In a terrible move, Apple is hiding the “Up Next” queue on Apple TV beneath a “Featured” section of curated suggested content
Chance Miller, writing at 9to5Mac:
“The Apple TV app is taking a page out of the playbook of other streaming services and pushing “Featured” content over the more useful “Up Next” aggregation. With a change rolling out starting today, the first thing you’ll see when you open the TV app is a dedicated row for “Featured” content… This new dedicated row for “Featured” content replaces the new previous top-level row for “Up Next.”
I noticed this last night on my own Apple TV. I initially thought something was wrong with the app because I couldn’t see the “Up Next” section at all. I actually forced the app to quit and relaunched it. For those not familiar, “Up Next” keeps track of all of the shows and movies that you’re actually watching. It’s where you go in the Apple TV app to find the latest episodes of the shows you’re watching across Apple TV+ as well as third-party streaming services. It’s fantastic. It’s normally right at the top of the Apple TV app, but with this new change it’s barely visible, just peaking up from the bottom of the screen below a “Featured” section full of suggested content.
I’m usually very supportive of Apple, but I want to be very clear here that I think this is a terrible change to the experience of using the Apple TV app and I hope Apple reverses course. At the very least give us an option to move “Up Next” back to where it’s always been. When I open the TV app, I want to go straight to my content. I don’t mind there being a “Featured” section in the app, and in fact I like being exposed to content I might not know about, but it should not be the first thing that greets me in the app. It’s even worse for my kids. They have their own profiles on our Apple TV, and the content in the “Featured” section is full of content that is not appropriate for their ages.
My gut tells me this will be a short-lived change. I hope it is. I don’t blame Apple for finding every way they can to bring in revenue. But that quest must be balanced with providing a good experience for the customer. Moving what amounts to advertisements to the top of my TV app feels like nickel-and-dime behavior, and this comes just days after they announced a price hike for multiple Apple services. This ain’t it, as the kids say.
We are reaching the point where the senior folks that worked with Steve and were part of his mindset are aging out/being replaced with those that came in after he was gone and never GOT the whole “customer first even if it leaves some money on the table” mindset. It’s a lot like pro sports who replaced the founders and true believers with execs from the entertainment-industrial-complex (see the NFL, NASCAR, and MLB) who may know “entertainment” but don’t get what made sports fans tune in in the first place - SPORTS. It’s happening across Apple’s whole portfolio. The disgusting ads in the App Store. The algorithm in AppleTV+. The garbage “one weird trick” ads in News+ stories. It’s creeping in and it’s insidious and it’s destroying the experience. Steve wouldn’t tolerate it because it was tasteless.
All these changes to increase “engagement” are driving me away. I can find better things to do than sort through 20 ads to find what I actually searched for. If I search for an app by name, that DAMNED well better be the first hit that shows up or I will simply quit buying apps. Gruber nailed it this last week in his column on App Store advertising. Apple needs to turn back and stop trying to squeeze every last penny out of the store.
I love the idea of being able to customize my "home" screen of all of my streaming services. This would be ideal. I agree that I don't mind, and even appreciate the featured section, so make it un-removable, but let me choose it's placement on the screen.