HBO Max ditches tvOS API for homegrown solution, chaos ensues
A recent update to the HBO Max app on tvOS has reportedly introduced a number of bugs and broken compatibility with key Apple TV platform features like Siri integration.

HBO exited Apple TV Channels after HBO Max launched last year, but the company continued to use Apple's tvOS API as a software backbone. That changed on Wednesday when HBO switched to homegrown player software as part of an app update.
The new HBO Max app is apparently bug-ridden and makes for what Screentimes calls a "horrifically bad" experience.
For example, users are no longer able to access certain Siri prompts like "What did he/she say?," an automatic rewind feature that plays back a portion of a movie with closed captioning. According to the report, nearly all Siri commands are non-functional.
Siri Remote support was also broken with yesterday's update. Users can no longer skip forward or backward with a quick tap of the remote's directional pad -- or trackpad, for older devices -- and touching the same interface no longer displays a show's timeline. Pausing and scrubbing through a content timeline causes the timestamp marker to move only to the start or end of a show.
Display quality is also affected, as SDR content is "forced" into what appears to be a poorly interpolated HDR mode that blows out brightness and renders colors incorrectly.
HBO has not commented on the release or its decision to move away from Apple's API.
Follow all of WWDC 2021 with comprehensive AppleInsider coverage of the week-long event from June 7 through June 11, including details on new launches and updates.

HBO exited Apple TV Channels after HBO Max launched last year, but the company continued to use Apple's tvOS API as a software backbone. That changed on Wednesday when HBO switched to homegrown player software as part of an app update.
The new HBO Max app is apparently bug-ridden and makes for what Screentimes calls a "horrifically bad" experience.
For example, users are no longer able to access certain Siri prompts like "What did he/she say?," an automatic rewind feature that plays back a portion of a movie with closed captioning. According to the report, nearly all Siri commands are non-functional.
Siri Remote support was also broken with yesterday's update. Users can no longer skip forward or backward with a quick tap of the remote's directional pad -- or trackpad, for older devices -- and touching the same interface no longer displays a show's timeline. Pausing and scrubbing through a content timeline causes the timestamp marker to move only to the start or end of a show.
Display quality is also affected, as SDR content is "forced" into what appears to be a poorly interpolated HDR mode that blows out brightness and renders colors incorrectly.
HBO has not commented on the release or its decision to move away from Apple's API.
Follow all of WWDC 2021 with comprehensive AppleInsider coverage of the week-long event from June 7 through June 11, including details on new launches and updates.
Comments
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Its an engineer or more who has a distaste for Apple personally and sold the board on going a generic coding route.
"Pausing and then scrubbing forward and back has a massive bug, and the timestamp needle flies off in either direction with no way to slow it down until it hits the start or end."
Great job, HBO.
What HBO have done is fine in principle, the problem is that they did a half-assed job of it.
Another app which moved away from Apple’s design standards is DAZN.
On the trackpad Siri remote, when you swipe down, all apps bring up the Home/Subtitles/Audio menu. Netflix/Prime Video/TV+ are all consistent.
Not DAZN, swiping down brings the multi view menu on their app.
Very annoying if you ask me.
Apple has a very opinionated voice on how things should work and look. Apple users tend to agree with Apple, that is why they buy into their ecosystem. When developers don’t do it the Apple way it stands out. It is the same thing on the Mac, dedicated Apple users can spot a bad cross platform app from a mile away.