Nearly a year after it first deployed on Roku, a revised HBO Max app that fixes myriad bugs and improves the overall user experience has completed its rollout, deploying on desktop, iOS and Android mobile devices, and Amazon Fire tablets.
Created by the You.i TV team, the Canadian video software group acquired two years ago by the erstwhile WarnerMedia and integrated into the company fold, the new app largely resembles the old flawed one built for an old-world HBO Now paradigm, but with vast improvements in stability and speed, and a few other key enhancements.
“The changes give our users more of the features they care most about, along with improved navigation and a more immersive canvas for storytelling, helping them click play on their favorite content faster and with less friction," said Kamyar Keshmiri, senior VP of product design for Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming.
Of course, the more than a year of work Warner engineers put into recreating this app for so many platforms could be largely forgotten when newly merged and reconfigured parent company Warner Bros. Discovery combines HBO Max and Discovery Plus and launches a new app next year.
WBD CEO David Zaslav said the company was currently evaluating which "tech stack" to use for the new combined service, which will replace both legacy SVODs.
Notably, a user survey conducted by Whip Media found high levels of consumer satisfaction with HBO Max ... and not so much Discovery Plus.
