In the past, the whole “flinging” process in which content could be streamed from a separate device was compatible only through Amazon manufactured devices such as the Kindle Fire HDX.
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When customers are using your app on the iOS, Android or Fire device, they’ll see the Amazon Fling icon appear in your app. They can touch the icon and then send your content to their Amazon Fire TV.
This opens the possibility for iOS and Android owners to use their mobile device to interact with apps already built into the Fire TV experience. In addition to posting media content to Amazon Fire TV, developers can also leverage two-way communication between Amazon Fire TV and mobile apps to create second screen experiences. It does this by simplifying the underlying network discovery and communication technologies that would otherwise be difficult to implement, the company explains. Tap it and the media will star to play on the Fire TV. Already a few applications have hit the market that were built with this SDK, one of which is known as Karaoke Party, an application that displays video, audio and text onto the television screen while consumers can use their smartphone as the microphone. The SDK offers a standardized way to communicate between apps over a local network. It comes with a remote control, but you can also use a mobile app on your smartphone to control the Fire TV. Amazon launched the Amazing Fling software toolkit for developers on 10 July, with the goal of making photos, music, or videos running on Android, iOS, or FireOS apps sharable with Amazon’s set-top box.
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Developers that are interested in adding fling capabilities to their app(s) are encouraged to read the getting started documentation. Amazon points to a couple examples, one of which is a karaoke app, while the other is an app for personalized Internet radio.
