Suddenly can't access Amazon Prime through Roku TV

April 15, 2019 4:13 PM

I have a Roku TV with several streaming channels set up, along with cable. Suddenly I can't access Amazon Prime TV. I click on either the Amazon Prime button on the remote or the icon on the home TV screen. It shows the Prime logo for a sec, then just goes back to the home screen without ever opening Prime. This is a new problem since yesterday; I've never had issues accessing Prime before. All the other streaming channels work as usual. I thought maybe my Prime account membership had lapsed, but I checked and that's still set up. Anyone else had this issue? I have tried turning the TV off and on (as well as cable, just to cover my bases), but it doesn't work. Any suggestions?

I click on either the Amazon Prime button on the remove or the icon on the home TV screen. It shows the Prime logo for a sec, then just goes back to the home screen without ever opening Prime. This is new since yesterday. All the other streaming channels work as usual. I thought maybe my Prime account membership had lapsed, but I checked and that's still set up. Anyone else had this issue? I have tried turning the TV off and on (as well as cable, just to cover my bases), but it doesn't work. Any suggestions?

posted by primate moon to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Might try uninstalling the Amazon app and reinstalling? Sometimes these things just bork up.
posted by General Malaise at 4:26 PM on April 15, 2019

So - I have had lots of problems the past few days with Roku (apparently there was a big OS update recently - but it doesn't show that up here in Canada), however - it has been with Netflix. Uninstalling and reinstalling and then re-logging in did not help. Also, uninstall the app and unplug the Roku box (or TV) for more than 30 seconds, then reinstall. Nothing worked.

In the end, I had to look at my network - I use "PiHole" and apparently a recent update to the Roku Netflix app added at least one URL that was being blocked.
posted by jkaczor at 4:26 PM on April 15, 2019

I was having issues with the Shout Factory app on Roku, which sound identical to your Amazon Prime problem. I wonder if there's underlying problems with the Roku OS instead?
posted by stannate at 4:44 PM on April 15, 2019

Contacted Roku livechat. They suggested what others did above, uninstall and reinstall Amazon. It worked Thanks!
posted by primate moon at 5:44 PM on April 15, 2019

I was just able to get to Amazon Prime on my Roku (3600X - Roku Stick) but I was also having the Shout! Factory issue (although it seems to be working now). I'd uninstall the app, restart the Roku, and reinstall Amazon Prime.

And if that doesn't work ... maybe give it a few days? And yes, that's annoying, but sometimes Roku is like that.

(Trying what jkazcor suggested may also work.)
posted by darksong at 5:45 PM on April 15, 2019

For future reference, you might want to unplug the TV instead of turning it off. I know on my smart TV, the "Off" button is really more like Sleep, and doesn't actually remove anything from working memory (which is the point of turning it off and on again).
posted by Rock Steady at 5:23 AM on April 16, 2019