Netflix Apple TV App Ruined - Playback UI

[zedsdead]

So Netflix is now another in a line of apps that make a custom player and don't use the native player. New app update is simply terrible. You can't pause and scroll without having to select over to their new timeline.

I used to say Apple should mandate all apps require the native player, but at this point they don't have the clout they used to for this.

 

[jonku]

delete

 

[cynics]

You can pause and scrub, it's oddly unresponsive to start though, you need to swipe across the touch wheel not circle around it, but you can circle around it once you move it. Not sure wtf is going on there....

Personally I like clicking right or left to move 10 seconds on the AppleTV because I never found the touch wheel circle thing very precise, I would always over or undershoot where I wanted to stop. So it actually does that well.

Siri can pause and play but not rewind or fast forward.

I like the dedicated "Play from beginning" and previous or next episode on the video screen. So used to scrubbing back to the beginning or exiting out to goto the next episode I forgot it kind of sucked.

That said I still prefer the default AVPlayer. My issue is I hear that this is done for consistency of the app between different devices, however that's a solution to a problem the content provider has not for a problem I (the customer) have. Quite the opposite in fact, they are making my experience less consistent. I really don't like the idea of watching a show and thinking "Oh this is the app with the really bad player", its just a distraction from the content.

 

[JulianL]

...

That said I still prefer the default AVPlayer. My issue is I hear that this is done for consistency of the app between different devices, however that's a solution to a problem the content provider has not for a problem I (the customer) have. Quite the opposite in fact, they are making my experience less consistent. I really don't like the idea of watching a show and thinking "Oh this is the app with the really bad player", its just a distraction from the content.

I suppose I can see their point, at least to the extent that they (Netflix) have some justification for the change even if many (most?) Apple users will consider it misguided at least for the Apple world. It does leave me thinking however that if Netflix really wanted to give as much of it's customer base as possible the best possible experience then it could offer an option in settings for the user to choose whether they wanted to use the native Apple player to get the most seamless AppleTV experience or the Netflix one to get the uniform Netflix cross-platform experience. It's not as if Netflix would have to implement both players because the Apple one is already there and supported/maintained by Apple (as I understand it).

Then again, Netflix has history of not bothering to optimise the experience for Apple TV owners by not integrating properly with Apple TV global search, continue watching etc. Netflix's behaviour here is in my opinion despicable. Any mature company should be integrating properly with the platforms it claims to support and be striving to give the most complete and well integrated experience that it can. I've no idea what Netflix thinks it gains by not playing nicely with Apple TV when other providers of major streaming apps chose to do so but ... gggrrrrrr.

 

[moyjoy]

So Netflix is now another in a line of apps that make a custom player and don't use the native player. New app update is simply terrible. You can't pause and scroll without having to select over to their new timeline.

I used to say Apple should mandate all apps require the native player, but at this point they don't have the clout they used to for this.

I hate it! You can no longer see the descriptions for what you're watching, while watching. Tapping the center button on the remote no longer gives you the current time and the time you'll be done watching the show. The rewind is horrible and tapping it back a couple times no longer turns on the captions for the replay... that was such a great feature! I can't tell my Siri Remote to rewind or fast forward. This new version just feels archaic and clunky.

 

[kerr]

Agreed, it’s garbage. Some of my streaming apps now have two recent changes:
- new UI where when you skip left or right it pauses and for some stupid reason, shows six screen frames
- auto-subtitles for 10 seconds after you skip left or right, every time (and yes I have it off in Accessability settings)

After having my ATV 4K for 8 years and waiting patiently to upgrade to the upcoming 4th Gen model, I now question whether I want to use Apple TV at all. These changes are the single worst thing to happen to the product.

Also, I really wish every streaming app used the InSight info button on the iPhone remote.

 

[ignatius345]

I read some speculation on Daring Fireball that it might be a unified interface they use on all platforms that makes it easier to inject ads for ad-supported plans. If true, just another symptom of ensh*ttification that we all get to deal with even if we pay extra to not see ads.

 

[thadoggfather]

I saw my screen dim from inactivity couple minutes into a show lol just me?

Am I supposed to randomly touch the remote to keep it awake and thinking I’m actively watching?

 

[boswald]

I saw my screen dim from inactivity couple minutes into a show lol just me?

Am I supposed to randomly touch the remote to keep it awake and thinking I’m actively watching?

I remember it saying something like "Are you still there?" when I was watching for a long time. It was so annoying. One reason why I left (among others).

 

[ignatius345]

So Netflix is now another in a line of apps that make a custom player and don't use the native player. New app update is simply terrible. You can't pause and scroll without having to select over to their new timeline.

I used to say Apple should mandate all apps require the native player, but at this point they don't have the clout they used to for this.

Right now I think I’m down to two major streaming apps I use that have the native player: Apple TV of course, and also Hulu, which fortunately can play content from HBO if you’re subscribed to that.

I dearly wish Apple would just make the native player mandatory. The piss-poor custom video players are universally terrible and ruin many of the conveniences and accessibility features of the Apple TV.

I might start actually downloading illegally stuff that’s already in the streaming app I’m paying for, so I can watch in the native player on the Computers app that lets you stream from the TV app on the Mac...

 

[orbital~debris]

Agreed, Netflix's player interface is a definite regression to the experience after using Apple's native tvOS interface.
When this change happened a few weeks back, I was able to revert by turning off 'experimental features' on our Netflix account. But that fix only lasted a few days…

Everyone in this thread should go to apple.com/feedback and ask for the native tvOS player to either be mandatory, or have a switch to allow the user to choose to override an app's interface and display the tvOS interface instead.

(Plus give feedback to Netflix, if there's any way to do that.)

