Why is Android TV so hard to organize media? Am I missing something here?

by moldymoosegoose

I have pretty much every single media app installed. HBO GO, Hulu, Netflix, etc. Pretty much nothing is aggregated or organized together in any meaningful way. The recommended listings at the top never show the new shows I watch from these apps. There are never notifications about a live broadcast that I can tune into (twitch, youtube live, etc). There are no options to just auto play new youtube subs automatically. Everything feels so manual and you have to actually work to play the content. Is there some option I'm missing here? If a twitch streamer I sub to goes live, I want to be notified. If something new on HBO is posted, I want to be notified. I feel like 0 steps have been made in this regard since release. It feels like chromecast with some icons.

Edit: A lot of these comments are "Other platforms don't do anything beyond the basics, therefore, Android TV should also be completely basic." Imagine the people who thought the very same thing before the iPhone came out. "No other competitor does it well, why should we?"

infinitesmoke

I wish those were actual features unfortunately no.

aonysllo

I have a confession to make... and also the solution...

I have PSVue, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO, and OTA antenna hooked up to an HDHR with DVR software and I could never find what I wanted to watch, everything was spread out everywhere. So I said f*ckit. I got a Nvidia Shield, a VPN, a lifetime Plex Pass, and hooked up Sonarr to my torrent client. I still pay all for all those services, BUT, I torrent everything. Then, when I want to watch something, I fire-up Plex and this is what I get: http://imgur.com/a/OupFA

Yep, it's illegal, so don't do it.

Neomeir

This is why Kodi with those lovely yet illegal plugins are ruling Android TV

darkstar3333

There is no incentive for individual rights holders to make it easier to aggregate content externally.

They want you in there own ecosystem looking around.

Each individual app would require to make search API capabilities for other apps to call into. I still dont like the fact I cant use voice recognition in netflix.

jschipmann

Forst I think you are presenting your argument wrong by Saying why is Android TV xxxxx...... I own all the platforms. None of them do this, and sadly none of them will as the content providers will always push what they want you to watch, not what you watch. This is not just an Android TV thing, it is a market wide issue. Second you complain because your DVR can do this...your recorded shows.... but then you complain of Plex as an option which essentially is doing the same thing... taking your content just as your DVR does. I honestly feel as if you are here just to complain and nothing more. .. .. .. However... I do agree with you to some extent. Yes I would like to be notified when shows I watch are on live. I would like to know when new content relevant to me is posted to netflix and amazon and etc.... but even those services cant get what I like right... have you actually looked at your recommendation rows lol. The problem is there is no open universal standard that works across all platforms, and the individual developers for each app don't want to do anymore work than they have to. And then you would need your own local database on top of this to add your favorite shows, movies etc. It is possible but will anyone actually do it... more than likely not, but it would be a big step in the right direction. And voice support such as google assistant and siri don't do enough as again no open standard for you to go in and input what shows you like to pull from that database. With those you are doing just as you have to do now... search for what you want to watch or whats new manually. see this for what I mean https://youtu.be/3IpJvqcBW1s

Andrroid

It feels like chromecast with some icons.

Does a chromecast have...

  • Voice search?

  • Global search?

  • PIP?

  • Physical remote/HDMI CEC support?

  • Live TV?

  • Native USB Tuner and DVR support?

Yep, just a chromecast with some icons.

Andrroid

Don't get me wrong, you have some valid issues (content aggregation should be better) but unfortunately, your issues aren't with the platform exactly. The tools are all there. The problem is developers not using the tools. Your beef is with them.

In an ideal Android TV world, the recommendations bar implementation would be the same as what Plex uses. Plex's implementation shows your "on deck" content. If you've been watching a series in the HBO/Netflix/Hulu app, the bar should show the next episode or the newest aired episode. Instead they use it as a means of advertisement.

Your issue is with app developers, not the platform.

Regardless, this "issue" won't kill Android TV, as your doom and gloom sentiment claims. The platform has plenty else going for it that will keep it afloat.

npaladin2000

I agree, there should be some sort of notification functionality. Live events for YouTube, new episodes available in Hulu or Netflix, things like that. At least Weather Network periodically displays my current conditions there but it's not consistent. I think this is the area Google needs to work on next. Shouldn't even take much, just make a new use of the existing notification APIs.

irishtexmex

This thread is a couple days old, but wanted to reply to OP (/u/moldymoosegoose):

I'm sure the engineers for Android TV would LOVE to do what you're asking for. In fact, they even innovated a star feature of the platform (Live Channels) for something akin to that very request.

The problem is the Content Creators &/or arbiters of that content DO NOT WANT YOU, THE CUSTOMER, TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS. (On one hand you have HBO, Showtime, et al. On the other you have Viacom, Disney, et al. And also in the picture are the gatekeepers: Comcast, DirectTV, et al.)

They don't want you to see all of their content, presented in a UI they didn't design, sitting directly next to the content of their competitors.

They want to lock you into their walled garden that they have complete control over. When you finish watching a show produced/owned by Viacom, they want you to watch another show produced by a Viacom subsidiary. They definitely don't want you to start watching Stranger Things, a show that you paid one of their (in)direct competitors money to watch. So they don't allow it. Instead they:

  1. Don't program their apps to take advantage of or hook into the APIs of the platform that are already there .
  2. Design their apps NOT according to the design guidelines of the platform they're developing for (see: Hulu, Netflix)
  3. Prevent some platforms (Android TV) being able to sign into apps while allowing others (Roku).

It is purely a $$$ thing for the people making the content, not laziness by the people who are developing the cord-cutting platforms.

TL;DR I get it. We all want that too. But you're mad at the wrong people.