Wednesday, March 1, 2023

March 2023 New Watchlist Discussions

Please use this post to continue the discussion about the new Prime Video Watchlist layout
shown in web browsers on computers.

The Expiry Viewer script does not work with the new Watchlist layout.  I will leave the reference to
the last version here until it can be determined whether an update is possible to make it work again.

If you still see the old familiar Watchlist layout, the Expiry Viewer will continue to work for you,
same as usual.

For the latest revision of the Amazon Prime Video Expiry Viewer 5-8-2022 ver 2.0.6
see the Resources page for instructions on how to install it and make it work.

Updated 3/3

38 comments:

  1. Prime's way of sorting titles is odd. For example, Prime will sort as follows:
    – CaZ sorts before
    – Cae which sorts before
    – Cáa
    Capital letters (E) sort before a lowercase letters (e) based on position of occurrence (the 2nd, 3rd, etc position). Accented characters are sort last. Excel/Word, etc. will sort the above based on the number value (case and accent do not effect sorting).

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    1. I have "sex & drugs & rock & roll" (2010) in my watchlist and it sorts last, after titles starting with "Z". That is a strange way to sort. Does anyone know how to get a spreadsheet to sort names the Amazon way?

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  2. So, does the new Watchlist that Amazon just rolled out signal the end of the Amazon Expiry Viewer that we've been enjoying for the last few years?

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    1. The script likely needs an update.

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    2. I think that was implied in my comment.

      However, the function of all the expiry viewers so far has depended on the ability to view your watchlist as separate pages. This new format does not seem to have that option; you are forced to do the infinite scroll. If there is truly no way to view your watchlist page by page, then no update to the expiry viewer is possible.

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    3. If that new space with the gold purse icon was used for blue checks icons and blue text with "Included with Prime", the white text with "Free with ads on Freevee", and the red text with "Leaving on __" then, it seems to me, the Expiry Viewer would not be necessary.

      In terms of "infinite scrolling" I hold the down arrow and function key (Mac OS) until all the titles are forced to load. It stays fully loaded and scroll up and down on the page without reloading titles. This is the method I use when I check my external watchlist against Amazon's. I went through all three of my watchlist earlier today using the new UI and it did take longer than usual because of the new pause-hover required to see detailed title info.

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    4. Anon, what type of device are you using?  Desktop, laptop, etc?
      What version of Windows do you have?
      And what browser are you using to view your Watchlist?

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    5. I'm using a laptop running Windows 7, and I use Chrome to view the watchlist, but I have tried Microsoft Edge and it displays the watchlist exactly the same way.

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    6. That sounds like the Expiry viewer doesn't work with the new HTML coding.

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    7. Correct. But it's not simply a matter of updating the expiry viewer to work with the new code, because the new HTML also forces you to view your watchlist using infinite scrolling, rendering any expiry viewer useless.

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    8. Infinite scrolllng has been used on the watchlists for years. If it worked with that before then it is a matter of figuring out if the new HTML classes can be determined and seeing if it is possible to make it work again. The HTML has definitely been revamped.

      I am taking the approach suggested by another poster and commenting to the Amazon Prime team to please consider adding the on Prime, on Freevee and Leaving dates under the title names. Complaining about the new layout isn't going to make anything change.

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    9. You are correct that infinite scrolling has been used on the watchlist for years. However, if you'll read the "Resource" tab on this website you'll learn that the expiry viewer requires that you view your watchlist by pages. The new watchlist format seems to have removed that option. Without it, the expiry viewer won't work.

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    10. Well, the Expiry Viewer is likely dead unless someone can figure out how to handle the the new infinite scrolling. ... What I can tell you about it, and maybe this is different than before, is that if use developer tools to inspect a title there is HTML code for the popup section disappears from the inspector if you stop hovering over it. I was able to get around that restriction by using tabbing instead of the mouse to expanded and see the hidden HTML code.

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  3. Yea this new Amazon watchlist is truly awful. Forget about the fact that we lost yellow expiration banner, there's not even an option to see which video is even on Amazon Prime! I'm thinking of cancelling Prime just to send a message.