 

[Edd70]

Does Apple charge extra for the use of the native player? That’s the only thing that makes sense.

To this day Netflix doesn’t work with Up Next, which makes zero sense. They make weird moves.

 

[Starfia]

It's been many years since I've paid for a streaming service, but I've been hearing a lot about this lately.

Does Apple charge extra for the use of the native player?

No – all the native interface and AV technologies are available to all developers, and Apple encourages developers to use them unless they really need something more specific. This is seemingly only about people at Netflix making the choice.

I used to say Apple should mandate all apps require the native player, but at this point they don't have the clout they used to for this.

I dearly wish Apple would just make the native player mandatory.

Everyone in this thread should go to apple.com/feedback and ask for the native tvOS player to either be mandatory…

I empathize with people who want the native interface, but I don't think it should be mandatory. When it's just about how an app is designed, every developer is entitled to say "here's what we've made – use it or don't."

I do think people should weigh Netflix's choices when deciding whether to be their customer, and indeed share their thoughts with Netflix through feedback.

 

[ignatius345]

I empathize with people who want the native interface, but I don't think it should be mandatory. When it's just about how an app is designed, every developer is entitled to say "here's what we've made – use it or don't."

Apple can and does reject apps for all kinds of reasons, and I think one of those reasons should be using video players whose controls disable tvOS’s accessibility and other important native UI features.

Some of those, like subtitles-on-rewind and easily switchable Voice Isolation, are core tvOS features that users buy the device to use -- but then half-assed video players break those features? I just don’t see why that’s allowed.

 

[JeffPerrin]

I don't believe Apple will ever make the native player mandatory as they have always provided frameworks to give developers the tools they need to create their own in-app video playback experience. However, something that could (and IMO) should be enforced is basic interface behavior so as to allow a consistent user experience when navigating video playback and other expected remote control functions when interacting with tvOS-related navigation maneuvers.

I also agree the Play/pause/scrub functionalitly is wildly and frustratingly inconsistent across video players. As Apple TV gains a larger user base, this issue could perhaps be remedied with an update to App Review Guidelines in regards to interaction with the Siri Remote. ie. Something along the lines of: "Unified video playback experience for streaming video."

🤞🤞

 

[Edd70]

I looked into feedback for Netflix about the player which, of course, they make as difficult as possible because the very last thing they want is customer feedback.

So I called them and and a nice human answered quick and took the info. She said “it’s the first she’s heard of it”. Possibly true since the feedback procedure is so bad.

 

[Starfia]

Apple can and does reject apps for all kinds of reasons, and I think one of those reasons should be using video players whose controls disable tvOS’s accessibility and other important native UI features.

Some of those, like subtitles-on-rewind and easily switchable Voice Isolation, are core tvOS features that users buy the device to use -- but then half-assed video players break those features? I just don’t see why that’s allowed.

It's certainly debatable; I'd expect that some people will think Apple should have strict requirements here while others think developers should pick their technologies and let user engagement dictate success.

A few relevant memories:

The pre-tvOS Apple TV was very strict. There were a handful of apps total, they were pretty much all just for watching video, and each was the result of a special arrangement, and an unknown deal, with whichever company. tvOS could have been that too, but it seems Apple had this debate over 10 years ago and decided tvOS would specifically not be that; it would instead be this full-breadth platform with the same open-endedness and flexibility for pretty much every developer who wanted to make something for it.

The Amazon Prime Video app for tvOS. They were a huge holdout while Apple and Amazon were seemingly struggling to come to an agreement; apparently lots of customers were asking and waiting for it. When it was finally launched, it was all Amazon-style UI. It felt like suddenly switching from an Apple TV to an Amazon device; or even just to an Amazon site in a slow browser. It seems entirely possible the long disagreement was partially over the interface; evidently it was either Amazon's design or no tvOS app. No doubt the folks at Apple still remember this.

Netflix has always been a holdout too. Subtitle recaps and voice isolation are certainly nice features (though the latter isn't even supported on all Apple TV models). Are they "core features"? Certainly what is a core feature for TV apps is accessibility from the main "TV" app. And Netflix has never been there. If Apple had ever required that, it seems conceivable tvOS would never have had Netflix.

The main other situation I can think of where Apple has been heavy-handed about a software framework is requiring WebKit for all iOS browsers. The justification? Better for users. The result? Increasingly undeniable controversy and a verdict this was illegal in the EU.

So: I get that you and others think alternate video players shouldn't be allowed. But I trust such people who are also Apple enthusiasts are at least capable of seeing it's a decision with factors to weigh.

This way, I imagine we'll have a shorter kerfuffle and a more permanent settling of the issue. Your way, I think we'd likelier get short-term placation and a longer-term kerfuffle.

"That’s what a lot of customers pay us to do, is to try to make the best products we can. And if we succeed, they’ll buy ’em. And if we don’t, they won’t. And it’ll all work itself out."

If that speaker understood this of Apple, presumably he could fathom the merit of affording the same among developers on a platform birthed to let every developer compete.

 

[ignatius345]

let user engagement dictate success

Sounds like something from the Ensh*ttification 101 manual. That’s also not how accessibility features work.

 

[Starfia]

Sounds like something from the Ensh*ttification 101 manual. That’s also not how accessibility features work.

How markets work is indeed not how accessibility features work.

 

[ignatius345]

How markets work is indeed not how accessibility features work.

Right, which is yet another reason “how markets work” is a poor answer to so many things.

 

[Starfia]

Right, which is yet another reason “how markets work” is a poor answer to so many things.

Well, we're going in circles. For those who preferred it the way it was, I hope Netflix perceives you're unhappy and backtracks in a week. If so, you can thank how markets work.