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3 Must-Try Tips for Amazon Prime Video

Tap to explore little-known features of the blockbuster streaming service.

Amazon Prime Video

Originals, movies, TV, sports

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From Golden Globe winners like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Goliath to new series like Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, the Prime Video app is loaded with some of the best comedy, drama, romance, and action around. The next time you sit down to watch a TV show or movie, try some of these not-so-obvious features to get more out of your Prime Video subscription.

Tip: 1

Dig deep (really deep!) into a scene
‣ Prime Video’s X-Ray feature is kind of like having an encyclopedic, entertainment-obsessed friend at your side while you watch—someone who knows every hidden detail about a scene. Just tap the screen anywhere and detailed background info will pop up—everything from the actors in a particular scene to the music playing to trivia about the characters.

You can use X-Ray to find out who’s acting in a scene, and much more.

If you’re watching a Prime Original series or movie, you might even get extras like set photos or making-of videos. With The Tick, for example, X-Ray reveals exclusive video about the costume design as well as the show’s comic book inspirations, while Pete the Cat gives you the bonus of sing-a-long videos, character art, and storyboards.

Tip: 2

Customize for kids, device by device
‣ Prime Video offers hundreds of kid-friendly movies and shows (like the award-winning series Tumble Leaf). Use the app’s robust parental controls to ensure your children don’t stumble upon anything inappropriate.

Decide what streams on your devices (on your kids’ devices) using Viewing Restrictions.

In the settings menu, tap Parental Controls, then Viewing Restrictions. Select one of the four options: General, Family, Teen, or Mature.

One cool feature: You can set different restrictions for each registered device. So you might set the iPad that everyone in your home uses to Family, while being less restrictive with the Apple TV in your bedroom so you can catch an episode of Bosch before bed.

Tip: 3

Tailor the video quality
‣ By default, Prime Video strikes a nice balance between streaming quality and data usage. It automatically streams at the highest video quality when you’re connected to Wi-Fi, but scales down to a data-friendly Good quality (1 hour of streaming uses about 0.6 GB of data) when you’re on a cellular network.

Want to use less data? Check out Prime Video’s Streaming Quality controls.

Keep in mind that the latest Prime Original series are offered in an ultracrisp 4K video resolution. What if you want to see those shows at their very best without putting a dent in your cellular data usage?

Simply download those shows for offline viewing while connected to Wi-Fi. In the settings menu, change Download Quality to Best and make sure Download on Wi-Fi Only is toggled on.