YouTube has officially returned to Amazon Fire TV devices.
Amazon confirmed today that the official YouTube app for Fire TV is now available. You can download it on the Fire TV Stick (2nd Gen), Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Stick Basic Edition, and Fire TV Edition smart TVs. The app will be available to more Fire TV devices in the coming months.
YouTube TV and YouTube Kids apps are coming to Amazon's Fire TV hardware, too, with launches happening later this year.
Unsurprisingly, the YouTube app on Fire TV works with Amazon's Alexa assistant. This means you can say "Alexa, open YouTube" to launch the app or "Alexa, find cooking videos on YouTube" to look for something specific. If you're already in the app, you can just say something like "Alexa, find gaming videos" to search for content. You can also use Alexa to play, pause, fast-forward, and rewind while watching a video.
Amazon and Google had a strange back and forth at the end of 2017, with Google removing YouTube support on the Echo Show and then pulling it from the Fire TV devices, too. Google blamed a "lack of reciprocity" because Amazon didn't sell Chromecast or Google Home devices or offer Prime Video on Chromecast. The whole situation was a pain to consumers who just wanted to watch YouTube on their Fire TV, and while they could get to YouTube using a web browser on their TV, the arrival of the official YouTube app for Fire TV is great to see because it ought to offer a better YouTube experience.
Amazon also confirmed today that Amazon Prime Video is now available on Chromecast and Android TV devices.
