Amazon Fire TV Bringing TikTok to the Television
Last week, Amazon launched a TikTok app on their Fire TV devices, allowing US and Canadian residents to enjoy their favorite TikToks on television screens. This follows TikTok launching of a Fire TV app for users in France, Germany, and the UK back in July of 2021.
With this move, TikTok, the widely popular, short video-focused social media app, is trying to create a more “family-oriented” experience. The shift will encourage families to gather together and view content on a television set, instead of on an individual mobile device.
TikTok app Fire TV challenges
While the new app can expand TikTok’s demographics and increase viewership, the Wall Street Journal points out a few challenges with the new TV app:
- Screen size: Videos on TikTok are made for vertical mobile screens. To account for the orientation difference between phone and TV screens, the app fills in the extra screen space on the TV with a blurred effect that matches the video playing.
- No Scrolling: The popular scrolling feature of TikTok on mobile devices is not available on the television app. Users must click a side button on their Fire Stick TV remotes to watch a new video.
- No Commenting: While users can still read comments made by others, the TV app does not allow you to post original comments on a video.
- No Posting Content: The content creation abilities on the mobile app are not available to users of the TV app
Some worry that the move to TV screens will make the TikTok experience less personalized. TikTok is known for having a very accurate and specific algorithm that shows users exactly what they want to see. Because of this, users may not want to share their personal video content with their family or friends through a TV screen. Since this is a new integration, we will see how the TV app will affect TikTok usage.
