If you are lucky a few weeks ago you may have received an early version of the new Amazon Video app for Roku. This new Amazon Video Roku app seems to still be in testing and was released to some Roku users.
The new Amazon Video app seems to use the same style as the Fire TV—with rows instead of a tile menu system. From users we have seen talking about the new app it also seems to be a large improvement in performance over the older app.
Amazon Video is the largest movie rental service in the United State according to Digital Trends. They even beat out Redbox and rented more movies than iTunes and Google Play combined. Amazon Prime Video is also the second-largest subscription streaming service in the United States behind Netflix.
However, even with the large lead in rentals and being far ahead of third-place Hulu, Amazon Video on Roku has long been a complaint of many. Although the app works and offers the content people subscribed to, the user interface is often called clunky and dated.
So the question is why would Amazon be updating their Roku app now? The likely reason is the soon-to-be-released new Roku models that support 4K HDR. When Amazon went to update their app to add HDR they updated the user interface at the same time. The last major update to the Amazon Video Channel on Roku happened when the Roku 4 came out and added 4K support.
No dates are known for the new Roku players or for when the new Amazon Video app will hit all Roku devices, but it is likely to happen in the next few weeks.
Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more news, tips, and reviews.
Need cord cutting tech support? Join our new Cord Cutting Tech Support Facebook Group for help.