The iPlayer app is still absolute dogshit on Apple TV. No UHD programs, no season selection, no subtitle support (which is insane for a supposed organisation that champions inclusivisty), still no redesigned app which launched on all other platforms I can think of over two years ago…
When I’ve got in touch with the BBC to complain about the lack of subtitling in the past they have just said “it’s too difficult” and panned me off, even though literally every other app including ‘BritBox’ which is partially owned by the BBC has them.
So I’m just wondering (especially with Doctor Who back on Saturday, and next year) if there is anything more I/we can be doing to get this sorted?
As FireOS is based on Android, the apps (Netflix and Spotify) look and feel almost identical to the Android TV versions. I would think the same about the BBC iPlayer app, but I don’t use it myself.
But Amazon‘s new OS (Vega OS) is said to also be Linux based (like Android) and rely even more on web technologies. Maybe similar to LG‘s WebOS they use on their Smart TVs. So I don’t think app developers will have problems porting those apps over.
And that’s my point here: Apple doesn’t allow WebKit on tvOS. So developers can’t rely on those web technologies and use the same shared code base on Apple TV. But as a hardware device, Apple TV is just not important enough, so they will spend much time and money with developing a native tvOS app. So I think that’s why we end up with those apps that feel very basic compared to other devices.
But I agree that it doesn’t help that especially Netflix and Spotify aren’t really big friends of Apple. Of course both can’t afford to ignore Apple‘s phones and tablets. But I guess it doesn’t hurt them much to kind of ignore Apple TV.
Arent there certain browsers that Netflix refuses to allow to work properly as well? I feel like Prime Video and Netflix are assholes toward specific browsers too.
I don’t use those services in a web browser. But of course they want to have a working copy protection / DRM. Chromium based browsers should work without issues (Chrome, Opera, Edge). But again: On Apple devices, all web browsers are forced to use Apple’s own WebKit engine. Even Google’s own Chrome browser. And on Apple TV, WebKit and web browsers aren’t supported at all.
But again, Chromium is a Google product and these companies have deals with Alphabet/Google
On the flipside, Apple’s TV app works on pretty much everything.