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tvOS 17: biggest leap forward and yet...

roland.g

roland.g

macrumors 604
Original poster
Apr 11, 2005
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So much of the overhaul to the tvOS interface, especially control center is great.

Certainly the biggest improvement in tvOS in several years. And yet Up Next is still a major fail.

WHY do I have one long list of content going off the screen to the right rather than a grid or something more useful.
WHY do I not have various categories.
Up Next should be broken down into:
1. Continue watching for items you are in progress.
2. Series for series you have queued that you want to watch (or might be in progress but it takes you to the series page, not just directly into progress on the current episode).
3. Movies for well duh movies that you have queued to watch.

Instead, anytime I see new content on any platform, ATV+, Prime, Max, Starz, etc. that I want to see and add it to Up Next, it just ends up in a long long trailing off the screen list of squares intermixed with anything I have watched a portion of.

APPLE - you brought FaceTime to the Apple TV, but can't fix this aspect of your software?!??!?
 
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Juicy Box said:
Has their been a redesign of the App Store?

If not, I would consider that the biggest tvOS fail.

It is the only Apple App a store that has gotten worse since it’s launch.
Click to expand...
The Apple TV is primarily a content delivery device with Arcade offerings and other apps as an afterthought. Most users will download the apps they need for that content on a one-time basis and finding those apps is not difficult, especially since the best streaming services will be listed first. Short of changing the way the icons are presented for downloaded apps into categories and then only showing the apps for those within that category, there really is nothing wrong with the UI or the app store.

However, the way that the Apple TV app itself presents your want to watch and keep watching content is poor, even Netflix does a better job. TV watchers want the best interface for accessing their streaming content. Not more apps.
 
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roland.g said:
Short of changing the way the icons are presented for downloaded apps into categories and then only showing the apps for those within that category, there really is nothing wrong with the UI or the app store.
Click to expand...
App discovery is basically non-existent on tvOS.

Adding some as simple as genres would improve app discovery.


roland.g said:
The Apple TV is primarily a content delivery device with Arcade offerings and other apps as an afterthought. Most users will download the apps they need for that content on a one-time basis and finding those apps is not difficult, especially since the best streaming services will be listed first.
Click to expand...
This is because there is no app discovery. There are hundreds of tvOS apps that most users will never know about because there is no way to get to them besides searching for their exact name.
 
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Juicy Box said:
This is because there is no app discovery. There are hundreds of tvOS apps that most users will never know about because there is no way to get to them besides searching for their exact name.
Click to expand...

Not defending the lack of the attention Apple gives "the hobby" when I think it is towards their very best product, but a great way to discover apps is to search for the app you seek online. Try AppleTV app and some descriptive words and apps will generally be found that way. That will give you a specific name of an app. Then hop into the AppleTV store and type that name to locate it for download.

To illustrate, I just tried "AppleTV App Model Railroad" in Bing and got a match, somewhat unexpectedly actually. Sure enough, there is an app for that for AppleTV. Yes, that's not as nice as discovering it right in the App Store itself in some organic fashion, but a simple 2-step approach can go a long way... until maybe someday Apple decides to put more into "the hobby."
 
roland.g said:
So I'm guessing your an Apple TV app developer.
Click to expand...
Nope, just a long time Apple TV user, and someone that has seen the decline in the tvOS App Store. I also see potential of the ATV and still have hope that Apple will start giving it more attention.

As for tvOS app developers, there are hardly any of them anymore due to Apple's mishandling of the tvOS App Store and the ATV in general. Only 10 years ago, Apple had a large marketshare of the streaming box, it is a shame that they let it slip away with their mismanagement.


HobeSoundDarryl said:
Not defending the lack of the attention Apple gives "the hobby" when I think it is towards their very best product, but a great way to discover apps is to search for the app you seek online. Try AppleTV app and some descriptive words and apps will generally be found that way. That will give you a specific name of an app. Then hop into the AppleTV store and type that name to locate it for download.

To illustrate, I just tried "AppleTV App Model Railroad" in Bing and got a match, somewhat unexpectedly actually. Sure enough, there is an app for that for AppleTV. Yes, that's not as nice as discovering it right in the App Store itself in some organic fashion, but a simple 2-step approach can go a long way... until maybe someday Apple decides to put more into "the hobby."
Click to expand...
Yeah, it is basically the only way of app discovery on tvOS. Definitely not a great way to find apps, especially since a lot of the results are outdated, but pretty much the only way right now.
 
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I agree about Up Next, which really is the heart of the Apple TV, when using it for TV.
It's a total mess.

The long single line of shows/movies that you have to vertically scroll through, horrible interface. And they still cut off the main preview screen above, which used to show more about the show you had selected/hovered rather than just used to market their 5 shows in annoying rotation.

A grid view for shows would be beyond ideal. Just about anything other than what they have currently on a single line would be an upgrade. I'm baffled that this ridiculous design has stuck around for so long and still unchanged.

The Apple TV used to be a great way to, watch TV.
Not so much anymore. A Fire stick or Roku is just about, or better these days. Especially is you just want to watch TV.

Up Next could easily be fixed and made into a very nice display of shows. If it doesn't come by the time my ATV 4K (original) dies, I'm moving to something else.
 
I have a 4K second gen and I’m glad to see the find remote feature is on there. A bit of misinformation out there saying it’s only available on the latest ATV.

Im sorry to see crossfade capability wasn’t added to Music like iOS 17 did. Maybe they’ll add it later.
 
On the plus side you can now Mark As Watched, removed from up next etc from the Homescreen.

IMG_2824.jpeg
 
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shk718 said:
How do you get to that menu? When I press and hold the play button it no longer goes to the “mark as watched” menu
Click to expand...
You’re pressing the wrong button Lol, press and hold the trackpad (inner circle)
 
Only 2 new aerial screensavers seems stingy to me. It doesn’t seem hard to gather a ton of drone footage to throw on there.
 
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