HBO Max to Completely Overhaul Buggy Apple TV App By End of Year

[MacRumors]

HBO Max will release a completely rebuilt Apple TV app by the end of the year to overcome a variety of issues users have experienced with the current version, according to a new report.

Shortly after Warnermedia removed its HBO Max offering from Apple TV Channels in May, an update to its subsequently released tvOS app essentially broke several features of the service.

In June, HBO Max dropped the native tvOS video player in favor of a custom video player, which introduced issues with fast-forwarding and rewinding video in the app.

Recognizing its mistake, HBO quickly reinstated the native tvOS video player UI. However, problems with playback control remained, while users have continued to report other issues to do with subtitles and audio description.

According to HBO Max execs who spoke to Vulture, these remaining errors should be corrected for all Apple TV users "within days," while subscribers can expect the rollout of a completely new app to match the needs of the current service.

"We're going to replace every single connected TV app in the next four or five months," said an unnamed WarnerMedia exec. Apple TV customers will likely have to wait until the end of the year for the new app to appear, and an overhaul of the mobile and web-based apps is planned for early 2022.

According to the report, the problems started when the company launched a new $10 ad-supported tier and expanded its app to 39 new countries in June. Integrating commercials into what had been an ad-free platform required the introduction of a whole new layer of app coding, and that's when the widely reported bugs were established.

WarnerMedia has also admitted that the current HBO Max app wasn't built from scratch, and has been running on a retrofitted version of the old HBO Go and HBO Now services, which were designed for a very different product. Hence the decision to start afresh with a completely new app, which has been in the works since at least late last year.

Article Link: HBO Max to Completely Overhaul Buggy Apple TV App By End of Year

 

[JBGoode]

Great. I'll be happy when this is released as the current app is garbage.

I paused a movie last night and when I hit play again it started from a point 10 minutes earlier.

 

[mattopotamus]

Great. I'll be happy when this is released as the current app is garbage.

I paused a movie last night and when I hit play again it started from a point 10 minutes earlier.

It is by far the worst on the round Nvidia Shield. It crashes pretty much every time I use it, and forces me to restart the entire device.

 

[foobarbaz]

Nothing good has ever come from a complete rewrite, though.

We developers think it’s the easiest way to fix all bugs, but unless the underlying structural problems (like bad QA, wrong priorities) are fixed, it typically ends up worse.

Fingers crossed, though.

 

[Muzzakus]

Just use the tvOS building blocks ffs. Apple, be your douche controlling selves and enforce GUI standards on atv. What’s the point of paying for the hardware if the apps are just the same as on a cheap Chinese android stick! Jesus wept!

 

[ignatius345]

Just use the tvOS building blocks ffs. Apple, be your douche controlling selves and enforce GUI standards on atv. What’s the point of paying for the hardware if the apps are just the same as on a cheap Chinese android stick! Jesus wept!

They should also force every channel to tie in with the TV app. I regularly forget about stuff in Netflix because it doesn't show up on my home screen the way things from HBO, Disney+, Hulu and Apple TV+ do.

 

[EyeTack]

According to the report, the problems started when the company launched a new $10 ad-supported tier

Taking it from both ends … sounds like cable with extra steps.

I remember the original attraction to cable was the limited intrusion of programming.

 

[jlc1978]

Nothing good has ever come from a complete rewrite, though.

We developers think it’s the easiest way to fix all bugs, but unless the underlying structural problems (like bad QA, wrong priorities) are fixed, it typically ends up worse.

Exactly. Unless you do a thorough analysis of all the causes of a bad product all you get is brand new big bag of hurt.

They should also force every channel to tie in with the TV app. I regularly forget about stuff in Netflix because it doesn't show up on my home screen the way things from HBO, Disney+, Hulu and Apple TV+ do.

I would point the finger at apps that fail to do this rather than Apple.

 

[TimB21]

Nothing good has ever come from a complete rewrite, though.

We developers think it’s the easiest way to fix all bugs, but unless the underlying structural problems (like bad QA, wrong priorities) are fixed, it typically ends up worse.

Fingers crossed, though.

True but I think you'd agree that at some point the original code is such a mess that a rewrite, with the required pain, is necessary. They should do a very broad beta, is that doable with tvOS, and then understand that it'll still be buggy.

