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Apple to Overhaul TV App, Remove Standalone Apps from Apple TV

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Apple plans to overhaul the TV app in an effort to consolidate its Apple TV+ streaming service and its standalone movie and TV show purchase options, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. A tvOS update in December will introduce the changes that Apple has planned.

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To push users to the ‌Apple TV‌ app, Apple plans to remove its standalone ‌Apple TV‌ apps that are available for renting and purchasing TV shows and movies. The movie and TV show sections from the iTunes Store app on iPhones and iPads will also be eliminated.

Apple wants to push customers to the TV app, which already houses purchased movies and shows, ‌Apple TV‌+ content, and third-party channels that customers can subscribe to.

The TV app will serve as a hub for streaming content, and Gurman says the redesigned app will have a side panel at the left that can be used to navigate between different video categories.

Updated navigation should make the TV app less confusing for consumers, making it clearer which content is from Apple and available through the ‌Apple TV‌+ subscription and which content requires a separate subscription.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Tags: Bloomberg, Mark Gurman
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: Apple TV and Home Theater

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Top Rated Comments

RickDEGH Avatar
RickDEGH
35 months ago
I honestly didn’t understand any of what I just read 😩
Score: 75 Votes (Like | Disagree)
X
xpxp2002
35 months ago
Ugh, that's disappointing. The dedicated apps are faster and much easier to navigate.
Score: 73 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iwan073 Avatar
iwan073
35 months ago
The :apple:TV app is such a mess. I have no idea where to look
Score: 64 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G
goodcow
35 months ago
The TV app is much worse than the individual movies and tv shows apps. This would be horrible from a user experience POV to do this.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rorschach Avatar
rorschach
35 months ago
Still waiting for them to give us an option to remove the massive ads that show up above my Up Next queue in the Watch Now tab. On my iPhone, they take up more than three quarters of the screen. IMO “Watch Now” should only show content I’ve already purchased or is available on services I’ve already subscribed to. And if they are going to show me ads above my Up Next, at least personalize it so it doesn’t show me stuff I’ve already watched.

I’m fine with this change because there’s already a Store tab. But the TV app itself needs a lot of work.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
page3 Avatar
page3
35 months ago
Great idea.

Better to have one app I never use, rather than several I never use.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments