yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
Is that the latest from Amazon? No crashing problems or anything? It should be pretty easy to drop in Leanback launcher support, I'll try to take a look tomorrow.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
I just sideloaded the new APK (3.0.71.25421), I think the mouse change is the nVidia Shield change, not on Amazon's end. The old app should support mouse as well, since it's mostly just a wrapped WebView. Then again, I never really tried :).

I'm still getting the layout crash on my nVidia Shield, so it would take a little tweaking to get it working. What would you like in 3.0.7.25421 that the older version doesn't support?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
[MENTION=882397]jaanibrahim[/MENTION], [MENTION=7001304]synologix[/MENTION], @bega, [MENTION=6623908]montajd[/MENTION], [MENTION=4515360]juggies[/MENTION], @Darkestnoir, [MENTION=903953]do1fmd[/MENTION], @cyri1337 and everyone else, I just uploaded 1.2.4 that should fix the parse error when installing the Amazon Video APK. Silly mistake on my part not considering the new permissions model in Android-M, so for the moment I'm targeting Android-L until I can get a fix in for the app flow.

As said above, I'll see what I can do about converting the latest Amazon Video APK. I may have some time tomorrow :).
[Shield Android TV Android Development] pmgnet:
Converting? I'm a developer and I'd like to see if I could help.

Are you able to mess with the apk internal files? Or are you having to decompile?

We can already sideload the Amazon video apk but it crashes on launching the video. I was guessing it was just missing a codec or library dependency.

I haven't rooted my shield yet but I guess I might be able to watch the logcat on the video app crash and see if it shares details about why it crashes.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
You can read about the original project here, if you haven't yet: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/prime-video-launcher-android-tv-solution-will-blaschko-ma

I didn't get into much detail in the article above, but there were two main issues that presented themselves. The one that was breaking the 3.x player on nVidia Shield is that there are ton of resource folders named xxxx-television that don't actually have the required view ids for the player activity, this causes the app to crash with null pointer exceptions (can't find R.id.left...). The way I solved this was to rename everything with xxxx-television to xxxx-watch, so essentially the edited APK listed on the first page is the original Amazon APK decompiled, edited, and resigned using this: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2478180. I believe I signed it with the shared key (I'd have to go back through this thread history to be sure), but I signed it with a publicly available key so that if someone wanted to do work on another Amazon app (store, music, etc) they could sign with the same key to avoid a signing mismatch that would prevent application installation. I've played around with making the Amazon Music app Leanback friendly (including adding hit states to things), but I didn't hear a lot of demand so I dropped the project.

In order to prepare the latest Amazon Video APK for installation, I would have to decompile, edit, and recompile/sign the APK and upload it to Dropbox and here. Then I'd have to update the launcher to point to the new address (I didn't make a config file with the original release). Essentially for me to make this a valid release, I'd have to create the new AVOD APK, update the launcher apk with correct permissions flow and a remote config file. It's probably 5-6 hours of work including some light testing, not something I have available immediately.

The other issue we've run into with this process (several others have attempted to port the APKs to devices) is the lack of x86 native libraries available for the player, I tried to grab some from the existing SonyTV etc apps, but without any luck finding matching ones. This only matters for non-ARM devices.

If you don't have any experience decompiling apps, this would be a good, simple project to start on to learn about the process. You can poke around the source code, it's actually quite interesting how everything ties together (and the fact that 90% of the app is WebViews).
[Shield Android TV Android Development] nomadman:
The virtual mouse did not work on the leanback version. But for some reason it will no longer play any shows or movies on 3.0.7.25421. I downgrade back to the leanback version and it gave me a message about having my geo IP blocked when I try to play a media. I'll check add my smartdns IP and install 3.0.7.25421 and see if it will play media again.

Edit: great non of the versions 3.0.x work now. My gf was just marathoning Mr. Selfridge 4 days ago on the SATV with 3.0.7.25421.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
You could try one of the old 2.x versions with the launcher, it might work. The blocked IP is a new error for me.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] nomadman:
Yea the 2.x version with the launcher works. I'm using a smartdns for my location. I had to add the dns in the satv net config and v2.x doesn't complain about geo locked anymore.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] lartomar2002:
I want to thank you for your work on this app. I followed your write up here:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/prime-video-launcher-android-tv-solution-will-blaschko-ma and it worked perfectly the first time. I choose high speed connection in the settings does this mean I am getting 720p or 1080p?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
It's probably only 720p, because that seems to be the limitation of the mobile app (as reported by other users). I haven't noticed any artifacts in my testing.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] matf:
Scraping the latest from Amazon UK

Hi,

First up, fabulous work - had this working beautifully on my Shield for the last month or so!

