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How to Watch Amazon Prime Video With Chromecast

How to Watch Amazon Prime Video With Chromecast
Google and Amazon... Together Again!?

The past two decades have seen Amazon’s rise in dominance, from an online book retailer attempting to revolutionize the industry, to a tech giant that seemingly has their hands in every possible tech product category they could. From free two-day shipping on almost any product in the world, to their lineup of eReaders and cheap tablets for watching videos and playing games, Amazon is one of the four or five tech companies that shape our lives every day. One of their earlier pursuits in tech products, however, was their Amazon Prime Video service, a competitor to Netflix and Hulu that allows Prime subscribers to access a wide variety of streaming films and television shows. Amazon Prime Video has a wide variety of content, including a ton of recent Blockbusters, some of the best HBO series, and a great collection of original series and movies. Amazon’s original products have been nominated for Oscars, Golden Globes, and Emmys, finding critical acclaim, making it an ideal streaming service to keep paying for.

In fact, in the years since the app launched both on phones and on your desktop, we’ve really only heard one major complaint from consumers: the lack of support for Chromecast. When two tech giants go head to head in competition, it can hurt the consumer, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen with the feud between Amazon and Google. One of Amazon’s most popular products is their Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, two streaming boxes that are capable of showing Amazon content, in addition to a number of third-party apps and services like Netflix, Hulu, Plex, and so much more.

Unfortunately, Google also happens to sell products that compete directly with Amazon’s Fire TV. The Google Chromecast line is just as affordable as what we’ve seen from Amazon, but instead of including an interface and a dedicated remote, allows you to control what’s streaming directly from your phone. This makes it incredibly easy to pick up and start playing what you’re watching on your phone back on your television, without having to fiddle around with a remote control or a poor interface. Not everyone prefers the Chromecast experience, and it certainly isn’t without flaws, but it does offer some advantages over Amazon’s Fire Stick.

Google and Amazon’s feud went from a silent campaign between two companies to a roaring public battle in 2017 when Google pulled the YouTube app from Fire devices, but thankfully, in April of 2019, the two companies published a joint press release announcing both the return of YouTube and the addition of Chromecast support within the Prime Video app. Now, in July 2019, both the YouTube app and the Chromecast support for Prime Video have gone live, making it easier than ever to cast from your mobile devices to your television. Let’s take a look.

Casting From Your Android or iOS Device

For years, you’ve asked for ways to cast from your phone to your Chromecast device, even announcing in our comments section below that you’d be leaving Prime behind in order to switch to a service that worked properly with your TV. Well worry no more—not only has casting arrive on your iPhone, iPad, and Android device, but it’s incredibly easy and intuitive to use. As of July 9th, 2019, if you’ve updated the Amazon Prime Video app on your phone, you’ll be met with an announcement that Cast has finally arrived within the app, promising the ability to easily set up and cast right from your mobile devices to your television.

Still, this being Amazon’s app, it’s a little messy if you don’t look in the right place, so here’s how to use Chromecast with the app:

  1. Start by opening the app on your mobile device. If this is the first time you’ve opened the app since the update rolled out, you’ll be met with the message above, which points you directly to the Cast icon on the bottom of your screen.
  2. Tap the Cast icon, then select the Chromecast device you want to use to watch video.
  3. From here, select the movie or episode of television you want to watch. Your television will be displaying the photo below, letting you know that Prime Video is ready to Cast on your device as soon as you find something to watch.

Obviously, this seems pretty easy, but you’ll want to make sure you don’t accidentally select the wrong streaming option. Prime Video has a different method for streaming video to Fire TV devices, which can be found by clicking the “Watch On” icon within a video. If you’re trying to stream video to a Chromecast and not to a Fire TV, you’ll want to make sure you select the Cast icon in the bottom-right corner, not the “Watch On” icon within a video selection, as seen in the screenshot below. Hopefully in a future update, Amazon will combine the two menus into one system, so that casting to a Chromecast or a Fire TV follows the same procedure.

