I was going to write some more on solving poverty and homelessness but instead I’m making this post and I’m going to describe how Apple TV or the iTunes store app is garbage (and Apple knows it). I include iTunes and Apple TV together because they are integrated (see the get more episodes).
If you were to review Apple TV / iTunes store about 10 years ago it would be one of the top ten media apps.
It had these features:
- search for tv show
- search for movie
- purchase movie
- download offline
But, the same problems it had ten years ago it still hasn’t addressed. Why?
No listing all seasons
Searching for TV shows on iTunes doesn’t list the TV show it lists seasons. For example, it doesn’t have a main TV show with seasons list. It just shows the Show — Season 1, Show-Season 2, etc. Every single streaming service has this but not Apple TV.
No Download Pausing
It doesn’t have a pause download option. It’s either download or stop downloading. Some places charge by the bandwidth.
No Audio Selection
If you purchase a movie or TV show you can’t change the audio. If you want to hear the audio in French or Spanish or the original language tough luck! Every single streaming service has this but not Apple TV.
Some seasons unavailable for purchase
Some shows have multiple seasons released but they aren’t available for purchase. Why? Actually, I don’t care. Some people can’t use the other TV apps in different regions. Purchasing is the only way to do it and it’s supposed to be the right way to acquire media but it’s not for sale??? Every single streaming service has this but not Apple TV.
No Continuous Playback
If you watch a series in another app, the shows continue one episode after another. On Apple TV the episode stops at the end. Every episode you have to tell Apple TV to continue to the next episode. Every single streaming service has this but not Apple TV.
The Launching of Another App
The Apple TV shows the TV show and lists all the episodes but if you are on the episodes screen the bottom of the screen has a link, “Get more episodes”. That opens the iTunes store app. This app doesn’t show a main TV show page with seasons listed. The Apple TV app could easily list and show the seasons and have a button for purchase.
The Purchase Dialog Late Arrival
Let’s say you finally find that season or episode you want to watch and you attempt to purchase. You click the purchase button and nothing happens. So you click it a few more times. And nothing happens. So you go back and open the episode page again. Now, half a minute to a minute later, the purchase dialog pops up. Not once, but 10 to 20 times. Even after you purchase it continues to pop up. You think it didn’t receive the purchase so you click it again and then it says, “You already purchased this”. But it keeps going.
Ten years ago, the Apple TV app was good for it’s time. Now, Apple seems to have put nothing into it. The list goes on but they already know it. Any UI expert or novice could tell you the issues. Anyway, rant over.