However, during that time I'm not entirely convinced my list of available films has updated? Still seems the same selection as I originally scraped. For example - I go to the Amazon Prime app or website, there are new films there (like The Experimenters or Sucker Punch) that do not appear in my lists in the Launcher. It's not the end of the world as I can add any I want to see to my watchlist and access them from there - but it would be nice if the app reflected more recent content?

Cheers

M
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
I'm relying on a 3rd party API to tell me what's available on Amazon, it's possible their checks don't run often. I've thought about making my own search engine type spider for Amazon, but haven't had time recently to really pursue it.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Jemus:
Where can I get v1.2.4?

I downloaded the apk from the frist post but it turned out to be v1.2.3 with that parsing error?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] mauidiver40:
Go into app settings for the amazon video launcher app. Under app permissions make sure access to storage is selected. That should solve parsing error.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] lartomar2002:
When you do find the time for this project would you please post it?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
Will do, I imagine it'll be an open source project :).
[Shield Android TV Android Development] bega:
Hi, it is not possible to extract the amazon.avod.apk of a Fire TV and adjust?

I have the app in /system/priv-app/ found, but these can not install on my shield TV.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
Others have done more research into this than I have, but the understanding is that the Fire TV APK is so integrated in the other systems present on the Fire TV that it doesn't work on non-Amazon platforms. One would have to port over a large portion of the Fire OS code in order to make it work. That said, that's what I've been told, I haven't investigated it myself.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Marc199:
Apps install just fine on my Nexus Player, I can open the launcher and I can log into my Amazon account. Sadly, Amazon Video fc's when I try to play a video. Any solution for this?

Gesendet von meinem HTC One mit Tapatalk
[Shield Android TV Android Development] xaudiblex:
Did you install the Amazon VOD app from the Amazon App Store or did you install the edited 3.0 version found in the first post?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Marc199:
I tried both of them and both crash every time I want to play a movie.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] xaudiblex:
Which version of Android are you on?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Marc199:
Marshmallow.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] xaudiblex:
Do you have Amazon Underground installed?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Marc199:
No. Should it be installed?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] xaudiblex:
No, it shouldn't be. I was trying to rule out any potential conflicts with the install. Did you ever try the version 2.0 of the Amazon Instant Video apk?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Martin4MG:
Hi, how can I download the Prime Launcher Version 1.2.4. The APK looks like Version 1.2.3
[Shield Android TV Android Development] boboskins:
Would be interested in 1.2.4 download also.

Have 1.2.3 installed and set the storage option to address the parsing issue. However after downloading and the installation requesting additional permissions I get the message that the app isn't installed.

B
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Marc199:
Yeah, tried both versions.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] xaudiblex:
When I still had a Nexus Player, pre-Marshmallow, the 2.x version worked like a charm. This is all hearsay, but I read somewhere that Android-N seems to have fixed some of the problems with the Amazon Instant Video App.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] 65fastback2+2:
Installed the prime video launcher and edited version files in the original post.

When opening prime video launcher it asks to update and then gives parsing error.

I can skip past it and it works ok.

Neither app plays HD.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] xaudiblex:
I had the same problem too. If you are on Marshmallow, go to the app settings and change the permissions to allow storage access. The rerun the app and it should update properly.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] chrisbensch:
Change video quality settings

I cannot seem to get the "Mobile Network for Video" quality setting to stick on anything other than the default of "Good Quality". I'm using the latest (as of now 3.0.63.x) and no matter what I do, changing the settings to "Best Quality" won't stay. I've checked the permissions, etc., but nothing stands out. Any ideas?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] 65fastback2+2:
Thanks...that allowed it to update.

Any ideas on the fix for why it wont play HD in either app? I have it set to SD quality best.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] xaudiblex:
The only way I could get it to stick was using a mouse. Using the arrow keys doesn't allow it to stick for some reason.

---------- Post added at 11:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:58 AM ----------

That is way beyond my knowledge level. If I had to guess, it is an app limitation Amazon artificially imposed on non-fire TV devices.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] chrisbensch:
You know, I didn't try that one, I will now! Thank You!
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
Yep, that's exactly why. Hopefully that changes.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] ddzado:
Has anyone had this error?

"Unable to play this video

Ensure you're signed in with the same Amazon account that you use on the website"

I am signed in with the same account.... not sure what to do. Thanks for
[Shield Android TV Android Development] cdoerman:
I just installed and I'm getting the same error on everything I try to play. Would appreciate any help.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] texasjmzmd:
Nexus player, Marshmallow

Tried edited and non edited apk ( from OP)

Edited worked, but when finally playing the movie it stops playing. The non edited version told me I did not have the app to do this.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] xaudiblex:
It looks like Amazon lost/did not renew licenses for certain movies & TV shows that were previously part of Prime Instant Video. I checked some of the videos giving me errors & they now show as purchase only. Try playing some of the other content on Prime to see if it will play or not.