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    1. They have a new space below the titles for the gold purse icon. They could add information for blue checks, white ads, and even red leaving dates in that space. Maybe we should gang together and ask them to please make their watch list easier to view.

      Below is a link on the prime video forum about the new UI.

      https://www.amazonforum.com/s/question/0D56Q0000B3gGuySQE/new-prime-video

      A Amazon staffer replied to provide comments at

      https://digprjsurvey.amazon.com/api/feedbacks/AIV/website.

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    2. ADDING to the above.

      You won't get them to change back to the old UI. You could get then to consider enhancing the information provided in the space below the titles. The obvious goal being to be able to see paid for, watch on Prime (blue text), watch with ads on Freevee (white text), and Leaving on __ (red text).

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  4. @LarryG ... I would suggest that you move the comments about to new watchlist layout to a different part of this site. People can discuss the issues with it there. You can provide a link to it on this page for people to further discuss it. (I am one of the people guilty of doing that.)

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    Replies
    1. Done. This page re-titled "March 2023 Discussions" is now the place to continue
      the discussions about the new Prime Video Watchlist layout shown in web browsers
      on computers.

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  5. We want to thank everyone for your comments. We normally would not check a blog for feedback on our new layout, but we made an exception. We truly appreciate you funneling all of your notes through this blog instead of clogging our official channels and taking up other representatives' time, as time is money. Ta-ta.

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    1. I'm not sure if you are really an Amazon rep, but just in case you are, here's my two cents on the new layout.

      It's godawful.

      You have removed the button to only display the titles which are included with Prime, a fixture of the watchlist since I first became a subscriber. We are therefore forced to scroll through every single one of the titles we've ever added, even if they are no longer free on Prime. In my case this means I'm scrolling through hundreds upon hundreds of titles going back nearly 10 years.

      In its present state, the watchlist is unusable to me.

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    2. Yup, yup... Got it... Writing all this down. Thank you!

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    3. For years I have removed "deceased" titles from my watchlist on a regular basis. I have a separate watchlist on IMDB with can be filtered by "Instant Watch Options" for Prime Video, Freevee, Prime and/or Video (Rent or Buy). The list can also be sorted by Genres, IMDB Ratings, # of votes and a lot more.

      To create you own IMDB list (you can use you Amazon login) use their Advanced Search option (link below) to look for titles and add them to your IMDB list, and the the ones you want to your Prime Watchlist. My IMDB Lists (I have a few) total over 10,000 titles. My Prime Watchlist(s) total ~1500 titles.

      www.imdb.com/search/title/

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    4. @Amazon Representative

      We look forward to your updated the new Amazon watchlist to allow sorting by Gold ($), Blue (Prime), White (Freevee), Red (Leaving on), and not available on Prime titles.

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    5. You got it! Thanks so much for putting your detailed requests here, on a blog.

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    6. It should only take an expert like you day to add a simple new sorting feature.

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  6. The only way to share your thoughts, complaints and requests for changes
    to the new Prime Video Watchlist layout is on the Amazon website.

    A real Amazon staffer said to provide comments here.

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    Replies
    1. So you don't believe the person who commented above is a legitimate Amazon rep.

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    2. Pretty obvious.

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    3. Woke up this morning to the new Watchlist and it is awful: can't tell the difference between movies available on Prime or IMDB and expired movies, but I can sure see the gold purse asking for more money to watch a movie. I have 32 pages (when there were pages) of movies and can't possibly go through all of them on a routine basis to ferret out expiring movies--sure miss the expiry viewer banner. Thanks for the link, LarryG. I left a scathing comment on the Amazon comments page but have little hope anyone will pay attention to my personal distress. Does anyone have an opinion as to why the major streaming services don't show expiring movies with a banner external to clicking on the icon. I can see an expiration countdown for Hulu movies only if I view them on my iPhone but nada for Netflix and Amazon. What is wrong with these companies that they care so little for their users. Seems to me like a programming challenge that should be solvable.

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    4. A couple of days ago, after the Watchlist change, I noticed that after deleting a title, there was no Undo available. I've used the technique of deleting, undoing, and reloading the page to move titles to the top of the list for years. Anybody know where Undo went or a workaround? So frustrating. Thanks.

