark the end of a long confrontation between Google and Amazon, a quarrel that maintains a native application for YouTube on the Fire TV platform for more than a year. a year. The customers were really those who were at a disadvantage as soon as these two tech giants entered this niche. It is therefore very positive to see that everything is over.

Google will bring YouTube back to Amazon's Fire TV devices "later this year." YouTube's flagship app will be launched in the coming months – there's still no definitive release date – and will be followed by YouTube TV, the company's TV subscription service, and Kids' YouTube Kids before the end. from 2019. Fire TV will be fully certified for YouTube, which indicates that it offers first rate video quality and minimal buffering. YouTube for Fire TV also supports Alexa voice commands for content search and playback.

In return, Amazon will add Chromecast integration to its own Prime Video mobile app, allowing users to more easily view their movies and shows on a TV screen if they have one of Chromecast's affordable streaming dongles. Google. Prime Video will also be universally available on Android TV; Until now, it was limited to selecting devices running this operating system.

During his absence, Fire TV users could still access YouTube via web browsers, which was not completely unavailable. But an appropriate application will certainly make life easier for these customers.

Notably, this agreement leaves aside Amazon's smart screen, Echo Show, so that YouTube will not arrive so soon on this device. But one person familiar with the case said that the two companies continued to dialogue continuously.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Google and Amazon would not comment on the details of their new deal any more than they would specify the frequency with which they tried to solve the problems during this stubborn quarrel. When YouTube was originally removed from Fire TV, there was a ton of finger pointing between the two companies.

Amazon claimed that Google was hurting consumers and "selectively blocking customers' access to an open website," while Google expressed frustration with Amazon removing its Chromecast / Google Cast feature and leaving it out of the box. Prime Video app for Android for years. Google has also challenged the online retailer's refusal to sell many of its products, such as the Google Home, Chromecast and Nest devices. Amazon took over the Chromecast sale in December of last year, but that alone was not enough for YouTube to come back. Finally, the launch of the cast and the major expansion of Prime Video on Android TV seem to have succeeded.

The new agreement is strictly for streaming and does not include any retail components. Amazon has therefore not sold the Google Home (a direct competitor of its Echo speakers) or newer devices from Nest.

It has been a week of technology companies solving their differences. Apple and Qualcomm settled their controversial legal dispute Tuesday at the time of their trial. Today, Amazon and YouTube have finally found a common ground.