Google and Amazon have ended their years-long feud and confirmed that their respective services will be made available on rivaling platforms.
For Amazon, that means making Prime Video accessible on Google Chromecast and Android TV; for Google, that means opening YouTube to Fire TV devices once again. In 2017, both companies took down each other's services from rivaling hardware, and Amazon even went as far to remove Google products off its website entirely.
Now, it seems a truce has been reached.
Google, Amazon End Feud
"We are excited to work with Amazon to launch the official YouTube apps on Fire TV devices worldwide," said Heather Rivera, Global Head of Product Partnerships at Google YouTube, as Variety reports. "Bringing our flagship YouTube experience to Amazon Fire TV gives our users even more ways to watch the videos and creators they love."
"We're excited to bring the Prime Video app to Chromecast and Android TV devices, and to give our customers convenient access to the shows and movies they love," said Andrew Bennett, Head of Worldwide Business Development for Amazon Prime Video. "[C]ustomers will have even more ways to stream what they want, whenever they want, no matter where they are."
It's not clear when Amazon services will go live on Chromecast and Android TV devices, and that's true of Google services on Amazon hardware, as well. But they're said to come out soon, perhaps over the next few weeks by the looks of it.
Users will be able to sign in to their existing YouTube account, access the site's full library of content, and even play 4K HDR content at 60 fps provided they have the proper hardware. Additionally, YouTube TV and YouTube Kids apps will launch later this year on Fire TV devices and Fire TV Edition smart TVs.
Meanwhile, Android TV and Chromecast users will soon be able to log in to Prime Video and access the company's entire lineup of original content and licensed programs, including Homecoming, Catastrophe, The Grand Tour, and a ton of others.
No App For Echo Show
But it's worth noting that this new agreement doesn't include a native YouTube app for the Echo Show, Amazon's smart display. This isn't actually because of disagreements, though. Apparently, YouTube simply has yet to build a full-featured version of its app for these kinds of devices.
Again, there's no word on when these services might roll out, but make sure to check back with Tech Times as we learn more.
