Ask HN: Why TV UI/UX is still bad? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Why TV UI/UX is still bad?

6 pointsrishikeshs8 comments

Why are TV interfaces so clunky and difficult to operate? Why did we just copy the UI from Android smartphones directly onto televisions?

I have older parents, and they struggle to navigate around. Forget typing—smart TVs definitely need a UX overhaul.

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A lot of the problem is that a smart TV UI's primary purpose is to show advertisements. TV mfgers these days get a large chunk of their revenue from advertising tie-ins, making the hardware a loss-leader of sorts. The UI is designed for 'in your face' sponsored content, not to make it easy to access content you choose.

Maybe. My personal suspicion (lacking definitive evidence) is that the TVs aren't 'loss leaders' in the sense the vendors are actually loosing money on each one sold (accounting shenanigans notwithstanding). It's just that the viewers are so used to ads invading every possible place within eyeball range, why wouldn't you take advantage. More to the OP Q: Why spend a single penny improving the viewer experience, when that's not where such a nice bump in revenue is coming from. Once the TV is sold, the viewer isn't paying you any more until the next TV purchase, so screw'em.

My wording was poor. Apologies. I probably should've said, 'heavily subsidised' instead.

Like I said, I lack the facts to know if it's 'subsidy' or 'loss-lead' so it's not like you're 'wrong'. But really, my point is all that is a distraction from the fact it's about extracting bonus recurring revenue from shoving ads in front of us because we've been trained to accept it.

I didn’t know that!

TV went from a "lean back and watch" grid of "what's on" 4 to 10 channels to a maddening "lean forward" task of sorting through everything everywhere all at once.

I'd like to see streaming services reconfigured around customizable queue, kind of a "TV Schedule 2.0" where you line up what you want to watch on Mondays, Tuesday, Wednesdays, etc. So, instead of hunting through 1000s of choices on 10 streaming services every time you sit to watch TV, you'd just turn it on and get Tuesday's lineup. Sure, if you wanted to jump out of this schedule and do on demand, you could. But, this would bring back "vegging in front of the TV" versus the 15-minute "What should we watch? Dunno. You decide. No you." ordeal.

As a side benefit, this would make setting streaming up for your elderly loved ones a breeze. "Here you go, Mom. Here are all your shows. No need to hunt for them. You're all set to watch Blue Bloods on Mondays."

The only _must have_ streaming app I recommend is: Stremio (https://www.stremio.com)

Configure it with real-debrid.com & trakt.tv, then you're good to go. (takes 5 mins tops)

With this you get: Simple UI, Auto Subtitles, Good Quality, No Ads and of course All films/series.

For your all - PCs, Macs, Mobiles, TVs (almost all)

Streaming apps are also pretty dire. Good luck finding out all the content they have. Plenty of suggestions of what you might like.

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