The good news for those who are casting video, however, is that you’ll gain access to the same second screen content that Fire TV users gain, giving you the ability to jump through scenes, view cast members, and look at selected films from the actors’ filmographies. Confusing streaming menus aside, the addition of casting to Prime Video is what we’ve wanted for a long time, and it’s nice to finally have it on both Android and iOS.

Casting From Your PC or Mac

Unfortunately, cast support hasn’t arrived on the desktop version of Amazon Prime Video, leaving those without a smartphone forced to use the same workaround we’ve recommended for years. In order to cast from your Mac or PC, the only thing you’ll need to ensure that you’ve installed on your device is Google’s Chrome browser. If you’re a regular Chromecast user, you probably already have it installed on your device, but if you somehow don’t, you can grab it from Google’s website here. You’ll also want to ensure that you’re logged into your Amazon account inside of Chrome.

Open up a new tab or window in Chrome and load Amazon’s Prime Video page. You can browse through the listings to find the show or movie you want, or just search using the bar at the top of the page. Amazon’s desktop layout isn’t quite as clean as the mobile experience, but it’s certainly usable. Once you find the movie or television show you want to stream, click on your selection and open the video in your browser. When the video begins to playback, make sure you don’t make the window fullscreen.

Instead, as the movie or episode begins to start, click on the triple-dotted menu button to open the Chrome menu, then scroll down until you find the Cast button. Clicking on Cast will load an option that allows you to stream the tab from your computer to your television using your Chromecast. You’ll be able to see every device on your network at the time, including Chromecast, Chromecast Audio, and Google Home devices. You can select the proper device from the list that drops down from the top of your browser, and once you’ve selected an option, you can allow it to play in the background.

Selecting your Chromecast device should allow the video to begin playing on your device. Because you’re mirroring the tab between your devices, you’ll want to make sure you hit full screen on the video playback option on your device. For the most part, casting from Chrome to your Chromecast seems to work without any major issues. The device loads properly, displaying the video in full resolution. We did experience some light buffering when playing back content, but overall, casting using the basic utility built into Chrome seems to work well. Glitches or lag seemed to last only a few milliseconds before the video caught up, and all of our tests seemed to pass with flying colors. Video resolution was solid, and as mentioned, with the full screen icon checked, the video filled the entire resolution of our television.

That said, some users have experienced difficulty using this method when casting from Chrome to a Chromecast under the default Amazon player settings. By default, Amazon’s video player used to be built on Microsoft Silverlight, the same technology that powered Netflix and other streaming services. Silverlight allows these players to feature a smooth and reliable player while also controlling the DRM portions of the device, blocking the ability to steal the stream for piracy reasons. Unfortunately, sometimes Silverlight gets in the way of being able to cast reliably from one device to another, which means you’ll want to make sure that your Chrome browser is updated fully to ensure that Amazon’s video player uses the newer HTML5 interface over the older Silverlight or Flash interface. With both of the older standards gone, you should be able to playback your video without issue. You can also try to ensure the video begins playing by signing out and back into your account on Chrome.

***

It might go without saying, but it’s clear that Amazon and Google have it out for each other right now. This has been going on for years, as both companies battle back and forth over their own visions for where tech is going. Amazon forked Android to create their Fire line of devices, including the Fire TV, and even designed their own Amazon Appstore for those tablets and streaming boxes. The fight has only gotten more serious since the launch of Amazon’s Alexa voice service and Google’s own Assistant, which clearly compete directly against each other, causing problems between the two companies.

As both companies—mainly Amazon—begin to make small moves towards reconciliation, including most notably, adding Prime Video back to the Play Store and adding Chromecast support on Amazon Music, it’s entirely possible that we begin to move to a point where the two tech giants make up and begin to allow Prime Video to work properly on both Android and iOS. Until then, your best bet is to use a laptop or desktop running Chrome to stream Prime Video to your television. It’s not ideal, but it is the best experience we’ve seen on the device to date, and really the only smart choice for iOS users, who will need to use a computer to mirror their mobile devices anyway. No matter how you choose to stream Prime Video to your Chromecast, rest assured that we’re closer than ever to full Cast support for Amazon’s video service.

