by For all its selection of original content, such as To fall, The boys And Rings of PowerPrime Video has always offered a cluttered, confusing, and unintuitive interface, especially compared to competitors like Netflix. That’s changing today, as Amazon begins rolling out a new Prime Video user interface that, in the company’s words, “brings clarity and simplicity back to streaming.”
Prime Video’s redesign starts with a simplified navigation bar that should make it easier to find your way around. On the left, the bar includes the general categories of Home, Movies, TV Shows, Sports, and Live TV. Immediately to the right, the navigation bar continues with a tab dedicated to the content that comes with your Prime membership, followed by sections for add-on plans like Max, Paramount+, Crunchyroll, and others. There’s a separate section for adding new plans—from Amazon’s 100+ options—right from the bar.
Meanwhile, a new “hero rotator” below the bar highlights the content available in each section of the selected bar. It looks similar to rival services, which doesn’t sound like a big deal on paper, but should be a welcome change for anyone who’s played with Prime Video’s old, confusing UI.
Unsurprisingly, Amazon is adding AI-generated personalized recommendations (“Made for you”) when browsing the Movies and TV Shows sections of the bar. Using the company’s Bedrock AI model, the machine-learning recommendations will offer content tips based on your viewing history and preferences.
AI will also help create new synopses for TV shows and movies. Amazon says the change will make it faster to browse through its content summaries, saving you from having to scroll down to learn more about a given piece of content.
Finally, Amazon says the user interface features new animations, faster page transitions, and zoom effects to make the experience “more fluid.” On living room devices, video content will automatically play on the hero rotator as you browse (much like Netflix and other competitors). If you head to the Live TV tab, recommended stations will also play on their own, until you choose something that gives you your full attention.
The UI update begins rolling out Tuesday. You can learn more in Amazon’s announcement post.
