Parents' Guide to

Amazon Prime Video

By Christy Matte, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Rich content library, imperfect parental controls.

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Mac , Android , Kindle Fire , Windows app Free to try Entertainment
Amazon Prime Video Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this app.

  • Prime Video App: Screenshot #1
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Community Reviews

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age 6+

Based on 3 parent reviews

Lebron12James3
Lebron12James3 Parent
January 3, 2022
age 2+

Curious George goes into an epic battle with Lord Farquad to save Squidward so he can give him a bowl

chocolatecake123
chocolatecake123 Adult
December 14, 2020
age 5+

A good service

This service is free for anyone with an Amazon Prime membership. It has a rather nice selection of movies and TV shows, especially considering that it is free. However, the interface isn’t as good as Netflix. There also aren’t as many good originals as Netflix.

This title has:

Too much consumerism
See all 3 parent reviews

Privacy Rating Warning

  • Personal information is not sold or rented to third parties.
  • Personal information is shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is displayed.
  • Data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • User's information is used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Data profiles are created and used for personalised advertisements.
Learn more about our privacy ratings

What’s It About?

AMAZON PRIME VIDEO is the app for Amazon.com video services, including video rentals and purchases, Prime Video subscription services, and pre-purchased/digital-access videos. Kids can browse via genre or search for specific content. There's also an area dedicated entirely to child- and family-friendly programming and movies. Families who subscribe to premium channels (HBO, Showtime, etc.) through Amazon will find that content in the app, as well. Amazon Prime Video interfaces with the Movies Anywhere service to support the display of prior movie purchases on other platforms. Families can curate their own watchlists of movies to make decision-making easier on movie night. Some content can be downloaded to your device for offline viewing. Much like the Amazon website, there are recommended titles and reviews from other users.

Parents can control which videos are available to stream by restricting content by rating. Content beyond the appropriate rating will be available only if a PIN is entered (some devices will allow fingerprint access as well). These controls can be set by device, allowing parents to restrict one level of content on the family TV and another entirely on an iPad or phone. These restrictions do not impact video cover art and descriptions, which remain visible regardless of controls in place. Parents can also create a unique user profile for each family member, allowing them to curate personal watchlists, as well as find custom suggested content. Kids 12 and under will have special profiles that narrow their search results and suggestions to more age-appropriate options. There is no way to prevent kids from switching profiles.

While watching content on Amazon Prime Video, families can access the X-Ray information service, which gives information about the actors and music in a scene, movie trivia, and actor bios from the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (13 ):

If you're looking for a vast collection of movie and TV content in one place, you can't really go wrong here. Amazon Prime Video sets the bar high for both navigation and content. The parental controls are OK, but it would be helpful to be able to lock kids into their profiles rather than setting a restrictive set of controls on the entire device. Having the ability to block specific titles -- and not just ratings categories -- would also be nice. In terms of content, the integration with Movies Anywhere brings Amazon Prime Video even closer to a one-stop-shop solution. And for those family members who always want to know where they know that actor from, X-Ray is fun and easy to use. While parents of clever kids will still want to keep an eye on what they are doing, Amazon Prime Video is a solid solution for families who want their content on a variety of devices.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about making smart media choices on Amazon Prime Video and other platforms. What types of movies and television content are appropriate in your family? Does that change as kids get older? How might your personal watchlist compare to someone else's?

  • How do you like this app in comparison to other apps you could use? As you balance your time on- and off-screen, would this be an app you'd choose to use? Why, or why not?

App Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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