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28 thoughts on “How to Watch Amazon Prime Video With Chromecast”

Hope McCloud says:
Anyone have any luck casting amazon prime video downloaded to ipad?
Don says:
Yes. It works most of the time. I had to remove prime video and reinstall to get it to work. You have to be patient when you start casting and wait for the ready to cast message on your tv. It takes a while to actually get the video to play, I.e maybe a minute.
Mayur Shah says:
I have a samsung 2013 smart tv. Can u guide how to cast / mirror amazon prime and youtube from iphone?
Lawrence says:
So, does it work on iPhone or not? I am confused by the comments after update? I have an iPhone SE and wanted to get Amazon Prime Video if I can cast onto Chromecast. Answers appreciated. Thanks.
Ketokitty says:
Thank you for July 2019 updated article. I was getting pretty frustrated that I could cast prime from my Acer Android tablet but not my Nexus 6p phone! I’d get sound, but just a black screen using my phone. Now, it’s working perfectly when I updated the prime video app on my phone. Yay!
Heaterz16 says:
On my Ios device, I do not see an option to cast and I have upgraded the app to the latest. This appears to only work for android devices?
Sarah says:
Does not work on iPhone after updating. This must be an Android fix.
David Brush says:
And this is why we will not be renewing Amazon prime, and why we have been purchasing goods from any source but Amazon whenever feasible for the past year. Goodbye stubborn Mr. Bezos.
mimi says:
totally worked thank you!!
tho internet connection was poor. was choppy and sometimes froze altogether
Katerina Acuna says:
this video was SO HELPFUL!!!!!
Ck says:
Followed the steps. Audio Only on the TV. Pixel 2. This worked a few months ago, now all of a sudden it doesn’t. Wonder if Google did something with the Pixels?
Estelle says:
Thank you so much !!
Bob says:
I try using Chromecast to play Amazon video from my PC. When I hit cast, my TV goes black for a few seconds and then disconnects from Chromecast. The video continues to play on my PC. Not having this issue with HBO or Netflix using same process. Isn’t working for ESPN either.
Michael G says:
Here is something really weird. I got a Pixel, a Pixel 2XL and also a Pixel C tablet. On the phones I get a black screen, audio and controls only with the app and in Chrome set to desktop.On the Pixel C tablet I get a black screen in Chrome set to desktop, but it works mirroring from the Prime Video app!! All devices are running Android 8.1. Doesn’t make any sense. Any ideas why the phones didn’t work but the tablet does with the app??? All are Google devices.
DOUGLAS CLAYTON says:
You don’t need to get amazon app store you just download amazon prime from Google play store and Google home
Nicole says:
Can’t believe I got it to work, thanks so much!!!!
mozart in the swamp says:
same, contact them here, please i need to watch mozart!!!
https://support.google.com/chromecast/contact/play_c2c_chromecast/?hl=en
Amanda R Peralta says:
I was able to cast the video to my TV using the Google home and Amazon video apps both in use. The the video showed up on my TV screen however will not show the contents I could hear the audio from my TV of the episode but not the actual video. Am I doing something wrong or is there anyone that could please help me? They only thing I can also see is the play pause icon. Someone please help anyone
Whitney says:
I have the exact problem. Audio on my tv but only can see it playing on my phone.
Jack Anderson says:
I have the same problem casting from my Google Pixel 2 XL phone. Anyone know what causes this problem?
Sonja Marchesano says:
I have wasted so much time trying to cast on to my tv with Chromecast. I am giving up, till Amazon gets their act together. I have tried everything that h as been recommended and nothing works.
Tuhin Mohanta says:
you go to chrome browser of your phone and then go to prime video.
touch the three line hamberger icon of menu for desktop view in chrome.
tick it for desktop view.
then go to cast it from google home…… or or ur phones casting icon it will work bothway.
G says:
Worked perfect! Saved me $50 in a Firestick. Casting from a laptop. Haven’t tried from mobile apps, but don’t need to given it works perfect from my Acer.
