Hulu app crashing for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV users

Posted:
in iOS
A number of Hulu subscribers are having trouble watching shows via the streaming service, with reports from users largely claiming there to be a problem with app crashes for the iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS versions.




Reports of issues with Hulu's service started on Tuesday morning at around 4:30am Eastern. A post on Reddit's r/Hulu forum highlighted a sudden spike in problems for the app, an incident which was also recorded by DownDetector and has seemingly grown in scale as the hours wore on.

So far, reports indicate the bulk of the downtime occurs to those using Apple devices, including iPhones, iPads, and the Apple TV. Complaints include instances where the app crashes when opened, as well as problems during streaming when the app operates normally.

Hulu outage reports to DownDetector
Hulu outage reports to DownDetector


Not all of the complaints have related to the Apple ecosystem, with a smaller number of incidents on other platforms.

According to Engadget, one user got in contact with Hulu's support teams over the issues, and was advised there was an app update on the way that would fix the problem. While it is unclear exactly what is the problem, the claim suggests the error involves changes made on Hulu's servers, one that should have been made at the same time as the release of an app update.

It is also plausible Hulu could fix the crashes by reverting the possible server-side change to an earlier state, then restoring the alterations once the iOS and tvOS apps are released.

AppleInsider has contacted Hulu about the issues, and will update this post if there is a response.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    The tvOS app has always been incredibly buggy, particularly with their Live TV.  The stream regularly crashes when one time slot ends and the next begins.   Audio will start from one show and continue in the background even as you switch to another.  It’s the only app I regularly force close and relaunch.  
    hammeroftruth
  • Reply 2 of 12
    pscooter63pscooter63 Posts: 1,080member
    I have to agree with DWillyRef, Hulu's not always the best-behaved app on my three ATVs.

    I will say, generally, most apps are a lot more stable on my two 4Ks, as opposed to the one HD.  Even iMovies locked up on me on the HD the other night, three minutes into a rental, forcing a hard reboot (disconnecting the power cord).  I really regret trying to save a few bucks with that one, because it flakes out more often than the others.
    hammeroftruth
  • Reply 3 of 12
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    The tvOS app has always been incredibly buggy, particularly with their Live TV.  The stream regularly crashes when one time slot ends and the next begins.   Audio will start from one show and continue in the background even as you switch to another.  It’s the only app I regularly force close and relaunch.  
    No it’s not. I have had no problems with Hulu on my Apple TV HD. I was watching a movie last night with no crashes, no hiccups. The only complaint I have with Hulu is their audio stream which is often only 2 channel stereo.
    hodar
  • Reply 4 of 12
    crimguycrimguy Posts: 124member
    lkrupp said:
    The tvOS app has always been incredibly buggy, particularly with their Live TV.  The stream regularly crashes when one time slot ends and the next begins.   Audio will start from one show and continue in the background even as you switch to another.  It’s the only app I regularly force close and relaunch.  
    No it’s not. I have had no problems with Hulu on my Apple TV HD. I was watching a movie last night with no crashes, no hiccups. The only complaint I have with Hulu is their audio stream which is often only 2 channel stereo.
    Yes.  It is.  It's been buggy for me on all of my devices.  Not unusable but buggy.

    On iOS frequently live TV won't broadcast when I select a station.
    On all of my apple tv's, after a while live tv stops responding, forcing me to relaunch.  

    Respecfully, just because you don't have problems doesn't mean the rest of the world is wrong when they do.
    hammeroftruthhodarseniorchief
  • Reply 5 of 12
    caskeycaskey Posts: 33member
    lkrupp said:
    No it’s not. I have had no problems with Hulu on my Apple TV HD. I was watching a movie last night with no crashes, no hiccups. The only complaint I have with Hulu is their audio stream which is often only 2 channel stereo.

    thats great that you haven’t experienced those problems but just because it works for you doesn’t mean it works for everyone. Get errors daily with Hulu on my AppleTV. Sometimes a video just stops, sometimes it cannot load a video and I have to force quit and yes, the weird double audio thing has been an interesting recent development. It will play audio from 2 videos at the same time and the only way to stop is to force quit the app. So, yes, it is buggy...just not for you apparently. 
    hammeroftruthhodar
  • Reply 6 of 12
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    crimguy said:
    lkrupp said:
    The tvOS app has always been incredibly buggy, particularly with their Live TV.  The stream regularly crashes when one time slot ends and the next begins.   Audio will start from one show and continue in the background even as you switch to another.  It’s the only app I regularly force close and relaunch.  
    No it’s not. I have had no problems with Hulu on my Apple TV HD. I was watching a movie last night with no crashes, no hiccups. The only complaint I have with Hulu is their audio stream which is often only 2 channel stereo.
    Yes.  It is.  It's been buggy for me on all of my devices.  Not unusable but buggy.

    On iOS frequently live TV won't broadcast when I select a station.
    On all of my apple tv's, after a while live tv stops responding, forcing me to relaunch.  