-=Tim=-

 

[PhillyGuy72]

I gave up on the Apple TV app version. Fire TV is so so, bit buggy at times. If you do hit rewind or Fast Forward then - then Play, it becomes a mess (on my end at least). App becomes non responsive. Keeps rewinding (or FFW).

You have to actually exit the darn app and start over. Thankfully this didn't occur 3/4 into a movie I was watching, it was a 1/2 hour show so I just had to start the whole thing over.

I don't even use it that often, but the app (servers) have a history of flaws. The Mare Of Easttown live finale stream didn't work. After 20-25 minutes, the stream/app was fixed.

 

[cgs1xx]

I haven’t experienced problem with the HBO app, it’s mainly Peacock that I find buggy where the playback controls are awful. Oh and I always have authentication issues with Hulu so I keep restarting the app or the whole atv again and again.

 

[MauiPa]

True but I think you'd agree that at some point the original code is such a mess that a rewrite, with the required pain, is necessary. They should do a very broad beta, is that doable with TVOS, and then understand that it'll still be buggy.

-=Tim=-

I’m not feeling you. Apple developers have access to all the same frameworks in Xcode, it’s when they go from scratch the f it up. Just write to the platform your targeting. No one wants a windows program on a Mac, and versa vice. If you are developing for a platform use it’s tools. I mean, dah!

 

[ungoogled]

I find the Hulu app to be incredibly buggy on the new atv 4k.

 

[ignatius345]

Exactly. Unless you do a thorough analysis of all the causes of a bad product all you get is brand new big bag of hurt.
I would point the finger at apps that fail to do this rather than Apple.

Right, but what was being said in the post I was quoting is that Apple should be enforcing better standards from the apps. It's kind of the wild west in terms of UI.

 

[Swift]

The worst thing about HBO Max is that it isn’t HBO.

 

[litmag01]

Nothing good has ever come from a complete rewrite, though.

We developers think it’s the easiest way to fix all bugs, but unless the underlying structural problems (like bad QA, wrong priorities) are fixed, it typically ends up worse.

Fingers crossed, though.

Sometimes managers need a project-feather in their cap. Looks good on the CV.

 

[G5isAlive]

Right, but what was being said in the post I was quoting is that Apple should be enforcing better standards from the apps. It's kind of the wild west in terms of UI.

you must be an old-timer (I am) that remember the tight guidelines on the Mac... but still.. if you think the App Store is bad... I got an android to see ya lol

 

[jlc1978]

Right, but what was being said in the post I was quoting is that Apple should be enforcing better standards from the apps. It's kind of the wild west in terms of UI.

Good point. A more consistent UI across apps would be helpful; especially in viewing apps where the basic use case is the same across all apps: watch, pause, save place, rewind, fast forward, search...

 

[webbuzz]

One of the worst, if not the worst UI for a streaming app.

 

[PsykX]

Just use the tvOS building blocks ffs. Apple, be your douche controlling selves and enforce GUI standards on atv. What’s the point of paying for the hardware if the apps are just the same as on a cheap Chinese android stick! Jesus wept!

100% agree.

YouTube, Twitch, the new Beachbody on Demand, etc. They clearly violate tvOS' design guidelines.

 

[verniesgarden]

Just use the tvOS building blocks ffs. Apple, be your douche controlling selves and enforce GUI standards on atv. What’s the point of paying for the hardware if the apps are just the same as on a cheap Chinese android stick! Jesus wept!

I’d also like to seem them pull all live feeds from apps into one guide (tab at the top). So I can just flip through if I want.

 

[kerr]

How about the bug that HBO Max is only available in the US?

 

[iterva]

Been waiting for them to launch it here but reading through some of the feedback regarding this app i guess i should consider myself lucky not having to deal with it as it stands now 😅

 

[Donald Lynch-Limón]

It's not even just the AppleTV app.
On Amazon's platform, the app will sometimes play audio but no video - just a black screen. Have to load the movie/show on a phone or tablet and push it to the television. 🙄

 

[TimB21]

I’m not feeling you. Apple developers have access to all the same frameworks in Xcode, it’s when they go from scratch the f it up. Just write to the platform your targeting. No one wants a windows program on a Mac, and versa vice. If you are developing for a platform use it’s tools. I mean, dah!

If they're not designing to the platform I totally agree.