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| Amazon lets you share clips from Prime Video |
Amazon has announced that you can share 30-second videos with certain Prime Video content directly from its iPhone app.
This feature was initially only available for a very limited number of shows. However, allowing users to share video in programs is quite different from some other streaming media providers.
According to the company's press release, the video sharing functionality can be used on all iOS devices. When watching a show, the Split Clip button appears along with the other controls. Clicking on it will create a 30-second video.
You can then customize it to make sure it contains the part of the view you want to share. You can share it with Apple's built-in sharing feature, send it to friends via iMessage, or post it on social media.
When asked by an Amazon spokesperson if the feature would be available on Android, he said that clip sharing is currently only available to iPhone users with Prime Video 8.41 (or higher).
Any streaming service should add this feature because viewers like to share clips from the show they're watching, and this is basically free marketing of the show.
If you have iOS, now is the time to help Amazon with your marketing
However, Amazon competitors like Netflix and Hulu are moving in completely opposite directions. If you take a screenshot while watching one of their shows, the video content will be blocked and the subtitles will only appear when you play it.
While this may be an understandable strategy for the original third-party content of the software provided by the streaming service itself (the Netflix download feature also has some limitations on the software you can download), it appears to be missing, as people are marketing the opportunity for them.
Amazon said you can share clips from season one of The Wilds, Invincible, Fairfax, and The Boys first. But more movies and shows will be added in the future.
It's not clear if this feature will be available for non-Amazon content via Prime Video in the future.