Original: Prime video hacks: building a killer playlist
Amazon Prime Video is one of the leading paid-streaming services in the world. It offers unlimited access to thousands of hours of content at no additional cost for Prime members. Here’s how to create a playlist in two easy steps with our Prime video hacks.
Second only to Netflix by subscriber count, Amazon Prime Video offers quality titles like The Boys, Outer Range, and the upcoming Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power. The streamer also has an extensive collection of blockbusters and documentaries.
But with so much content, finding a title that’s just right can be challenging. Amazon has a recommendation engine, but it builds suggestions based on your browsing history as a whole. So while you may be in the mood for a period piece, Amazon has no way of knowing that and will suggest titles based on everything you’ve searched for, started, stopped, or finished.
But what if there is a workaround? In this Amazon Prime Video hack, we examine how to create unique playlists that will net you spot-on recommendations every Friday night.
Related: 3 Tricks To Using Language Features On Amazon Prime
Prime video hacks: create a playlist
Step One: Create an Amazon Prime Video user profile
Prime Video allows subscribers to create six profiles. The recommendations and watch history associated with each profile are not synced. Profiles represent unique browsing experiences and preferences.
To create a profile:
- Visit Amazon Prime Video
- The profile selection drop-down menu may be titled Who’s Watching or Profile Selection
- Click Add New
- Type in the profile name
- A checkbox is available to turn on parental controls
- Save the profile: you’ll be redirected to the Manage Profiles section – you can access this page at any time by interacting with the same drop-down menu and clicking Manage Profiles later
Having the ability to create multiple profiles gives you the flexibility to build collections. A profile can be named anything. For example, a profile could be created called “80s films.”
Step Two: Build a watchlist
Unfortunately, Amazon Prime Video doesn’t have an actual “playlist” feature. So, to create a playlist, we need to use the My Stuff option in Amazon Prime (with some help from the profile section).
To access My Stuff and add content:
- Visit Amazon Prime Video
- My Stuff is the second to last option on the sub-navigation ribbon
- Click My Stuff
- If you’ve never used the feature, there should be no content in My Stuff; if content does populate and is unwanted, hover over the title and click on the Checked Document icon, and select Remove From Watch List
- Click Home
- To add titles to My Stuff, search for the title, click on the title card, and then click the + icon that says Add To My Watchlist
- Add more titles to your watchlist
This is where unique profiles come in handy. With six profiles, you can build custom playlists by adding content to My Stuff based on genre, era, director, lead actor, maturity rating, or any other attribute you like. The profile is the playlist. This trick is particularly handy for brick-and-mortar shops that loop content for guests. Having a 90s Halloween party? Build a watchlist full of 90s Friday night fright flicks and name the profile 90s Halloween.
Of course, you’re limited to six, but it beats the never-ending search for content. And as a bonus, Prime Video’s recommendation engine will begin suggesting unique content to each profile based on the profile’s watchlist, so if you’re in the mood for 80s comedy flicks, all you’ll need to do is create an 80s Comedy profile, build the watchlist, and Amazon will start suggesting titles similar to that profile’s history and preferences.
S what are you in the mood for? There’s a profile/playlist filled with My Stuff for that.
It’s not perfect, but it works.
Final words
Surprisingly, Amazon hasn’t created a playlist feature for Prime Video. Still, we have no complaints; Amazon Prime Video is included at no cost in an already robust and value-rich Prime Membership. We can live with workarounds.
So what are you planning on naming your playlists with our Prime video hacks?
Signing up for Amazon Prime Video is easy if you are already an Amazon Prime member. All you’ll need to access the service is your Prime login information.