# Why is Apple TV+ so clunky to use? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 28, 2021, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817 "2021-12-28T23:12:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/1 "2021-12-28T23:12:22Z")
Is Apple just that arrogant, or am I just too stupid to find what I’m looking for? Two problems jump out right away: 1. There is no search feature, so you have to scroll through everything to find what you want to watch. 2. There is no “resume watching” feature, which means that when you want to continue watching a movie, you either have to search for where you left off or write down where you were in the time line when you quit watching. For a company that prides itself on its products, this just seems very backwards. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/2 "2021-12-28T23:14:06Z")
What are you watching on? The app on my TV has both a search feature and resume watching. The search is right at the top. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/3 "2021-12-28T23:17:16Z")
Well, if you’re watching on a watch… ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/4 "2021-12-28T23:59:57Z")
Yeah, mine too. On a TV with Roku software built in, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/5 "2021-12-29T00:04:58Z")
I’m watching on my Windows laptop. There is no menu of any sort anywhere on the site. There’s a play/pause a CC option and a subtitle language option. That’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/6 "2021-12-29T03:08:44Z")
Longtime Prime and Netflix user - I can’t figure out the AppleTV menu at all. Not to mention that damned button on the side of the controller that is so easy to accidentally push. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/7 "2021-12-29T03:32:00Z")
On my smart TV, iPad, iPhone and iMac there are dedicated Apple TV+ apps, which all certainly have resume and search functions. If you are playing in a browser, that’s different I guess. Is there no app for it in the MS store? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/8 "2021-12-29T14:43:07Z")
Beats me. I just go to the website and load it from there. You would think you’d have full functionality since it’s - you know - their website. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/9 "2021-12-29T18:42:26Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I’m watching on my Windows laptop. There’s your problem. Apple clearly doesn’t want to make anything on Windows pleasurable. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/10 "2021-12-29T18:44:03Z")
Well, they’re about to lose a customer, not that they give a damn. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/11 "2021-12-29T18:45:00Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Apple clearly doesn’t want to make anything on Windows pleasurable. That really wouldn’t matter as you can use the same browser on both Windows and Macs. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/12 "2021-12-29T18:48:20Z")
Since the pandemic started, I’ve used several streaming services and the interfaces vary. Some, for instance, make it hard to fast forward or rewind. (Meanwhile my cable remote has a button to rewind fifteen seconds, which I use when I miss a line of dialogue and another button to skip ahead thirty seconds, which I use to avoid commercials.) And some make it hard to find a particular show. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/13 "2021-12-29T19:11:32Z")
Speaking of… OP - Try a different browser. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/14 "2021-12-29T20:02:49Z")
Not trying to be a dick, but I don’t feel I should have to make accommodations for Apple. I’ve cancelled my subscription, mainly because they have nothing else I care to watch at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/15 "2021-12-29T20:14:30Z")
Macs have Apple TV built in. No need to use the browser. Oh, and other services have restrictions on browsers vs. apps. I can’t watch Amazon or Netflix movies in 4K in the browser. I can’t listen to MQA files from Tidal from the browser. It’s not just an Apple thing. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/16 "2021-12-29T20:42:20Z")
I haven’t tried watching it on our Mac, but that’s really my wife’s computer, so it wouldn’t do me much good. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/17 "2021-12-29T21:31:57Z")
Like I said, we have an AppleTV device on our TV. IMO, the menu interface on Apple is vastly less user friendly than either Netflix or Prime. I assume it has to do w/ how they want to sell additional shit. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/18 "2021-12-30T05:46:33Z")
The apple tv app on the apple tv device ( that little black puck) is an absolute shit show. You could only see the shows they were promoting, if you wanted to watch anything else you had to go to search and know what it was you wanted to watch. To get to season two of a show you had to scroll all the way through the show ‘page’ past all the extras to find season two at the bottom. It doesn’t queue up the next episode either. Now it is quite an old device so I doubt they put a lot of effort into the interface. I ended up using the phone app and streaming it to the apple tv box. The apple tv app on the amazon TV is a bit better, but they dont have an easy way to see all their own unique content. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-apple-tv-so-clunky-to-use/956817/19 "2021-12-30T19:01:48Z")
I use an Apple TV device on my primary TV as well as a Roku and Firestick in bedroom and guest room. The Apple TV App has one killer feature that takes advantage of the TVOS “Top Shelf” (first row of apps). When the App is in the Top Shelf and selected, it displays a horizontal row of shows, “Up Next” that you are currently watching - in most other Apps (NetFlix and YouTubeTV excluded). New episodes automatically appear. So, from the OS level, I can jump directly into a show to continue watching a show that streams from other services/apps like Prime, Hulu, HBOMax, Showtime, Disney, Paramount, AppleTV+ etc. In general, I find that these apps (and other devices) focus more on proposing (marketing?) shows “They” want you to watch rather than what you are watching - each using a different interface. The combination of Top Shelf and Up Next lets me avoid all the marketing and focus on watching.