New research from Parks Associates finds 70% of US broadband households with a major video service consider its user interface to be good, with 48% rating it “very good,” and these scores impact their willingness to recommend the service to others. Analysis of consumer responses reveals quality of the UI and the ease of finding content are the most likely factors to drive willingness to recommend a video service.
“User interfaces are a key factor driving satisfaction for OTT services, and Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon – the big three in OTT streaming – have largely set the standard for content navigation and ease of use,” said Kristen Hanich, Senior Analyst, Parks Associates, in a statement. “Other services have had to follow similar structures established by these three, but as new OTT services launch with greater and greater expectations, innovations in UIs could be an even greater differentiator contributing to their success or failure.”
UI Preferences and Content Discovery reports that one-fifth of households cancelling an OTT subscription cited an inability to find something to watch as a factor.
“Consumers are interested in finding particular shows or genres of content and have less interest in browsing by channel,” Hanich said.
• 70% of CE purchasers said ease of use is a “very important” purchase consideration.
• When searching for something to watch, 12% of OTT users consider recommendations from the service as their first step.
• Apple TV owners give high marks to the device’s UI.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple TV’s UI is second to none, even if its included Siri Remote leave much to be desired (hint: use Apple’s Apple TV Remote app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch as it’s a much better experience).
Bonus tip:
You can quickly switch between different apps on Apple TV without having to return to the Home screen. App-switching view on Apple TV works very much like the multitasking feature on iPhone or iPad:
• On the Siri Remote or Apple TV Remote app, press the Home button twice quickly.
• In app-switching view that appears, swipe left or right on the Touch surface of the Siri Remote or Apple TV Remote app to navigate to a different app, then press the Touch surface to open the highlighted app.
• Swipe up on the Touch surface of the Siri Remote or Apple TV Remote app to force the highlighted app to quit.
• To leave app-switching view without changing apps, press the Menu button button on the Siri Remote or Apple TV Remote app.
I can’t believe that Apple has not reengineered the Apple Remote, or at least produced an alternative. It is too small for human hands, you can’t use it in the dark, you can’t tell the top from the bottom or the front from the back without looking away from what you are watching, and you can’t accidentally touch the touchpad without using it. I purchased a $10 universal remote at Walmart that is easier to use. Since it comes with a code to program it for the Apple TV, and they didn’t put it there just for me, there is obviously a demand for a better remote.
I only need the Apple Remote for two purposes: 1) removing apps, and 2) adjusting the volume of the AirPods when I use them. I keep the Apple Rmote in a wooden box in my den, so that on the very rare occasions when I need it, I can find it.
Apple can do better than this.
Most Apple TV owners have an iPhone or iPad at hand, so they do not actually need the remote. Also allows you to type into search fields.
A new Apple TV must be coming out this year. And hopefully a new remote. I’m not so bothered about the size of the remote but rather the touch button. It is hard to navigate with it and the button action often results in a touch response.
On the UI, I find it annoying that after sleep the unit returns to the home screen. You then have to navigate back to where you were the previous time. It would just be easier it is came back to where you last were.
The AAPL TV remote is a perfect example of why I’m glad Jonny Ive is gone, gone, gone. His initial work while Steve was alive to keep him within common sense boundaries was very good. After that, it has been nothing but form over function and “slimness” of everything to where a user curses often at short battery life (except for the remote—the battery life is the one great thing about it!); slippery devices that hit the floor far too often; flat-assed images (calendar, contacts, etc.) that often are harder to interpret and visually uninspired. The remote app on iPhones is a welcome relief from the damned TV remote. Oh, BTW, if you stick a small Velcro dime-sized disk on the underside of the remote at either end of your choice then at least you can tell which side (and end) you are dealing with in the dark.
The Apple remote is the most Un Apple thing I have ever used and I am an Apple Fan Boy since the earliest days of the Macintosh.
It is the most annoying sensitive cumbersome piece of garbage ever engineered by Apple.
It is Anti Apple in its functionality.
Am I the only one who loves the Apple remote?