Apple TV search results pale in comparison to Fire Stick

[Chris Meece]

I picked up an Apple TV 4K 2021 last night after using a Firestick for years. I love love the hardware and features but so far the search feature has been sorely lacking for me. In my attached images the first one shows the results on my Apple TV search of Dungeons and Dragons: I received 3 hits. The following pictures shows the same search on my Firestick.

I am hoping there are some specific Siri commands to get broader results like I get on the Firestick.

Any suggestions?

 

[-Gonzo-]

I’m not quite seeing your issue, the Apple TV has given you exactly what you asked for.
Your Firestick seems to of provided anything and everything with either Dungeon in the title or a load of stuff that has nothing in relation to Dungeons & Dragons at all.
What am I missing?

 

[Chris Meece]

I’m not quite seeing your issue, the Apple TV has given you exactly what you asked for.
Your Firestick seems to of provided anything and everything with either Dungeon in the title or a load of stuff that has nothing in relation to Dungeons & Dragons at all.
What am I missing?

I am used to getting results that are in the same genre as my search terms, not just ones that have the exact words in their title. I did a subsequent test where I searched for some of the results my Fire TV gave, using the full name of the movie, and I was unable to find it on my Apple TV.

It is true that my Fire TV does give some results that are a little off base but for the most part it gives me a lot of options from my intended genre.

 

[Juicy Box]

I am used to getting results that are in the same genre as my search terms, not just ones that have the exact words in their title.

You can also search by genre, such as "Fantasy".

Also, if you see something that is in the same genre in the search, you can select it, and scroll down to "Relate". That will give you similar movies in genre, actors, directors etc.

I picked up an Apple TV 4K 2021 last night after using a Firestick for years. I love love the hardware and features but so far the search feature has been sorely lacking for me.

I am a long time Apple TV user, since the 1st gen back in 2007. I also use a few FireStick 4k and a Roku, mostly due to the cost of getting additional ATV4Ks.

While there are a few features that I like with both the FireSticks and Roku, they are very few. Overall, the ATV is a lot more polished device, imo.

Once I start playing a movie or TV Show, it doesn't really matter, but if I have to navigate or search, I just enjoy the experience with the ATV much more with a few exceptions.

The other devices are just so painfully slow sometimes, and have crappy multi-tasking (or whatever one would call jumping from app to app without the app re-loading like you just opened it).

The Apple TV also has much better gaming, although that is starting to go downhill as gaming developers are running from the tvOS platform.

But still, for viewing content, the Apple TV is the best, imo. I just wished Apple would make it cheaper so I could get rid of my other devices.

 

[Juicy Box]

You can also search by genre, such as "Fantasy".

I will add that I will use genre searches a lot, and sometimes have caveats to the genre such as:


"Search Sci-fi Horror"
"Search Adventure TV Shows from the 2000's"
"Search 90's action movies staring Arnold Schwarzenegger"

For your search, you could do "Search fantasy dragon movies" or something similar.

The search feature on tvOS isn't perfect, but it isn't bad once you start to play with it and know the tricks. Also, I notice that if you try to search something and don't get any results, try it again and adjust your wording a little.

 

[amidr]

ATV search feature is not too bad, but you need to play with words sometimes. I suggest if you do not find whatever you are looking for, you can change the title to get a better result.

 

[Chris Meece]

Thank you everybody. Very good suggestions. I am growing to really love the usability and interface.

 

[w5jck]

I have a Fire TV Cube 2nd gen and aN ATV 4K 2017. The ATV interface is way more clean and without clutter. The Fire TV interface is total clutter and disorganization. Same with Amazon’s Music app.

Forget about finding anything easily on the Fire TV or in their Music app. Amazon is always trying to sell you something, so anything they think is even extremely, remotely associated with what you asked for gets pushed in your face and pushed up your backside! Same goes for their Echo devices. Alexa annoyingly tries to shove tips and shopping ideas up your backside. I use my Fire TV Cube mostly to be able to view and schedule OTA TV recordings via my Fire Recast DVR. Or to view HDR in YouTube videos since YT still won’t allow that in my 2017 ATV 4K. I do watch a few Prime shows, but 9 times out of 10 Amazon wants me to rent or buy shows or to use another service to view them. Darn search results give you results for a variety of services I don’t have and don’t want! So bottom line is that I’m glad Apple has a different, and better, search system and philosophy.

Having said all that, Apple TV+ is as useless as teats on a boar hog. The small amount of programming they have has no appeal for me at all. But at least the ATV interface is clean and very easy to navigate unlike that maze of garbage on my Fire TV.

 

[-Gonzo-]

Having said all that, Apple TV+ is as useless as teats on a boar hog. The small amount of programming they have has no appeal for me at all.

Each to their own I guess, personally I think everything we’ve watched on ATV+ so far has been pretty fantastic.
IMO it’s most definitely been quality over quantity with so much more to look forward to.

 

[JeffPerrin]

Firestick's lack of support for AirPlay 2 should be a deal-killer for iOS users.