Google and Amazon hug it out: YouTube is on Fire TV, Prime Video on Chromecast

Starting today, you can finally watch YouTube on select Fire TV streaming boxes. You can also finally watch Amazon Prime Video on Google Chromecast devices as well as all Android TV devices. Both Google and Amazon published separate press releases announcing the truce.

For several years now, YouTube has been absent from Amazon’s suite of Fire TV streaming systems and, in return, Prime Video has been absent from Google’s casting dongles as well as from most Android TV systems. It’s not quite clear how the feud between the two companies truly began, but it appears they have both buried the hatchet.

Starting today, you can stream Prime Video on all Chromecasts, including devices with Chromecasts built-in. You’ll need the most recent version of the Amazon Prime Video app on your smartphone in order to cast.

Prime Video is already available on a select few Android TV devices, but access is rolling out to all other Android TV systems today. It could take a while for it to work, however.

As far as YouTube on Fire TV, it appears very old Fire TV streamers won’t support YouTube. Here is the full list of supported devices, according to Amazon:

• Fire TV Stick (2nd Gen)
• Fire TV Stick 4K
• Fire TV Cube
• Fire TV Stick Basic Edition
• Toshiba, Insignia, Element, and Westinghouse Fire TV Edition smart TVs.

The companies revealed that they would start working together again back in April. However, there was no firm date set for the launch of the services, so it still felt like it might not happen. However, here we are.

For a long time, Amazon refused to even sell Google’s Chromecasts via its shopping hub. Amazon’s explanation was because Chromecasts didn’t support Prime Video. It’s not clear why this was the case, and Google has been mum on the topic.

In 2017, Amazon announced it would start selling the Chromecast soon, but didn’t officially list them for sale until December 2018, nearly a year later. To add insult to injury, up until that point a search for “Chromecast” on Amazon supplied you with a listing of Amazon Fire TV devices.

It’s nice to see some peace and harmony between the two companies now.