Worst UX ever for a streaming app

[Macalicious2011]

Why is the UI and UX so bad? I have recently resubscribed to tv+ after a 10 month break.

Navigating is an absolute chore. Content that’s included is muddled with with paid shows and movies. Don’t dare use the search feature. Results include content from other streaming services that I don’t subscribe to.

The learning curve for my partner and kids is steep as the UX makes zero sense and it’s easy to get lost.

 

[Wando64]

I tend to agree.
The content is mixed with paid for shows and movies because otherwise there would be hardly anything to show.

I tend to subscribe to TV+ for just a couple of months in a year to catch up with new seasons when they are released.
There’s no point in paying all year round.

 

[fatTribble]

For me, it’s hard to escape the ads. The Up Next is where you get to content you’ve already paid for, yet it’s a tiny sliver of the screen and is surrounded by content someone wants me to buy. I like many of the TV+ shows but the interface, like you said, is weak.

Personally I like the way Paramount+ does it where your favorites get their own tab with no other content shouting at you.

 

[Macalicious2011]

The content is mixed with paid for shows and movies because otherwise there would be hardly anything to show.

This is a great explanation. Last time, I had a free trial was before it was merged with iTunes. After 1-2 months my children and I had watched everything that was relevant and there wans’t much left to see.

I guess diluting TV+ with paid content and links from other streaming providers, makes TV+ look rich and populated.

Personally I like the way Paramount+ does it where your favorites get their own tab with no other content shouting at you.

This would be fabulous in TV+. However, this would negatively affect content discovery which seems to be a big priority for Apple.

 

[fatTribble]

This would be fabulous in TV+. However, this would negatively affect content discovery which seems to be a big priority for Apple.

Completely agree and that’s my frustration. I’d like to discover new content when I want. Apple wants to put new content in front of me when I’m trying to get to content I’ve already been watching.

 

[!!!]

Completely agree and that’s my frustration. I’d like to discover new content when I want. Apple wants to put new content in front of me when I’m trying to get to content I’ve already been watching.

The funny part is that I can almost never find shows that I'm interested in. I end up just scanning the Wikipedia page for Apple TV+ programming every few months to see what's new.

 

[fatTribble]

The funny part is that I can almost never find shows that I'm interested in. I end up just scanning the Wikipedia page for Apple TV+ programming every few months to see what's new.

I know what you mean. I mostly rely on friends to suggest shows. I actively try to spend as little time navigating the app as possible.

 

[TonParameter]

I'd argue every streaming service I use has an awful UX. Amazon has that rotating ad carousel that takes up 1/3 of the display. My Firestick UI makes it a bloody annoyance to get to apps I use if it's not top 5.

Disney plus has imo one of my most desired catalogs to stroll through. They have a LOT of content I WANT to see. There's just no way to find anything easily. They make it so family friendly you can't filter out all the 50s and 60s family movies in order to see anything but the most popular films of the moment. And then you can't really come back to things. If I see a movie I can't just add it to my wish list I have to OPEN the full video profile and add it. I want to be able to just right click open in new tab and use that to add it or heck just give me a floating heart or star icon to save it.

IMO the only streaming services with a decent UI are the self-hosted ones.

In another world where the internet wasn't poopified, streaming services would produce catalogs that work on a standard protocol and we could have apps that let us connect to the catalogs of the services we have and we could use THAT to discover content.

 

[Wakey87433]

I really don't understand how people are finding it hard to find the content. Sure the first page you land on has a lot of content that are basically ads for other services or things to buy but if you go on the AppleTv+ page you just get the AppleTV+ content and its really not that hard to navigate