AmazonDan commented on my post last week about the Kindle Fire sale, asking if there really was no way to watch an Amazon Instant Video on an Android tablet (specifically a Nexus 7).

I said “nope,” but someone (Bree) reminded us that alternate browsers, like Dolphin, support Flash. So I went hunting.

Good news: It can be done!

The bare bones instructions are here, and you’ll want to follow that link because it’ll take you to the all-important Flash .apk file, which you’ll need to download.

So follow along, and I’ll give you more details. Note that this method will not work with a Nook HD, since there’s no way (without rooting or using an N2A card) to install apps from “outside sources” on a Nook HD.

Follow the link above and find the instruction to: Download: Adobe Flash Player 11.1 (1).apk. And by the way, while it is possible to download that file directly from your Android device, I found it easier to manage the download on my computer, and then drop the file into Dropbox.

You can ignore the instructions to “install Appsinstaller,” as long as your device settings are set to “allow installation of apps from unknown sources.”

Fair warning: This is a minor security risk. Please practice safe downloading.

So either download the .apk directly from your mobile browser or locate where you put it in Dropbox. Clicking directly on the file will install it.

Once that’s done, navigate to your browser settings. (I used Dolphin.) Go to Settings–> Web Content and Flash Player. Set it to “Always on.”

Now navigate to Amazon, log in and go to Instant Video. Start it up just like you would on your desktop.

Here’s a screen shot of a video from my Nexus 7. And don’t Sam and Dean look great!

So the good news. You can watch Amazon videos on Android devices! The bad news? Well, the number of reasons to buy an Amazon Kindle Fire HD just dropped by one.

Oh, and thanks Dan for continuing to bug me until I figured it out. I’m feeling highly accomplished today. (Not bad for too little sleep and a too-long day.)

Update: Dan and I emailed back and forth the other night, and it was pretty obvious my instructions weren’t the best, so here’s my first how-to video, which will hopefully clear up any confusion. Go easy on me. I’ll get better as I do more of these.

VIDEO: How to Stream Amazon Instant Videos on a Nexus 7 or other Android Tablet
“Installing Flash on Android Jelly Bean Devices”

Update: Unfortunately, this only works on devices running Jelly Bean (Android 4.2). I’ll hunt further and see if I can’t find a solution for Ice Cream Sandwich devices.

Update: I never did find a solution for Ice Cream Sandwich, but as promised, I have found a way to make it work on KitKat.

Update: This article is now superseded by the release of the official Instant Video for Android app released by Amazon.

NO COMMENTS

  1. I really wish Amazon would put out an actual Android app for all devices. While sideloading Flash will work (nice write up Juli) you get SD streams instead of HD like you do on the Fire HD’s and on the iDevice app.

  2. @Brian, you and me both! The iPad app is smoother and much easier to use. But I have to keep my editor happy, so it was worth tracking down an alternative. Now Dan will have to find something else to complain about (and give me more excuses to research and write articles). 🙂

  3. @Juli, Nexus 7. Btw, your video above shows that you were watching on portrait mode. To clarify, when you rotate your nexus 7 to landscape mode, does the screen also adjust to full-screen landscape? I have no problem with this issue when watching youtube using youtube app, but this does not work when watching amazon using Dolphin.

  4. Dion, you can stream Amazon Instant videos in HD on your Nexus 7 in landscape or portrait mode using Firefox after installing the Flash apk. So if you can’t view them in landscape with Dolphin, try Firefox.

  5. Oops. My previous post was wrong.

    When you first try to play an Instant video in the Dolphin Browser it pops up with a screen instructing you to download MS Silverlight. There is no Silverlight app for Android.

    But if you look closely, lower right, there is a button you can click that will allow you to play the video using Flash. Click on that and you are good to go.

  6. Glad i found this thread and finally have amazon prime video working on my asus tf300! I’m an android novice but good with pc’s – following instructions to install was easy. Only problem was i use chrome and it apparently doesn’t offer the flash always on option. Tried firefox – same problem. Finally installed dolphin and i could set the flash-on option and it works well. Would prefer to continue using chrome, so if that setting exists in it, i’d like to know where to find it. Thanks!

  7. I’m running Android 4.0.3 on an HTC Evo V phone. I have Flash 11.1 installed. I am able to log in on Amazon via Dolphin, pick and try to stream a movie (I had to use the “Use Flash” button that jackbenimble mentioned). it looks like it’s trying to start (message in video player window says “connecting”) and then it won’t play, just keep getting an error that says “Unable to connect to video. Please try again later.” I’ve tried via WiFi and 4G connections, and other data was working. Is this just an issue of having too old of an Android OS? Any other suggestions? Thanks! (Can’t believe they won’t make an Android app, but they probably are trying to sell more Kindle Fires instead).

  8. I’ve tried the Puffin browser solution. Good news is it does play the videos, the bad news is the video and sound are out of sync. There is a free version of the browser with a 14 day trial of Flash, if you want to test it out.
    Hopefully, a better solution arrives.