Bryan Eichorn says:
Doesn’t work! On step 2, it doesn’t start playing in your chrome browser. At least not on a phone. It gives you a choice of completing the action using chrome or Amazon video. If you choose chrome, it instructs u to download the underground app, which I have. (It’s about to be discontinued, btw.) Choose Amazon video & it plays on your phone in the video app. Your only option is to use screen sharing, which is choppy at best. Amazon is ridiculous when it comes to crap like this!
Yo says:
Use a HDMI cable from your PC !
Better picture than Chromecast !!!!!
Irrelevant Running Jesus says:
Brilliant – we can still connect with hard cable. Forget wireless/chromecast. Thanks for the head slap :)
Bunty says:
But Amazon prime doesn’t play videos in HD in chrome browser. What can I do?
FERN JONES says:
HELP…I use Chromecast and as of 10 minutes ago I started a video with Amazon. Got a message about “sharing”..and when I said NO..it stopped Chromecast. But when I accepted it..now I cant do to any other page because it casts ANYTHING I have open. HELP PLEASE..it is driving me NUTS
rajarshi mukherjee says:
when i off the laptop the tv screen stops autometically is there any way out so that i can off my laptop and watch only on my tv
Heather says:
Rajarshi,
You can’t turn your laptop off because the Chromecast uses the Chrome browser to stream media to your television.
Sonia Vijay says:
No chrome cast icon at all, unable to mirror iPhone on my Tv.
Sham Jones says:
The cast screen function is only for Android devices.
Susan Carter says:
I am trying to cast a downloaded Amazon Video on my ipad mini to my TV using my Chromecast. There is no “cast” icon on the screen that I want to cast. My ipad mini is set up to cast, but it doesn’t look like I can cast the video that I already downloaded. Any help?
Haks says:
You can use the new Google cast app, now named Home, to mirror your phone screen directly to chromecast.
Karin Skovlund says:
What does that help when the amazon prime video app cannot/will not appear in their collection of apps – like Netflix, HBO etc. Because Amazon has an issue with Google Chrome cast. .wants to sell their own casting equipment :Firestick or whatever it’s called. God what a lot of time I’ve wasted trying to stream this BS!!
Sham Jones says:
Screen mirroring is not the same as “casting.” Without Chromecast, you can either use the supported apps OR you can use the “cast screen” option to mirror your phone to your TV screen; however, the latter option is only available on Android devices. Most SmartTVs have a screen mirroring option (via WiFi) so you don’t even need a stick of any kind.
tracey moody says:
Lost chrome cast icon
Heather says:
Hello,
I’ve tried using my own steps above to use Google Chrome browser to play Amazon Prime video and it also wants to use the Amazon Prime app instead. At this time I haven’t gotten a work around yet.
Bob says:
Any chance you could update the content? It’s tough to go through your instructions only for it not to work, and find that the author can’t even get it to work.
David says:
Hi. I first tried the Amazon Prime app on my iPad. Won’t work with Chromcast. Even after deleting the app, when I use the steps you include above it tries to open the app. Any suggestions?
vikki true says:
thank you for this! Been trying since I got Google Chrome a few years ago and Amazon did not play well in somebody else’s sandbox. It still chokes often but at least it casts now.
jazzinger
VegasPurpleRose says:
I don’t have a problem with casting from my computer. What I’m trying to achieve is casting from iPhone.
PissdOnConsumer says:
Aren’t we ALL! THIS IS BS!

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William Sattelberg

Jul 10, 2019

William has been with TechJunkie since 2017, writing about smartphones, games, streaming media, and anything else that technology touches in our current age. He also works as a video producer, writing and recording scripts for our video team and editing videos for TechJunkie's YouTube channel. William graduated from SUNY Fredonia in 2016 with a degree in Video Production, and lives in Buffalo, NY.

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