Amazon brings iPhone and iPad users the power of the meme

Amazon gets a (limited) sharing habit

OK, it’s Amazon, it’s marketing and what in fact is happening is the giant online retailer is trying to use the power of crowds to build its business, but this will still be fun: iPhone and iPad users can now share short clips of Amazon Original video with friends.

This is meme power

The way this works is that while you are watching the show on your iOS device you can tap the stream to summon the ‘Share a clip’ button. The show will pause, a 30-second clip will open, and you get to tweak it until it includes the moment you want to share.

Then you get to share it using the Share button.

The feature makes use of Amazon’s X-Ray tech.

How it works (detailed version)

From the Amazon PR:

1. While watching an episode in the Prime Video app on your iOS mobile device, hit the “Share a clip” button. This will pause the show and open a clip, edit, and share screen.
2. Prime Video will generate a 30-second clip of what you just watched, and you will be able to move the clip forward or backward to fine-tune. You’ll also be able to preview it before sharing.

[Also read: How SharePlay works on Apple’s iPhones, iPads and Apple TV]

1. Once you’re ready to share a clip, tap the “Share” icon on the screen, and you can upload it via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, iMessage, Messenger, and WhatsApp.

Sounds fun, right?

Hold that thought

Amazon isn’t enabling all its content for this. You’ll be able to share clips from a very, very limited number of shows at first. These include The Boys (Season One), The Wilds, Invincible, and Fairfax. Though Amazon does promise “more Amazon Original movies and series” will follow.

I guess as the world continues to stay indoors, sharing this kind of stuff gets more interesting. Hence also Apple’s introduction of SharePlay.

Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.