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Apple TV+ website gets first UI update since the streaming service launched

The Apple TV+ experience for web browser users has been improved today, with a new homepage interface that mirrors the design seen in the TV app when navigating to the Apple TV+ tab.

The tv.apple.com web app is generally used by people who want to watch Apple TV+ content but do not own devices that are compatible with the TV app, such as Windows PCs and Android users. It is also used by owners of Macs that cannot update to Catalina and therefore do not have the native TV app option. Watching anything through tv.apple.com requires a credit card for “authorization.”

However, the Apple TV+ website has always been very basic and barebones in functionality. When the service launched on November 1st 2019, the website featured a primitive scrolling list of all Apple TV+ content, making for a very antiquated web-app experience that lacked any organization whatsoever.

This design continued through to this week, even though Apple’s expanding content catalog made the usability of an unstructured full-screen list even more unwieldy than it was on the service’s launch day.

As of today’s overhaul, the new TV+ website homepage features the same featured header that you see in the Apple TV app, along with sections for latest releases and genre categories. This makes it feel much more familiar for customers who are used to the native TV app experience.

It’s a good step in the right direction for the service. Nevertheless, tablestakes feature are still missing like the ability to resume from where you left off, see your Up Next queue, or even a search bar. The actual web playback experience and show detail pages are also unchanged as of this update, which is unfortunate. Hopefully, more updates are set to roll out in the coming months.

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Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Benjamin Mayo

Benjamin develops iOS apps professionally and covers Apple news and rumors for 9to5Mac. Listen to Benjamin, every week, on the Happy Hour podcast. Check out his personal blog. Message Benjamin over email or Twitter.