In September, WarnerMedia announced a much-needed overhaul of the HBO Max app for the top U.S. connected TV device platform, Roku, addressing a range of bugs and UX issues associated with legacy software not up to the task of serving a new SVOD service with a massive catalog and international focus.
The new and improved HBO Max, which was developed by WarnerMedia's You.i TV team, now an internal working group following WB's purchase of the eponymous Canadian start-up in 2020, subsequently rolled out to Playstation, Android, Samsung, LG, Vizio, Vodafone, Comcast and Cox video platforms.
Seven months later, WarnerMedia has finally announced the same fix for frustrated Apple TV 4K users.
In addition to addressing core issues, like unexpected crashes, the new, more stable app -- like earlier fixes for other platforms -- looks basically the same as the legacy HBO Max app, which built on a coding infrastructure written nearly a decade ago for HBO's much simpler TV Everywhere/Go era.
WarnerMedia does promises easier sign-in and sign-up protocols, as well as an "enhanced" homepage and an improved "binge mode" experience that lets users skip credits. There are also improvement on how users create and maintain curation lists.
Notably, the computer processing horsepower of the latest Apple TV 4K device, superior to most other OTT gadgets in the market, will also be specifically utilized for things like interface animations.
WarnerMedia said the rollout of the new HBO Max app for Apple TV is ongoing and should culminate next week.
