Opinion: Why do streaming apps have terrible interfaces across the board?

We talk a lot about what to watch on streaming, but far less about the experience of streaming itself. It’s consistently not great, no matter what app you’re using. — Dreamstime/TNS

We talk a lot about what to watch on streaming, but far less about the experience of streaming itself. It’s consistently not great, no matter what app you’re using.

Do enough casual digging and you’ll find that every streaming platform is getting dinged. At the moment, HBO Max is generating the bulk of complaints: It’s designed with a terrible user interface and yet it has one of the deepest and most intriguing libraries, from Warner Bros. movies and the TCM film collection, to old TV favourites like The Nanny and new original series like Hacks. It’s a fine app – unless you want it to function.