Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

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Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by light bulb »

It randomly crashes, if the show has more than 8 seasons you can't really see what season you're on, and their "My Shows" system is just crappy.

What gives?
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lennytheweedwhacker
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by lennytheweedwhacker »

:idea:
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by macphisto »

There are a lot of shitty apps out there. It's like they don't even care. This is one of the greatest threats we face that nobody is talking about. Thanks for shedding some light and creating space for the dialogue to take place.
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by VinylGuy »

Im happy to learn this app is awful in all parts of the world.

I was surprised on how bad it is.
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by light bulb »

It seems like HBO didn't get the memo that simpler is better.
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by Jorge »

It hasn't crashed on me yet but yeah the interface is awful
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tragabigzanda
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by tragabigzanda »

Steve Albini wrote:Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Sat January 10, 2026 7:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by lennytheweedwhacker »

tragabigzanda wrote:the worst is jumping from one episode to another in a different season. Kid wants to watch a Sesame Street episode from S51. We finish it. Then she requests one from S50. Such a huge pain in the ass to get there on Roku.
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tragabigzanda
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by tragabigzanda »

Steve Albini wrote:Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Sat January 10, 2026 7:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
light bulb
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by light bulb »

Seems like they expected people to watch on their computers instead of smart TVs.

But instead of redoing the app, they just doubled-down on bloated menus.
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E.H. Ruddock
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by E.H. Ruddock »

Yeah this app is terrible. It's like some coding student made it for a class project
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by VinylGuy »

it also take a lot of time to actually start. And the same with the computer.

Its just so fucking bad.
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by light bulb »

Oh yeah, I forgot it also takes like 2 minutes to open.
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by B »

VinylGuy wrote:it also take a lot of time to actually start. And the same with the computer.

Its just so fucking bad.
I haven't had many of the problems you mentioned, but yeah, it runs significantly slower than all my other streaming services on the computer, phone, and ROKU.
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by Monkey_Driven »

The app through my LG TV works fine, but the PS4/PS5 app is atrocious.
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by epilogue »

I don't really have any big issues with the app on my Apple TV. Really, the only issue I have is getting out of the app sometimes.
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by E.H. Ruddock »

Also the clicks when you move the cursor between shows or selections are abnormally loud.
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tragabigzanda
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by tragabigzanda »

Steve Albini wrote:Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Sat January 10, 2026 7:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by Monkey_Driven »

Hulu has the worst menu/navigation.
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Re: Why is the HBO Max app so terrible?

Post by epilogue »

Monkey_Driven wrote:Hulu has the worst menu/navigation.
aw huh

It's also WAY slower and glitchier than any other streaming app I've used. It all around sucks. But it also has most of the content I want to watch these days (outside of HBO, which I still think of as a different thing -- "it's not streaming, it's HBO")
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