---------- Post added at 12:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:04 AM ----------

Would it be possible to add a link to "Your Video Library" next to the "Amazon Video Watchlist" under settings? It would be nice to access purchased videos without having to dig around the... wonderful... amazon web UI. Thanks again WIll for all your hard work!
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
I just uploaded version 1.2.5 with this feature "My Amazon Video Library" under settings as well as a few crash fixes. Enjoy!
[Shield Android TV Android Development] xaudiblex:
Will, you are killing me! I am running out of things to nitpick at! :)

The only request I can think of now is the order of the settings. If you are not opposed to it, under settings in Prime Launcher, could you put location settings after the Library & Watchlist? I would think that Library & Watchlist would be accessed more than location settings (less clicks). If you can't, it wouldn't be the end of the world. I still love this app!
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
You'd be amused to know that the local version of the app actually has that switch, I changed it after I uploaded the update. ;)
[Shield Android TV Android Development] xaudiblex:
Will, you are awesome! I sent you a "beer" for your hard work! Thanks for working so hard to keep this app up to date.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] ddzado:
And then all of a sudden Amazon Instant Video starts working without the Prime Launcher app.... weird...

I'm not sure what I did.

It's version 3.0.63.245601
[Shield Android TV Android Development] jacksonru:
Amazon Video not working

Hi,

I've installed Amazon Video on my Nexus Player, when I try and run it I get the error 'Unfortunately Amazon Video has stopped'.

I followed the procedure above, first installing Prime Video Launcher which then installed Amazon Video, versions are;

Amazon Video - 3.0.63.245601

Prime Video Launcher - 1.2.5

Nexus Player Android 6.0.1

Can you help :)

Thanks
[Shield Android TV Android Development] texasjmzmd:
I'm getting the same thing, same set up.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
Very strange, I'm not seeing any new crash reports, but I likely wouldn't for Amazon Video unless it happens during the initial launch. I don't suppose any of you experiencing this issue would be able to pull the device logs for this and I can try to puzzle things out?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
I think this is when we throw up our hands and shout: "Hallelujah!"
[Shield Android TV Android Development] ddzado:
I would but the engineer in me wants to know what's going on. Your launcher is still installed but I'm using Amazon video directly.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
Agreed. I wonder if Amazon has a way of arbitrarily setting the codec it uses to play video based on a server variable, and has them all present in the app (and only some of the codecs support x86 devices through libhoudini). Or maybe Google enabled it on the Nexus Player with a OS patch? Tell you what, if I figure out what changed, I'll let you know :D. At this point I'm just guessing.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] xaudiblex:
I mentioned this earlier for another user. Some people have had more success with the N preview.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nexusplayer/comments/4le6yu/amazon_instant_video_working_with_android_n/
[Shield Android TV Android Development] bobbarney:
Wierd:

I have two Nexus Players. Prime Launcher worked on the first, but Amazon VOD keeps closing when a video is played on the second. The only difference I can think of is in the installation order I went through.

On the first Nexus Player:

1) Download and Install Prime Video Launcher app.

2) Prime Video Launcher app then auto-downloaded Amazon VOD.

3) Ran PVL, selected a movie. When Amazon VOD came up, I logged in and was able to watch the movie.

4) Also noticed that I could just watch movies from w/in Amazon VOD w/o going through PVL first.

SUCCESS.

On the second Nexus Player:

1) I absent-mindedly downloaded the Amazon VOD v3 edited apk and installed it.

2) Decided to just try running it, since it was working by itself on my first Nexus Player.

3) Amazon VOD worked fine until I tried to play a movie, at which point it would crash with the "Unfortunately, Amazon Video has stopped" dialog box.

4) So I uninstalled Amazon VOD.

5) Download and Install Prime Video Launcher app.

6) Prime Video Launcher app then auto-downloaded Amazon VOD.

7) Ran PVL, selected a movie. When Amazon VOD came up, I logged in. When I tried to play a movie, however, I still get the "Unfortunately, Amazon Video has stopped" dialog box.

FAILED.

Suggestions?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] bobbarney:
And then...

I installed Amazon VOD v2 apk.

Same problem "Unfortunately, Instant Video has stopped" dialog box.

Uninstall Amazon VOD v2.

Install Prime Launcher.

Let Prime Launcher auto-install Amazon VOD v3.

SUCCESS!!!!

