Amazon Prime Video Addresses Major Flaw

• Amazon Prime Video will soon separate free and paid content.
• A new tab will show only subscription-included programs.
• Amazon aims to bring clarity and simplicity to streaming.
• Tabs for add-ons like Max and Paramount will be added.
• Users can manage subscriptions within the app.

Amazon Prime Video is finally addressing its most frustrating feature.

It will soon be possible to separate the included films and TV shows from those you have to pay for.

John Walker Published: Tuesday, 9:25 AM

If you're a subscriber to Amazon Prime and watch its streamer offshoot Prime Video, you know what a nightmare it can be to use.

Shows and movies that you can watch for free as a Prime member are mixed with those that you need to buy or rent, and with those that come with add-on subscription packages.

It's a confusing and frustrating experience.

It seems, fingers crossed, Amazon is about to fix this.

New Feature for Prime Video

As spotted by The Verge, the interface is going to receive a new tab that will exclusively contain programs and films that are included in the subscription.

Yes, of course, you would think it already had that, but no, it didn't.

Amazon's Boast

Amazon boasts this new feature on its own site as bringing clarity and simplicity back to streaming.

It's uniquely Amazon that has so very deliberately blurred the lines between what's included and what's just a purchase from the Amazon store.

Prime Video's Offerings

It's generally a good thing that Prime doesn't limit its offerings to what's free within the deal.

Although that deal recently got worse with the addition of lengthy, randomly interruptive adverts for those who don't increase their monthly fee.

If I'm in the mood to watch Die Hard and can't find it on any of the 37 streaming services I'm subscribed to, having the option to pay a couple of bucks to rent it for the evening is a boon.

The issue is having it appear front and center on the Prime Video app that I pay a lot of money for and then finding out it was a trick.

Amazon's Confusion

It's hard not to imagine this confusion was also hurting Amazon.

Too often, I'll entirely miss a Prime-made show because it's so buried in their menus beneath the nickel-and-diming that I'll forget it was available.

I still haven't watched Invincible or The Wheel of Time because Prime's algorithm is so botched for me that they're impossibly buried.

It doesn't bode well that the same Amazon update boasts of its generative AI that will help me discover content.

Companies, stop calling things content. No one watching ever uses this word.

That just leads to more of the same blinkered funnelling that has Amazon's web store recommending you nothing but vacuum cleaners because you recently bought a vacuum cleaner.

Customer Feedback

"We're always listening to customers and reviewing feedback," says Kam Keshmiri, the VP of design at Prime Video.

It's clear that many are in search of a more intuitive streaming experience.

Which is a way of saying, "People just want to be able to find the stuff they're paying for."

I'm glad that's going to be possible.

Managing Add-ons

There will also now be tabs for add-ons you've bought, like Max, Paramount, and Crunchyroll, singling out their shows and films too, along with the ability to manage those subscriptions within.

This sounds like a huge blessing.

I hate realizing I forgot to cancel the MGM sub that was cheaper than renting that one film last month and then not being able to find what it actually offers thanks to the combination of awful UI and algorithmic blind spots.

Also, everyone on Earth, add the MGM sub so you can watch the best thing on TV right now, From.

Set a calendar reminder to cancel it.

Amazon's Employee Treatment

Now perhaps Amazon, who loves listening to their customers' feedback so much, could listen to everyone screaming at them to pay their employees properly, allow unions, and provide proper safety measures in their facilities.

That'd be great.