As Hulu continues to grow, they are showing a commitment to improving the viewer experience with regular updates. Hulu just released a major update to their iOS and Android apps which take user feedback into account
New Live TV Destination:
In addition to “My Stuff,” “Browse,” and “Search” tabs in the apps, there is now a “Live” tab that takes you to a new destination for Live TV. This helps separate the live part of Hulu with the significant on-demand library.
In portrait mode, you will see a TV selection on top with a program guide on the bottom. You have the option to view all channels or just recent ones. Hopefully, they will add news and sports channel filters in the future as well.
The program guide is familiar to anyone that has watched TV since the 50’s. From here, you can change channels but also set programs to record. A neat feature is the progress bar on each program so you know how far along the show is. When watching an on-demand show, instead of the channel guide, you will see other program selections.
The “scrubbing” interface has also been improved to show a frame of where you are fast-forwarding too. This makes catching up, a lot easier
Additional Recommendations Controls
Suggestions now have a “Stop Suggesting” option which means that the series, movie, or sports league will no longer be suggested to you so hopefully you will be able to see things that better suit your tastes.
And when you end up watching something you wish you hadn’t or someone else is too lazy to switch profiles before starting their favorite show, you can now remove items from your history so it won’t keep telling you to “Keep Watching” something that you don’t want to watch in the first place.
Additional Viewing Options
Hulu also introduced more options for those that want to watch on their big screen. HDMI support has been added io iOS devices, so you can connect via an open HDMI port on your television. They are also enhancing Chromecast support so you can get an enhanced experienced when casting to that device.
These are just the latest enhancements to the Hulu experience. While the Live TV product had some technological hiccups when first launched, it is nice to see they are continuing to improve the experience and listening to feedback.
Hulu Fun Facts:
- 84% more hours of Hulu programming is seen on mobile phones where compare to last year
- Hulu features more than 75,000 episodes of TV
- 2/3 of Hulu users watch with family or friends at least once a week
- The next major original series coming to Hulu is Castle Rock which will debut July 25, 2018.