Freezes, crashes, stuttering subtitles, and obstinate fast-forward and rewind buttons are just a few of the issues that HBO Max users have encountered across a range of platforms, and patience is wearing thin.
Good news: an all-new version of the HBO Max is in the pipeline, and it promises to fix the unpleasant playback issues.
HBO Max will update all of its connected TV applications, starting with Roku and PlayStation, within the next “four or five” months, according to Vulture. That’s fantastic news for Roku users, who, as Vulture points out, have had the most trouble with HBO Max.
According to Vulture, Apple TV owners will not receive a new HBO Max app until closer to the end of the year. There’s no news on when the new app will be available for Amazon Fire TV and Google TV, but it’ll most likely be within the four to the six-month window.
For months, HBO subscribers have been whining about the HBO Max app, and with good reason. Bugs while trying to fast forward, rewind, or “scrub” through a video are widespread, as are “Oops! Something went wrong” messages. Skipping to the next episode can also be problematic, and some Roku users have had to resort to intricate hacks simply to be able to view anything without crashing.
While some of the problems with the HBO Max app surfaced after the launch of the streamer’s new $10-per-month ad-supported tier, the main issue, according to Vulture, was that it was effectively a “retrofitted” version of the older HBO Go and HBO Now applications. The hybrid HBO Max app simply wasn’t up to standard, with HBO Max giving significantly more material to a wider variety of areas than HBO Go or HBO Now ever did.
Of course, whenever the new HBO Max app is released, it won’t be perfect, and users may expect another round of bugs and issues. However, HBO Max users should soon be able to press “Play” and begin streaming on a constant basis. Isn’t that a reasonable request?