  9. I went through this process and had zero luck with Chrome. however, Dolphin Browser works swimmingly!

    1. Install flash as instructed above
    2. install Dophin
    3. in Dolphin settings > Web Content, set flash player to either always on, or on-demand.
    4. log into your prime acct and have at it!

  10. Found your instructions very straight forward, however I still can’t get amazon videos to stream on my Galaxy Tab 3 that runs 4.2.2. Flash 11.1 is installed, I’m using Dolphin with flash player set to “alway on” but still no luck. Has anybody had any luck with this?

  11. Followed instructions and works for me on T-Mobile galaxy note 2.
    Only thing is that when flipping to landscape mode you have to use the very edge of the screen to move the page up or down. Not going to complain about it just giving a heads up to others if they couldn’t get it to move. Thanks again for the write up!

  12. Another note, just make sure unknown sources is checked first then navigate with the link for the flash apk, after done downloading pull menu bar down install apk. Saves the hassle of using a computer. Not knocking using a computer, for me it’s easier not using one when I don’t have too.

  13. Holly crap it worked! I didn’t even follow all the instructions. Downloaded the apk straight from android (galaxy s3, jelly bean 4.1.2). Opened the apk with Google installer. Selected to open adobe flash setting page in android native browser. Went to amazon prime in browser, selected desktop view amd clicked “watch now” on a amz prime movie. Voila! Thank you!

  14. What am I missing, downloaded flash, installed, installed dolphin, flash always on, log into prime, start video, just get a black screen, after letting it sit for three minutes I give up on it. Latest version of android running on gs4, also could not get it to run on my previous phone, HTC one with jellybean, any suggestions?

  15. worked like a charm for me. thanks for sharing this process. now I can actually use my prime membership that I pay Amazon for. only problem is I can’t adjust the volume on the movies cause I can’t drag the volume slider. oh well I guess.

  16. Confirming Flash Fox works on Galaxy Note 2, with Android 4.1.2; no messing with APKs or anything, I just installed Flash Fox, navigated to the Amazon Instant Video webpage, view full site (link near the bottom) and boom, I’m watching video in full screen!

  17. I have tried to follow that link, and upon completing the download, all I get is a screen from the zipextractor that says adobe flash not available. I am by no means a computer whiz, but thought this seemed simple enough. Even when I was able to download adobe flash player dropbox gave me a message stating it cannot copy file type…:( I hate the Nexus for not streaming easily.

  18. Yes, you can watch Amazon Instant Videos on a Nook HD and Nook HD+ running the stock OS based on Ice Cream Sandwich. Just download and install Flash Fox from the Play store. Then log in to your Amazon account and start watching. The quality is not as good as the Netflix dedicated app, but it’s fine.

    Hopefully Amazon will put out a dedicated video app for Android in the near future which should provide better quality on par with the Netflix app.

    • @Chris. Now that’s weird. It worked fine under 4.3 on my Nexus 7. Have you posted anything on the CM forums about it? I plan to flash my Nook HD later this month, when I have some spare time. I’ll test some things then, if you haven’t reported anything before.

  19. @Juli @everybody
    Does anybody experience issue streaming amazon instant videos on nexus 7 (android) today? I have been using dolphin for six months with no problem, thanks to this webpage, until today. I downloaded firefox- did not work as well. I checked flash- it’s the latest version. Chat with amazon cust service- no luck. Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

    • @Dion, it hasn’t worked for me since I upgraded to Kit Kat. Did your Nexus 7 recently upgrade. As soon as I have some time, I plan to research and see if there’s a solution for Kit Kat. If I can find it, I’ll update the article.

  20. @ned0: Yes I am. I made sure that I played it in desktop mode. I made sure that my flash is current and active. It worked just fine on my nexus 7 until 2 days ago. It is acting as if I did not have flash player installed. It’s like Amazon somehow able to detect and block streaming attempt from android-based tablet.

  21. @Jim: hey, maybe I did wrong. Can you explain how to change to desktop mode, step-by-step? What I did was I went to full site, not sure if it is different from desktop mode. But yes, I saw only title upon clicking ‘watch now’ button.

    @Juli: I am conservative. I still keep 4.2 for my Nexus :p

  22. There was a recent update in Flash Player that has prevented Android users from watching Amazon Instant Videos on Android tablets, phones and TVs, which was possible earlier.
    That was the response from Amazon when I question why I am unable to see movies on my ASUS (problem started 12/5/13, I could go streaming without problem earlier)
    If the IT gurus of this website have an alternative solution, please, let us know! ty

  23. I seem to have flash working fine, but amazon prime itself isn’t working. Running Android 4.1 on a galaxy note II so I did what the other note II user did and tried flash fox. Same results as with the apk. No video loads. Is amazon trying to block folks from this work around?

