If you’re a fan of renting movies, then the new VidAngel TV app for the Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick is one worth checking out. VidAngel is a streaming movie platform that sells movies for $20 each. You then have the option to sell back your purchased digital movies for store credit. VidAngel will credit you $18 for HD movies and $19 for SD movies if they’re sold back within 24 hours, which essentially translates to a $1-$2 rental fee per 24 hours. The service also has TV shows available for the same exact pricing, but on a per episode basis.
The biggest downside to the service is the initial $20 investment required to start using the service. Since you’ll receive $18 or $19 in credit back after returning your first purchase, depending on if you opt for SD or HD streams, each subsequent pseudo rental will only charge your credit card $1-$2 dollars. The service also offers to filter things like violence, profanity, and sexual content, but you can choose to watch all content unfiltered.
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Interesting idea, but I bet the MPAA etc get this shutdown within months.
theyve actually been around for many years
I thought amazon had banned competing services but like someone else had mentioned in another post it may be that amazon takes too much of the cut for other services to want to provide rentals or movie purchases. The initial $20 cost here may help to offset the cut amazon takes.
AFAIK this is the first non amazon service to offer rentals or movie purchases on fire tv.
I have a feeling this channel won’t last long. MPAA or whoever will try to shut it down. Interesting idea. I’d be much more likely to rent movies for $2 than the typical $4-5. If a rental is $5, then I just wait until Im out and grab at Redbox for $1.50.
theyve been around for years
FYSA They don’t offer DD5.1 which may be an issue for some. Also, not sure if it supports subtitles.
This is kind of like the late fees and penalties that caused consumers to switch to streaming services. Although in this case you will own a digital copy of the movie if you’re late. It’s unclear what DRM will be attached the purchased digital content. If VidAngel goes out of business, would you still be able to watch your purchased content? This service is DOA in my opinion.
The interface looks similar to VUDU, so I would assume that you can’t even download an actual M4V file like with iTunes. So yeah, when this app likely disappears, you won’t be able to watch purchased movies/shows anymore.
you are buying “physical media” – if you dont “sell back” the title within 24 hrs they mail you a hard copy (blu-ray, dvd) plus shipping. this can all be found in their TOS instead of guessing
Sounds cool but there’s Netflix for TV shows. Movies, people have ways of watching movies I don’t think I know anybody that rent videos anymore. I don’t think this app will last long but if this was a app where you have to subscribe then it would be a different story.
I agree that it likely won’t last long.
I think that people still do rent movies though. There is obviously illegal downloading/streaming, but if you want to just point and click, renting is the only option if the title is not available via Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc.
theyve been around since 2014. you are buying physical media that if you dont return in 1 day, they mail out a bluray. there is no illegal downloading here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmTsG5ChAU8#t=42
i rent videos at Redbox. More so because i like the quality of a blu-ray on a 4K tv. So i only rent if its a movie like Creed, Mad Max, Everest where a nice picture enhances the movie.
Seems like you would have to give too much effort. It is easier to find movies other ways. Not to mention, for their own sake, they would be better off having a limit for how many movies you can “return” and how often.
I have used this service for about the past 6 months (it’s been on google play for about a year or so I think). No the quality isn’t the best and I have had it stutter from time to time but when my kids want to watch the latest Disney cartoon only paying $1 is kind of nice.
This company targets conservatives and christians (like myself) that do not want to subject young kids to sexual content or violence. Their main selling point is that you can filter what you want. However due to MPAA regulations you must “own” the title. Hence you “own” it for 24 hrs and do what you want, then they “buy” the rights back – a loophole in a sense. I see it sticking around but not for a “mainstream” viewership (although it was never meant to be anyways)
quite a bit of misinformation here – its new to amazon but not a new company.
website – vidangel.com
how to vid – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmTsG5ChAU8#t=42