I canceled my cable over a year ago so my only source of current television is through Hulu. I've used it on the Apple TV 3 and really enjoyed the experience. I live and die by the Hulu queue. It's the only aspect of the app that I use. I use Hulu just like I used a DVR. I let Hulu know which shows I liked, and then when I would open the Hulu app on ATV3, I would just click the up button and the Queue menu there at the top. Easy.
Now, with the Apple TV 4, the interface has changed. The Queue is no longer easy to access. It SHOULD be a main menu option in the app, but when you open it up, the queue is no where to be found. Then I started scrolling through categories/genres (using the right to left swiping motion) I pass movies, tvs, some other genres, something about korean dramas, and then the next categorie, hidden in all the others, is the queue.
Why on God's green earth would you put the Queue there?? What is worse, when I go to my Queue, it just shows me pictures of shows that I like, but it does not indicate how many unwatched episodes each show has. This was a very informative feature on Apple TV 3. And it's important because a lot of episodes expire after 30 days from the original broadcast. So if one of my shows has 3 or 4 unwatched episodes, it's a good indicator that I better catch up before I lose an episode.
So, I thought maybe since Hulu was listed as one of the apps that has the Siri search enabled, I could easily bypass this hideous interface and go straight to the various shows that I watch on Hulu. I tested it out. I started from the main Apple TV screen and said "Go to my Hulu queue". Siri responded with "You do not have any apps called HULU QUEUE." I then said "Watch The Daily Show" (a show that I watch on Hulu every single week night) Siri takes me to a generic Daily Show splash page and an option to browse the iTunes store and purchase previous episodes of The Daily show for 99 cents. Seriously?!? It didn't even offer Hulu as an option of viewing The Daily Show.
I tried another show. "Watch Nathan For You." (since I knew that I had several unwatched episodes in my Hulu queue) It again took me to the show's splash page and listed iTunes and Hulu as places that I could watch the show. I click on Hulu, then have to navigate down through the Nathan For You series listings until I find an episode I haven't watched. Shouldn't Hulu know what episodes have been unwatched and present those FIRST??
So, the Hulu app was a disappointment. The Siri search (which Apple makes a big deal about) is not very convenient to use. I'm sure if I want to watch a MOVIE, the Siri search would be much better and offer movie selections from Netflix, HBO, Showtime, and the iTunes store. But my main use for Apple TV isn't movies. It's TV. And Apple TV said that this device is the future of television. But they make it really really hard to watch the shows that you want to watch. It kills me to say this, but using my crappy DVR back when I had Comcast was much more easy to use than trying to watch television on an Apple TV.
My suggestions:
1. please put the Hulu queue back in an easy to access place. I'm assuming Hulu hid the queue because they want the user to explore all the great movie and TV exclusive streaming deals it has acquired or watch some of the new Hulu-produced that. I don't need Hulu's help finding things to watch. I have plenty in my queue.
2. Bring back unwatched episode notifications on my shows thumbnails.
3. Have Siri actually be able to execute Hulu-specific commands. It should be able to take me directly to my queue or take me to the latest unwatched epsiode of on of my favorite shows.
4. In general, users should be able to specify which there preferred apps to watch movies and TV shows. I always prefer to stream a movie from Netflix or HBO versus renting something on demand. I also have no interest in buying a single episode of a show so Siri asking me to purchase a previous episode of the Daily Show does not help. I want Hulu to be my primary TV viewing experience on the Apple TV, followed my everything else 2nd. Obviously, Apple wants us to purchase movies and TV shows from it's iTunes store, but if they are allowing 3rd party apps onto it's device, and bragging on how amazing Siri will be for Apple TV, then they need accessing content from 3rd party apps easier.
Now, with the Apple TV 4, the interface has changed. The Queue is no longer easy to access. It SHOULD be a main menu option in the app, but when you open it up, the queue is no where to be found. Then I started scrolling through categories/genres (using the right to left swiping motion) I pass movies, tvs, some other genres, something about korean dramas, and then the next categorie, hidden in all the others, is the queue.
Why on God's green earth would you put the Queue there?? What is worse, when I go to my Queue, it just shows me pictures of shows that I like, but it does not indicate how many unwatched episodes each show has. This was a very informative feature on Apple TV 3. And it's important because a lot of episodes expire after 30 days from the original broadcast. So if one of my shows has 3 or 4 unwatched episodes, it's a good indicator that I better catch up before I lose an episode.
So, I thought maybe since Hulu was listed as one of the apps that has the Siri search enabled, I could easily bypass this hideous interface and go straight to the various shows that I watch on Hulu. I tested it out. I started from the main Apple TV screen and said "Go to my Hulu queue". Siri responded with "You do not have any apps called HULU QUEUE." I then said "Watch The Daily Show" (a show that I watch on Hulu every single week night) Siri takes me to a generic Daily Show splash page and an option to browse the iTunes store and purchase previous episodes of The Daily show for 99 cents. Seriously?!? It didn't even offer Hulu as an option of viewing The Daily Show.
I tried another show. "Watch Nathan For You." (since I knew that I had several unwatched episodes in my Hulu queue) It again took me to the show's splash page and listed iTunes and Hulu as places that I could watch the show. I click on Hulu, then have to navigate down through the Nathan For You series listings until I find an episode I haven't watched. Shouldn't Hulu know what episodes have been unwatched and present those FIRST??
So, the Hulu app was a disappointment. The Siri search (which Apple makes a big deal about) is not very convenient to use. I'm sure if I want to watch a MOVIE, the Siri search would be much better and offer movie selections from Netflix, HBO, Showtime, and the iTunes store. But my main use for Apple TV isn't movies. It's TV. And Apple TV said that this device is the future of television. But they make it really really hard to watch the shows that you want to watch. It kills me to say this, but using my crappy DVR back when I had Comcast was much more easy to use than trying to watch television on an Apple TV.
My suggestions:
1. please put the Hulu queue back in an easy to access place. I'm assuming Hulu hid the queue because they want the user to explore all the great movie and TV exclusive streaming deals it has acquired or watch some of the new Hulu-produced that. I don't need Hulu's help finding things to watch. I have plenty in my queue.
2. Bring back unwatched episode notifications on my shows thumbnails.
3. Have Siri actually be able to execute Hulu-specific commands. It should be able to take me directly to my queue or take me to the latest unwatched epsiode of on of my favorite shows.
4. In general, users should be able to specify which there preferred apps to watch movies and TV shows. I always prefer to stream a movie from Netflix or HBO versus renting something on demand. I also have no interest in buying a single episode of a show so Siri asking me to purchase a previous episode of the Daily Show does not help. I want Hulu to be my primary TV viewing experience on the Apple TV, followed my everything else 2nd. Obviously, Apple wants us to purchase movies and TV shows from it's iTunes store, but if they are allowing 3rd party apps onto it's device, and bragging on how amazing Siri will be for Apple TV, then they need accessing content from 3rd party apps easier.