  24. Just want to chime in my experience since I was able to use some of the info in the comments. Like a few others, a few days ago when I tried to stream the AIV on my tablet I ran into a grey popup with the video name and nothing else (even though the previous day it worked no problem). Anyways based on Dion’s comment I adjusted my browser settings to “desktop” and reloaded the page. This time the grey popup box noted that I needed to install silverlight, which looks like it isn’t available for tablets. Thankfully another option also became visible to the lower right of the grey box to watch in flash. I clicked that link, which loaded a new webpage and I was able to “watch now”. Still need to finish watching this video so I’m not sure if this has to be done each time or not.

  25. Ok, followed Stamm’s fix, which sorta half works, everything thinks I have flash player, but loading Amazon videos doesn’t work, it leads to dolphin asking if im still connected, which I am. Also, this only works when I’m in Ipad mode, android and desktop don’t work.

  26. Followed the steps to a ‘t’. Still not working. I head to the prime instant video “watch now” button and I get the old “This device can’t play Amazon instant video titles, blah, blah” I’m running Android Jellybean 4.2 on a Nobis Tablet. Anyone know anything else that might help?

  27. I’m having trouble getting this to work. On a Galaxy Tab 3 running 4.1.2 i’ve installed the APK file and set the settings in dolphin but get nothing. I don’t see the link others are referring to about viewing with flash instead of silverlight. I’ve also tried flash fox and in both browsers get the same thing once i click the “watch now” button it just brings up the screen you would expect the video to play in but it has a still picture of the box and no video controls of any kind. Any suggestions?

  28. I have the same problem as anna. This method worked fine up until a couple of weeks ago. Now on my Nexus 7 (2013), I just get the “Amazon Loading . . .” screen.

    Tried uninstalling/reinstalling flash, but that didn’t help (Adobe’s flash test site works fine).

    Incidentally, this started happening right when Amazon started shipping their TV streamer thing. I suspect they changed something that broke things.

    • I just checked the xda forum. Someone else had the same issue, at about the same time. Here’s the quote:

      “Update / Solution: This turned out to be a cache problem. Once I deleted the cache and all cookies from Dolphin, then signed back into Amazon, Instant Video worked properly again. Leaving the symptoms below for posterity. Or something.

      The Problem:
      I’ve been using this modified flash package for a few weeks to watch Amazon Instant Video, but sometime around April 9th or 10th it stopped working. Other sites like youtube and cbs.com still work fine. The problem is just Amazon Instant Video. I get the “Amazon Instant Video Loading” screen with the animated green dots, but it just sits there forever. Again, this was working until about a week ago. I’ve tried re-installing the flash apk, but that did not solve the issue.”

      So try deleting cache and cookies. I don’t have a Nexus 7 anymore, and I cringe at trying this on my only somewhat stable N2A Kit Kat installation on my Nook HD.

  29. Thanks Juli; deleting the cache does let me watch a video. Unfortunately though, it only works once – each time I watch a video, I have to delete the cache first.

    Bummer. I wonder what changed – presumably something in Dolphin? I can tell almost immediately when it’s not going to work: the font of the “loading” graphic shrinks momentarily before the video actually starts playing when it works. When it doesn’t work, the font size doesn’t change and the loading graphic just cycles forever.

    Could be worse, though. I really wish Amazon would get their head in the right place and release a proper Android app. I actually tried sending jeff@amazon.com an email about it because I read that he sometimes pays attention to customer issues. I did receive a response from the executive response team or something like that, but it seems like he doesn’t really care about these particular customers. :-/

  30. Will this work on the new Samsung Galaxy tap s? I was going to buy the Ipad air but “settled” on this Galaxy thinking it had flash and would run everything. I wish I’d spent the extra money for the Ipad and maybe I can take the Galaxy pad back. I haven’t had it that long. Words with friends locks it up and I can’t play the pogo app that works on my note II phone. Frustrating.

    Thanks for your help.

    • @Jean, no, this particular article won’t help you. You need to read the one about making it work on KitKat.

      That said, it is a workaround, where the iPad Air has an Amazon Instant Video app which will give you a better experience and is less likely to stop working when your tablet updates its operating system. The fact thet I’ve had to write two articles on how to make it work is a testament to the transitory nature of this workaround.

  31. I just bought a dragon touch N90 that runs jelly bean. I have done everything suggested and when I get to the video I want to play there is no play arrow. There’s a message instead that says that “you can watch it on kindle fire, mobile devices, game consoles, and other compatible devices”. My android 4.2 jelly bean is compatible…right? What the hell!!! ARGH. I did the original work around downloading flash 11.1.apk and also downloaded the app from amazon market instant video for android. I even changed my amazon account setting to play flash player instead if silverlight and also installed dolphin to make sure I have flash player always on. Can anyone help…PLEASE?

    • @Debra, that’s an old article, and the method doesn’t work on devices running KitKat or later. Now that Amazon has an official app which (mostly) works, I haven’t updated the methods in this article or the later one discussing how to make it work on KitKat.

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