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    5. Now you will NOT be able to change the order of posters in your Watchlist by clicking on
      the poster's "Remove" icon [renamed "Watchlist"] in its pop-up info window and then clicking
      the "Undo" link, because Amazon has REMOVED the "Undo" link HTML code from the Watchlist.

      If you do click on the "Watchlist" icon in a title's pop-up info window,
      the title will be GONE from your Watchlist with no simple way to bring it back!
      If that happens to you, you will have to search for the lost title and open its detail webpage
      from the search results.  Then click the Add to Watchlist icon there again.

      Now if you do want to re-order the posters in your Watchlist,
      you will have to first open the title's detail webpage in another browser tab.
      Right-click on the poster you want to move in your Watchlist and
      click on the "Open in new browser tab" menu item.

      There you can click on the Watchlist check mark icon to Remove the title from your Watchlist.
      And finally, you can click on the Watchlist check mark icon AGAIN to Add the title back
      to your Watchlist.  When you return to the Watchlist browser tab and click Refresh Webpage,
      you will see that the title has moved to the first position on the first row of your Watchlist.
      Repeat ad nauseam.

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    6. Whew! Can you say "convoluted." I had tried everything I could think of as a workaround except your suggestion. Thanks--it worked. A better suggestion would be to hire user Sho 'Nuff (see post below) as Amazon's usability expert since it seems to be an elusive concept for their programming staff. I did some time in my IT career in Quality Control and these latest changes to the Watchlist would have been unaccptable in terms of usability. Thanks again.

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    7. Good News!  Someone listened.  Amazon has put back the UNDO link code in the Watchlist.
      So once again you can re-order posters in your Watchlist by clicking on the Watchlist [Remove] checkmark icon in the poster's pop-up info window and then clicking on the UNDO link.  When you click Refresh Webpage, you will see that the title has moved to the first position on the first row of your Watchlist.

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    8. Nope, I spoke too soon.  The UNDO link is only available for the first 20 titles in your Watchlist.
      If you attempt to move title 21 or a higher number, you will find there is no UNDO link available then.  Amazon still has more work to do to add the UNDO link to titles 21 and above in your Watchlist.

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    9. How are you getting a pop-up window on the posters at all? I haven't seen one since the update. For the first time ever I'm thinking of just cancelling. If I can't even manage my list then what's the point. As someone below noted, I don't understand the point of constantly making usability worse.

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  7. Being an expert at usability of websites, I don't get why Amazon with Prime Video My List and Netflix insist on constantly making usability worse.

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  8. @HazyWave - Here's a test for you to try to see the new pop-up windows.
    Open your Chrome browser and go to Goldfinger (1965) at
        https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B09HWSZBJ4/
    Do NOT sign in to your Amazon account.
    Scroll down the page to the "Customers also watched" row of movie posters.
    Move your mouse over the first poster at the left of the row
    and pause for a one-two count.  The pop-up window should appear.
    If the pop-up does not display, then move your mouse to the right to the next poster
    and leave it hovering over the second poster.  Wait for a count of one-two.
    Then move the mouse back to the first poster and wait.  The pop-up should appear.

    I find sometimes Amazon doesn't display the pop-up immediately but only
    after I move away to the next poster, pause, and then return to the first poster.
    Or move to the third poster and then back to the first poster.
    It seems to stutter sometimes while Amazon gathers the info to display in the pop-up.

    Finally, sign in to your Amazon account and repeat the test.  Once you get the hang
    of the hover pause hover routine, you should see the pop-ups in your Watchlist, too.
    The picture on the April 2023 post shows what the 4/21 The Meg (2018) pop-up looks like.
    Some tech questions for you if you still cannot see the pop-ups.
    What device are you using?  Desktop, laptop, tablet, etc.?
    What version Windows?  What version Chrome browser?
    What is your internet service access speed?
    Did you turn off the AutoPlay Trailers setting in your Amazon Account Settings?
    See 3) on the April 2023 post for the link to July 2022 Archive post with instructions.

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    1. Thanks Larry. I came back to try and delete the comment because I just tried again, and after weeks of frustration it's suddenly working. No idea why, but I suppose I'll keep it turned on now. I did want to say thank you for your reply and suggestions. If it cuts out again, then I'll be trying those.

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