    Respecfully, just because you don't have problems doesn't mean the rest of the world is wrong when they do.
    Respectfully, when some have issues and others don’t it usually means something else is at play. The Apple TV and tvOS is about as consistent as it gets for hardware. Not much customization is possible and everybody’s setup is almost identical. What’s different are ISPs, routers, bandwidth, VPNs, etc. This current issue is explained in the article and seems to be straightforward. Again, while you experience issues apparently most do not as there’s not much noise out there about the ‘bugginess’ of the Hulu app in general. 
  • Reply 7 of 12
    lkrupp said:
    crimguy said:
    lkrupp said:
    The tvOS app has always been incredibly buggy, particularly with their Live TV.  The stream regularly crashes when one time slot ends and the next begins.   Audio will start from one show and continue in the background even as you switch to another.  It’s the only app I regularly force close and relaunch.  
    No it’s not. I have had no problems with Hulu on my Apple TV HD. I was watching a movie last night with no crashes, no hiccups. The only complaint I have with Hulu is their audio stream which is often only 2 channel stereo.
    Yes.  It is.  It's been buggy for me on all of my devices.  Not unusable but buggy.

    On iOS frequently live TV won't broadcast when I select a station.
    On all of my apple tv's, after a while live tv stops responding, forcing me to relaunch.  

    Respecfully, just because you don't have problems doesn't mean the rest of the world is wrong when they do.
    Respectfully, when some have issues and others don’t it usually means something else is at play. The Apple TV and tvOS is about as consistent as it gets for hardware. Not much customization is possible and everybody’s setup is almost identical. What’s different are ISPs, routers, bandwidth, VPNs, etc. This current issue is explained in the article and seems to be straightforward. Again, while you experience issues apparently most do not as there’s not much noise out there about the ‘bugginess’ of the Hulu app in general. 
    I have had similar issues for awhile now. I do believe that it is the app, because it happens on multiple devices on different networks.

    Hulu IMHO has had intermittent quality issues since before they released the AppleTV gen 4. 
    During the time when Apple was about to release the 4th generation which could load apps, my 3rd gen was acting up. Hulu was no help as they tried to blame my router, my isp, my device, which I had 2 AppleTVs and both had the same issue. They wanted me to reach out to Apple and my ISP and then a week later when I bought the 4th gen, the new AppleTV worked fine. 

    The older ones worked again after a few more weeks, but I didn’t do anything other than try them again. 

    I believe the app was the issue and not the device or network. 
  • Reply 8 of 12
    Hulu ALWAYS crashes out or just fails to load anything on my ATV 4. I rarely watch anymore because it is basically useless
  • Reply 9 of 12
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Hulu ALWAYS crashes out or just fails to load anything on my ATV 4. I rarely watch anymore because it is basically useless
    Meanwhile I watch something on Hulu almost every day. I signed up for the Disney+ bundle that includes National Geographic and Hulu. It just works. if you are claiming the Hulu app crashes for the majority of people where is the evidence? And by the way, if you find it useless why do you continue to pay for it? My claim that the app is just fine is no less valid than your claim it crashes all the time.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    It’s the Hulu app. The double audio happens when Hulu auto plays the next episode and I select a different Hulu show or just try to restart the episode. It also crashes frequently.  I’ve occasionally had to delete and reinstall the app to get it to work right. None of the other dozen apps I regularly use on my Apple TV 4K exhibit these problems. Haven’t had any issues, however, watching Hulu on my old Mac Pro via Chrome. 
  • Reply 11 of 12
    mcdavemcdave Posts: 1,927member
    They should ditch the App and become an AppleTV Channel. It’s a nasty AndroidTV lookalike anyway.
  • Reply 12 of 12
    jer295jer295 Posts: 1member
    crimguy said:
    lkrupp said:
    The tvOS app has always been incredibly buggy, particularly with their Live TV.  The stream regularly crashes when one time slot ends and the next begins.   Audio will start from one show and continue in the background even as you switch to another.  It’s the only app I regularly force close and relaunch.  
    No it’s not. I have had no problems with Hulu on my Apple TV HD. I was watching a movie last night with no crashes, no hiccups. The only complaint I have with Hulu is their audio stream which is often only 2 channel stereo.
    Yes.  It is.  It's been buggy for me on all of my devices.  Not unusable but buggy.

    On iOS frequently live TV won't broadcast when I select a station.
    On all of my apple tv's, after a while live tv stops responding, forcing me to relaunch.  

    Respecfully, just because you don't have problems doesn't mean the rest of the world is wrong when they do.
    I agree that it is buggy.  It works great but it is the only app that I have to force quit at least once a week.  I don't know how many times that I will watch a show and go watch a different show only to have the app playing audio from the show I'm trying to watch and the show that it wanted to start after my previous show.  The only way to make it stop is to force quit. 
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