Amazon just made Prime Video a lot more addictive. The streaming giant rolled out a new vertical video feed called Clips, letting users swipe through short-form snippets from shows and movies - then jump straight into watching the full thing. It's the latest sign that every streaming platform is borrowing from TikTok's playbook, with Netflix and Disney Plus already testing similar features. The move signals a broader shift in how streamers think about content discovery in an era where endless scrolling has become second nature.
Amazon is betting that the future of streaming looks a lot like TikTok. The company just launched Clips, a vertical video feed that serves up short snippets from Prime Video's catalog of shows and movies. Users can swipe through the feed, tap to watch the full title, or add it to their watchlist without ever leaving the experience.
The feature went live today according to Amazon's press release, and it's already drawing comparisons to similar experiments from Netflix and Disney Plus. All three streaming giants are chasing the same insight - that short-form, algorithm-driven feeds have fundamentally changed how people discover content online.
"Every time you visit the experience, you'll see something new based on your viewing history," Amazon explained in the announcement. The personalization engine powering Clips pulls from Prime Video's recommendation system, which has been refined over years of tracking what subscribers actually watch versus what they browse.
But Amazon isn't starting from scratch here. The company previously tested a TikTok-style feed exclusively for NBA game highlights, giving it a proving ground to understand user behavior before expanding to its entire content library. That sports-focused experiment apparently worked well enough to justify a full rollout across movies and TV shows.
The interface itself is dead simple. Open the Prime Video mobile app, scroll down to the Clips carousel on the homepage, and you're in. Swipe down to see the next clip. Tap the screen to jump into the full title or rent and buy content that's not included with your subscription. It's the kind of frictionless browsing experience that's kept billions of users glued to TikTok and Instagram Reels.
What makes this move particularly interesting is the timing. Netflix rolled out its vertical feed earlier this year, while Disney Plus has been experimenting with similar features. The streaming wars have entered a new phase - it's not just about who has the best content library anymore. It's about who can surface the right content at the right moment, before viewers get bored and bounce to another app.
The shift also reflects a brutal reality for streamers - discovery is broken. When your library contains thousands of titles, even great shows can disappear into the void. Traditional carousel-based browsing hasn't solved the problem. So platforms are turning to the algorithmic feed model that's proven wildly effective for social media companies.
For Amazon, the stakes are particularly high. Prime Video is bundled with Amazon Prime memberships, which means retention depends on keeping subscribers engaged with the video service. If Clips can drive more viewing hours and help users stumble onto shows they wouldn't have found otherwise, it justifies the billions Amazon spends on content production.
There's also a clear monetization angle. The Clips feed includes options to rent or buy titles that aren't part of the standard Prime subscription. That creates a direct path from casual browsing to impulse purchases - exactly the kind of conversion funnel Amazon excels at optimizing across its entire business.
The feature is rolling out now on the Prime Video mobile app, though Amazon hasn't specified whether it'll expand to TV interfaces or web browsers. Given how vertical video is fundamentally designed for phone screens, this will likely remain a mobile-first experience for the foreseeable future.
The launch of Clips marks another step in streaming's evolution from destination viewing to algorithmic discovery. Amazon is making a calculated bet that the TikTok model of endless, personalized scrolling can work for premium long-form content - not just user-generated clips. Whether viewers actually want to discover their next binge-watch through 15-second snippets remains to be seen, but with Netflix and Disney making similar moves, the industry clearly believes short-form feeds are the future of content discovery. For now, Prime Video users have a new way to kill time on their phones, and Amazon has a new data source to understand exactly what makes people click play.
