Amazon Instant Video is a good service and especially if you are already a Prime member. As well as the free shipping and unlimited music, the ability to watch a decent number of movies and TV shows at no extra cost certainly does add to the Prime experience. Not to mention you can also pay and rent newer content too. The service got all that bit better for android users when back in September Amazon launched a dedicated Android Instant Video app. That said, one glaring feature missing from the app (and Prime in general) is the ability to work with Chromecast. Now it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why Amazon is slow in offering Chromecast support. However, does not change the fact that Amazon users who own a Chromecast cannot currently stream all that TV and movie goodness to their big screen. Well, you can now albeit not officially.
A new app which has popped up on the Play Store this week dubbed Primecast does exactly what the names suggests it does. Using the app, you can cast Prime Instant Video services directly to your Chromecast. Now it does need to be clear this is nothing to do with Amazon and instead is a third party offering. That said, it does seem to work and allows users to cast the content. So how does it work? Well, you sign in with your Amazon details and from then on you can cast content from your library or wish list. It is worth noting that the content can ONLY be cast from your library and wish list. Therefore, you do need to add content you want to watch to one of these before it can be cast. The only other caveat noted is currently the service is only available in the US, UK and Germany although it is suggested Japan support might be in the works.
That said if you do want to give Primecast a try then it can be downloaded via the Play Store and costs $2.99. If you are thinking about giving this a try you do so at your own risk. This is a third party app and there is always the chance Amazon might somehow stop its ability to function. More importantly, Amazon may simply add Chromecast support in the future (yeah right). The developers do claim that they do not believe they are breaking Amazon’s usage policy’s and are not tampering with the DRM technology. Either way, if you want to cast Amazon Instant Video to your Chromecast this does seem to be the only option. So, will you be giving Primecast a try? If you do let us know what you think of it.
