Hulu Unveils Revamped Interface, Coming First to Apple TV

[MacRumors]

Hulu today announced the launch of an updated interface that offers up content in a tiled view, similar to Netflix and other streaming services.

Hulu in 2017 unveiled a simplified user interface that eliminated the horizontal tiled view for TV shows and movies, instead adopting a vertically oriented design that focused on a single TV show or movie at a time with full-screen artwork.

On the Apple TV, Hulu's current design displays just three or four show listings at a time, making it difficult to browse through content to find something to watch, and it's an interface that many Hulu customers have not been satisfied with.

The updated interface that Hulu is rolling out as of today is designed to make it easier to navigate and discover new content. Navigating through collections is done vertically, but there's now an option to explore within a collection through horizontal tiles.

Hulu says that this design is something that viewers are accustomed to and that matches the navigation pattern in Disney+ and ESPN+, so it will make navigation easier for customers who have the bundle that includes all three services.

Categories of content like TV, Movies, and Sports will be moved to the master navigation menu, and Hulu says that navigating through content will take fewer clicks than before.

Hulu plans to use tile size to highlight new shows and movies, while "Keep Watching" tiles might be smaller so viewers can see more of their content at a glance and return to favorites more quickly.

There have also been some changes to improve how recommendations work, with fine tuning to make curated collections more personalized for each viewer.

With this change, a viewer who may be a fan of medical dramas will see those titles first in a curated drama collection. In that same collection, a fan of romantic dramas may see those prioritized instead.

Hulu's redesigned interface will come first to some viewers on Roku and Apple TV devices before rolling out more broadly over the course of the next few months.

Article Link: Hulu Unveils Revamped Interface, Coming First to Apple TV

 

[richpjr]

Finally! This is long overdue. The only UI worse than Hulu's is Amazon Prime Video.

 

[Saipher]

Finally, the current one is no good...

 

[linkmaster02]

Great! Hulu's interface looks really nice, but requires a bit too much effort to explore. I'm glad they are learning and improving.

 

[jpsmith76]

As much as I’d like a new interface, I’d live with the crappy one if we could just get 5.1 channel sound on the AppleTV!

 

[krfr]

About time!! Their current interface is absolutely terrible! Not user friendly in the least.

 

[Xeem]

Finally! We still have an old 3rd gen AppleTV in my bedroom with the old Hulu interface, and it was way way more useable.

 

[miketcool]

THANK YOU. The last interface looked like someone took Bing and made a menu system based off a Fibonacci sequence. Left, down, right, up, left, it was like tapping in fatality moves for Mortal Combat.

THIS IS VASTLY IMPROVED!

 

[Parp Quat]

How about Siri to change Hulu live TV channels?

 

[Ultramove69]

Thank you! It's about time, the UI was horrific.

 

[Eorlas]

As much as I’d like a new interface, I’d live with the crappy one if we could just get 5.1 channel sound on the AppleTV!

does hulu not support this?

 

[jpsmith76]

does hulu not support this?

Hulu supports it on other platforms, but just 2.0 on AppleTV.

 

[deeddawg]

Hulu's UI had no where to go but up. Just about anything would've been an improvement.

 

[4jasontv]

Finally! This is long overdue. The only UI worse than Hulu's is Amazon Prime Video.

Oh man. Not the worst but Netflix endless rows of obscure genres is infuriating. Why can’t we just have screen based menu. I select action and they fill the entire screen with art for action movies. I can hit menu to go back.

 

[yaxomoxay]

"Hulu in 2017 unveiled a simplified user interface"

Really?!?

 

[CopyChief]

Oh, great! I was using my old, dusty 3rd Gen Apple TV (with the old interface) in the basement the other day. And while the design is dated, certainly... it's so much more usable. Looking forward to this refresh.

 

[Marco0107]

Finally! We still have an old 3rd gen AppleTV in my bedroom with the old Hulu interface, and it was way way more useable.

Agreed! May finally be time to retire those old rectangular prisms.

 

[taran420]

Thank god. Hulu interface is atrocious.

 

[mariusignorello]

Interesting. I already have that new interface. Got it a couple weeks ago. It’s definitely a lot more convenient to use.

 

[MisterK]

I wonder why they're bringing the change to AppleTV first. I'd be very interested to see the current numbers on adoption/use. When I last worked at a digital agency only a few short years ago penetration was about 4% of US households. Not huge. At the same time, for those who have the money I have a hard time seeing why anyone would get something else. Is saving ($50?) over its potential 4 year life worth having a lesser device every time you want to do stuff on your TV? Not for me. AppleTV every time.

 

[69Mustang]

Hulu's interface is finicky but tolerable. Search is unintuitive. Content adds forgiveness though.

Unrelated but visually relevant: Reese and Kerry in "Little Fires Everywhere" is better than Reese and Jennifer in "The Morning Show".

 

[Mojohanna32]

I have a love hate relationship with Hulu. I think the software is dog compared to other streaming services like Netflix or Amazon. It always seems to crash, hang up or need to be restarted. Plus the price increase to $54/month from $45 was atrocious. The only thing holding me back from moving to YouTube TV or another service is the channel line ups.

 

[tfigs]

Wow, nice to see others thought its interface was the worst. Absolutely awful and clunky to navigate. Looking forward to the new design.

 

[evanmarx]

Will we get Hulu in Europe?

 

[jazz1]

Hulu today announced the launch of an updated interface that offers up content in a tiled view, similar to Netflix and other streaming services.

Hulu in 2017 unveiled a simplified user interface that eliminated the horizontal tiled view for TV shows and movies, instead adopting a vertically oriented design that focused on a single TV show or movie at a time with full-screen artwork.

On the Apple TV, Hulu's current design displays just three or four show listings at a time, making it difficult to browse through content to find something to watch, and it's an interface that many Hulu customers have not been satisfied with.

The updated interface that Hulu is rolling out as of today is designed to make it easier to navigate and discover new content. Navigating through collections is done vertically, but there's now an option to explore within a collection through horizontal tiles.

Hulu says that this design is something that viewers are accustomed to and that matches the navigation pattern in Disney+ and ESPN+, so it will make navigation easier for customers who have the bundle that includes all three services.

Categories of content like TV, Movies, and Sports will be moved to the master navigation menu, and Hulu says that navigating through content will take fewer clicks than before.

Hulu plans to use tile size to highlight new shows and movies, while "Keep Watching" tiles might be smaller so viewers can see more of their content at a glance and return to favorites more quickly.

There have also been some changes to improve how recommendations work, with fine tuning to make curated collections more personalized for each viewer.Hulu's redesigned interface will come first to some viewers on Roku and Apple TV devices before rolling out more broadly over the course of the next few months.

Article Link: Hulu Unveils Revamped Interface, Coming First to Apple TV

I know this is probably impossible, but i wish there was an Apple TV app that would truly unify all my different video streaming services, not just do a sampling.