How to Turn Off Audio Descriptions on Amazon Prime Video

Amazon Prime Video on Apple TV is a neglected app and it’s obvious Amazon doesn’t care to improve it, or they would have already. The only reason I can assume they don’t choose to update the app is the ongoing feud that always seems to exist between Amazon and Apple. Or it could be the fact that Amazon sells their content delivery device, which is the Fire TV Stick.

Amazon Prime Video on Apple TV runs and operates like an app from ten years ago. It’s slow, glitchy, has limited settings, and sometimes sync doesn’t update across devices. Technology is great when it works, but it seems the more technology you have in your life, the more issues you encounter.

Audio Description Turned on By Itself

Audio Description turned on by itself while we were watching Downton Abbey on Amazon Prime Video. What’s odd is the accessibility featured turned on without prompting us in Season 6, Episode 7. Maybe this was the first episode it was available on when the feature was release. This was the first time we had experienced this issue.

What is Audio Description on Amazon Prime?

Audio Description is a voice overlay that describes what’s going on in a scene. It is not repeating the subtitles, rather it is describing when someone “sighs” or something noteworthy is happening in a scene. I honestly did not even know this feature was available, but nevertheless I was unable to turn it off.

The Advice Online Does Not Work

I did the first thing anyone does when having a technology issue… I searched online. The results yielded some thin articles talking about changing the settings and forum postings griping about the same issue while watching The Expanse and a few other shows. I tried changing the setting using the advice provided, but the settings they were referring to were either not available or did not work.

I looked at the settings on every device I have, trying to figure out how to turn off audio descriptions on Amazon Prime Video. Furthermore, I went through the settings on my projector, Marantz preamp, Amazon Prime, and the Apple TV. The only place I saw the words “Audio Descriptions” was in the Apple TV Accessibility settings, and the feature was off. That told me there was something in the content that was automatically telling the audio descriptions to play. Read on to find out how we resolved the issue.

Resolved Audio Description Issue on Apple TV

Because nothing else worked when trying to turn off audio descriptions in Amazon Prime Video, I tried changing the language from “English (US)” to English (UK). Much to my surprise, this solved the problem. I could not begin to tell you why or how, but the show continued to play without audio descriptions, and the audio was the same as before.

I have since played many other shows on Amazon Prime Video without any issues with audio descriptions automatically activating on its own. Furthermore, I can only assume it was a bug in the app that was never squashed properly.