Use the Amazon Prime Video App

The first time you launch the Prime Video app you’re prompted to sign in with your Amazon account. Do so if you have one; if you don’t yet have an Amazon account, you need to go to Amazon’s website (www.amazon.com) and create one.

From the iPad’s Home screen, tap the Prime Video icon to launch the Amazon Prime app.

Tap the Home tab to view Amazon Video’s Home screen.

Tap the TV tab to view only TV shows.

Tap the Movies tab to view only movies.

Tap the Kids tab to view children’s programming.

Tap the Sports tab to view live sporting events and other sports-related programming.

Type in the Search box to search for specific shows or movies.

Tap to select the item you want to watch.

If you selected a TV show, tap to select a season.

Tap an episode to expand the listing and view more details.

Tap the Play icon for the episode you want to watch.

If you selected a movie, tap Watch Now to watch now.

Tap the video to display the playback controls. Tap Pause to pause playback; tap Play to resume playback.

Tap the Back icon to skip back 10 seconds.

Tap the Forward icon to skip forward 10 seconds.

Drag the slider (sometimes called a “scrubber”) to move to another point in the program.

Use the Hulu App

You watch Hulu from the Hulu app, which you can download for free from Apple’s App Store. The first time you launch the Hulu app you’re prompted to either sign in to an existing account, if you have one, or create a new account. Do whichever you need to do.

From the iPad’s Home screen, tap the Hulu icon to launch the Hulu app.

Tap the Home icon to view Hulu’s Home screen.

Scroll from right to left (or tap the categories at the top of the screen) to view: Hulu Picks; Keep Watching (shows you’ve previously watched); Unwatched in My Stuff (shows you’ve liked but haven’t watched in a while); TV programs; Movies; Kids programming; Hulu Originals; and more.

Tap the My Stuff icon to view items you’ve tagged for Hulu to keep track of.

Scroll from right to left to view selections by category (TV Shows, Movies, Expiring, or Networks).

Tap the search button to search or browse programming by category.

Tap a category to view programming within that category.

Enter your query in the Search box at the top of the page to search for a specific program.

Tap a thumbnail to watch that particular program or movie.

If you selected a TV program, tap Episodes.

Tap the down arrow next to Seasons to select a specific season. You see episodes within that season.

Tap to watch a given episode.

If you selected a movie, tap Watch Movie to begin watching.

Tap the screen to display the playback controls. Tap the Pause button to pause playback; tap Play to resume playback.

Drag the slider/scrubber to move to a different point in the program.

Tap the Back (10) icon to skip back 10 seconds.

Tap the Forward (30) icon to skip forward 30 seconds.

Use the Netflix App

You watch Netflix programming via the Netflix app, which you can download for free from Apple’s App Store. The first time you launch the app you’re prompted to either sign in to an existing account, if you have one, or sign up for a new account.

From the iPad’s Home screen, tap the Netflix icon to launch the Netflix app.

Netflix lets you create multiple viewer profiles. If you’ve created more than one profile, they’re displayed on the Who’s Watching? screen. Tap the profile you want to use.

On the Netflix home screen, scroll down to see various sections: New Releases, Trending Now, Watch It Again, and so forth.

Tap TV Shows to view only television shows.

Tap Movies to view only movies.

Tap Recently Added to view programming just added to Netflix.

Tap My List to view items you’ve added to your favorites list.

Tap the Search (magnifying glass) icon to display the Search page and search for specific programming.

Tap the program or movie you want to watch.

If you selected a television show, you see a detail panel for that show. Tap the Seasons down arrow to select all episodes from a given season.

Tap a thumbnail to start watching that episode.

If you selected a movie, you see the detail panel with information about that movie. Tap the Play icon to begin watching.

Tap the screen to display the playback controls. Tap the Pause button to pause playback; the button changes to a Play button. Tap Play to resume playback.

Drag the slider/scrubber to move to another point in the program.

Tap the Back (10) icon to skip back 10 seconds.

Tap the Forward (10) icon to skip forward 10 seconds.

Discover Streaming Video Services

Table 17.1 details some of the more popular services; you can access all of these with apps available for downloading from Apple’s App Store.

Many of these subscription services (and a few others) are available in the Apple TV app, which should be installed on your iPad. You can subscribe to channels within the app, often with a free trial. The TV app also includes much free programming, such as the major cable news channels.

Watch Live TV Online

Beyond traditional streaming services are live streaming services that let you watch live TV, from both local channels and cable/satellite channels, on your iPad. This type of service displays a program guide, like the kind from a cable or satellite provider, with available channels listed by time of day.

None of these services are free, however; all have a monthly subscription fee. Table 17.2 details the major live streaming services with iPad apps.

Discover YouTube

Then there’s YouTube. One of the more popular sites on the Web, YouTube is a video-sharing community where regular people, like you and me, can upload and share their home movies and other videos. There’s also a lot of professional content on YouTube, including tons of music videos and educational videos.

Unlike most other streaming video services, YouTube is completely free. (It’s ad supported.) If you want to take advantage of all of YouTube’s features, including your personal playlists and favorites, you need to sign in with your Google account.

You watch YouTube from the YouTube app, available (for free) from Apple’s App Store. From left to right, tap the Home tab to view recommended videos; the Trending tab to view trending (popular) videos; or the Subscriptions tab to view videos from channels to which you’ve subscribed. You can also search for specific videos by tapping the Search (magnifying glass) icon at the top of the screen.

To play a video, just tap its thumbnail image or title. Tap the screen to display the playback controls and then tap Pause to pause playback. Tap Play to resume playback.