Thanks for this app!
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
Woo hoo! I'm glad it all got figured out.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] chinedu40:
I'm still having the 'Unfortunately, instant video stopped' problem. What should I do to try and fix it?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
Which Video APK are you using?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] JDW00:
I have Prime Video Launcher installed and it is working.

Is it supposed to be HD? How can I tell?

Also, I currently only have the controller, not the remote control. When I pause video I cannot select any of OSD buttons like 10 sec back, 10 sec FWD, x-ray, etc. Is there anything I can do?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] mjbxx:
Seriously, what do your eyes see it as? I am betting it is SD.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] MaluNoPeleke:
I have the same problem on my Nexus Player with the Amazon Video version that was downloaded automatically by your Launcher.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] cmike21:
Same here.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] chinedu40:
I'm using the version downloaeed by the Prime Launcher app. I presume that's V3
[Shield Android TV Android Development] JDW00:
I know this strikes you as funny, but I don't see any way to tell if it is *actually* HD. It appears to be 480 or better, but I want to know exactly what it is.

Is it even possible for it to be HD using the Prime Video on Demand?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] mjbxx:
Its 480p. That is what I was getting at in my OP. Not meant to poke fun at all.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] JDW00:
Fair enough. Is there any way to get 720 or better?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] mjbxx:
Not sure but it would be nice to have an HD Amazon Prime app but I do not see it happening unless Nvidia and or Google somehow strike a deal with Amazon. I actually uninstalled it as I am in no way happy with the picture quality displayed. Unfortunately have to use a Fire TV if I want to watch HD Amazon Prime at this time.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] JDW00:
Same here.

My question stems from a comment from will.blaschko from December 25th, 2015:
[Shield Android TV Android Development] SolidSTI:
Thank you so much. This is working for me.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
Honestly I'm not sure what it maxes it, it looked "good enough" to me on my 1080p screen, but my eyes aren't perfect, nor is my TV sharp. I doubt it's full 1080HD, I don't know what each option is supposed to be, however.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] wakkaday:
whcih are the latest update files? for nvidia shield tv
[Shield Android TV Android Development] lartomar2002:
I am just happy that I have it at all.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] wakkaday:
can we add dates to when the files are updated? im not sure if i have latest fix

thanks though great app
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
The difference is that the APK from Amazon has TV files, but they were never updated to match the player changes, so the player Activity is looking for views that don't exist in the TV layout files, thus null pointer exceptions are being thrown.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] taranfx:
Thanks for Prime video launcher.

Unfortunately, the app has very low resolution visuals and even amazon video it launches is no better than 480p. No support for 4k on shield tv? :highfive:
[Shield Android TV Android Development] the john:
Thanks for the work on this, I wish Amazon would just let people play their content wherever they want! I have an issue though:

I installed your launcher, and let it download the Amazon Player version that it wanted. Everything looked ok, but now I'm getting the error:

"Unable to play this video. Ensure you're signed in with the same Amazon account that you use on the website"

Has anyone seen this before, and how do you handle it?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] V4lve:
I get this too.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] xaudiblex:
Are you having issues with all videos or just some videos?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] V4lve:
For me it never works. For the launcher I get the account error. Using prime video direct I get a player error.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] xaudiblex:
Which device are you running? I've noticed the majority of people having issues with this are using a Nexus Player.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] V4lve:
Hi. I am using a Nexus Player and seem to have it working now mostly. I removed the prime player and installed again from the launcher. Most movies play now but occasionally I find one that gives the 'wrong account' error.

Now that it's working the app is great!

Steve
[Shield Android TV Android Development] xaudiblex:
I have same problem with the "wrong account" for a few videos. I think it has something to do with the video metadata database used. When I look it up on the actual website, the ones that don't work are no longer part of prime video anymore.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] V4lve:
OK. I wondered if that was the case. I am also getting the occasional player error for movies that are definitely there as I can play them other ways.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] mjbxx:
This Prime app will actually achieve HD by entering Settings (preferably with a mouse as far as I know).

Select Menu (3 horizontal lines in the top left corner next to Amazon Video→ Settings→ SD Download Quality→ Select Best→ Now you have Amazon Prime in HD.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] xaudiblex:
Its weird. The option has always been there and even if you toggle it, the quality still plays in SD. Ironically, if you play the same video, in the chrome browser, on the Shield TV, the quality is night and day better.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] mjbxx:
I assure you that it does indeed work. I am currently enjoying Amazon Prime HD content in the United States.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] will.blaschko:
I've figured out how to play the video in an embedded browser, would this be preferable to launching the Amazon app? It would significantly lower the dependency on the other APK, that's for sure.

Maybe I can make it an option on first launch?