STEP 1:
Create Your App
Create Your App
Amazon Creator Overview
Amazon Creator provides a simple browser-based interface where you can build an HTML5 web app for Fire TV by providing your YouTube channel, Brightcove application, or Media RSS (MRSS) feed as the data source. No coding is required.
Amazon Creator helps you bring your video content into the living room of millions of Amazon customers who consume video through Fire TV. If you already have video content either on YouTube or a web server, you can quickly create and publish an app (in a matter of minutes) using Amazon Creator.
Note that apps created using Amazon Creator are required to be free.
- Overview
- Requirements to Build an App
- Requirements to Publish an App
- Features and Limitations
- Get Started
Overview
Amazon Creator automatically builds your app from the media assets and categories in your YouTube channel, Brightcove application, or MRSS feed. Videos are grouped by your channel sections (for YouTube data sources), by your feed item categories (for MRSS feed data sources), or by your playlists (for Brightcove data sources). Each section or category is automatically listed in the navigation menu in the app. Here's what the Default theme looks like:
After you configure your feed, you can style the appearance of your app using the sidebar's visual editor to select colors, fonts, or background images you want.
When you're finished, you can publish your web app into the Amazon Appstore directly from Amazon Creator. You can likewise make updates to your live app directly from Amazon Creator.
Your app dynamically pulls in content from your YouTube channel or feed, so any updates to your content on YouTube or your feed will automatically appear in your live app.
Apps you create are available in all regions where Fire TV is available — United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Austria, and India. You can also create localized versions of your app.
Requirements to Build an App
Amazon Creator doesn't require any programming skills — it's intended for content creators rather than developers. You need only a source for your digital content. You have three options:
Tip: Although Amazon Creator provides a preview that you can view in your Internet browser, it's also a good idea to have an actual Fire TV device where you can test out your web app. Through a companion app called Amazon Creator Preview, you can preview your app on Fire TV.
Requirements to Publish an App
When you publish your app, you will need a variety of image assets:
- App icons (various sizes)
- Fire TV background image
- Screenshots
Some of these assets are automatically generated for you by Amazon Creator.
You will also need to supply some descriptions of your app:
- Short description
- Long description
- Product feature bullets
- Keywords
You will also need an Amazon Developer Account, but you can get started creating an app in Amazon Creator without a developer account. When you publish your app, Amazon Creator will prompt you to create a developer account from within Amazon Creator.
Features and Limitations
Amazon Creator is intended for non-technical users, so more advanced functionality (which is often only available by working in code) is limited. If you need more advanced features, consider using either Web App Starter Kit for Fire TV (WASK) or Fire App Builder. See Development Framework Comparison for more details.
Get Started
To get started building your Fire TV app, see Step 1: Create Your App. This is the first step in a four-step process:
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