Amazon has long trailed Netflix and Hulu when it comes to offering separate viewer profiles for its streaming Prime Video service, but it appears the e-tailing giant is finally getting with the program.
As NDTV reports, Amazon is starting to roll out support for up to six Prime Video users profile, including a primary profile plus five additional adult or child profiles.
The new Prime Video “Profile Picker” appears (or may soon appear, depending on your country) in the top-right corner of the Prime Video homepage. An Amazon Prime Video support page says that each profile will offer “separate recommendations, watch history, season progress and watch list” videos based on your viewing activity.
Unfortunately, if you head to Prime Video on the web, your phone, or a Fire TV device, there’s a good chance you won’t see the new Profile Picker yet (and no, I don’t see it either). According to Amazon’s support pages, support for Prime Video viewing profiles is—for now, anyway—limited to “selected countries” only. (NDTV is based in India.) An Amazon rep clarified that profiles are rolling out “in phases” starting in India and “some territories” in Asia and Africa.
Support for viewer profiles has been a puzzling omission for Amazon Prime Video, or at least it has been up until now. Both Netflix and Hulu have long offered viewer profiles, with Netflix supporting up to five profiles while Hulu lets you have up to six.
Without separate viewing profiles, Amazon Prime Video users had to settle for an odd mish-mash of TV and movie recommendations depending on how many household members were streaming on the same account.
Users will be able to create and manage Prime Video viewer profiles on the Android and iOS versions of the Prime Video app, as well as on the web, on 10th-gen or higher Fire tablets, Chromecast, and 4th-gen Apple TV devices. Prime Video users in India will also be able to create and manage profiles using the Prime Video app for Fire TV.
Other devices will only support Prime Video profile switching, such as the Fire TV “home screen experience,” Echo Show displays, non-Chromecast and Apple TV set-top devices, and 9th-gen or earlier Fire tablets.
Updated on March 24, 2020 with a statement from Amazon about where Prime Video profiles are currently available.