HBO Max exec admits to the app’s early flaws

Viewers have long complained about the early HBO Max app’s tendency to crash, and its lack of discoverability features. There have been a number of overhauls and fixes since then. Now we know why. Turns out that HBO Max launched its apps before they were ready in order to keep up with its competitors. The app was “never intended to go global” or to suit the needs of a direct-to-consumer market, according to an interview that Sarah Lyons, HBO Max’s head of product experience, gave Protocol. The network wanted to build an audience first, and then fix the app’s flaws as the service scaled up.While Lyons admits that the early days of HBO Max were rocky, she thinks the company made the right decision. We’ve been changing out the engine of the plane while we’re flying the plane,” she said. “I do think it was the right decision to try to balance both,” said Lyons.HBO Max first released its app in May 2020, to join an already saturated streaming ecosystem that included Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Apple TV+ and others. At the time, both HBO Go (the network’s on-demand app for cable subscribers) and HBO Now (the standalone app for cord-cutters) were still available, a fact that confused many subscribers. The network has since retired both apps.Viewers have flocked to Reddit since the app’s initial launch with complaints that spanned platforms and devices. “We’ve been trying to watch the Harry Potter movies and literally every 15 min or so we get an ERROR message and have to force close... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2022-04-14 23:32:58 UTC ]
News tagged with: #apple tv+ #streaming platforms #home page #biggest change #harry potter

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Bloomsbury to release Spy Games app

Bloomsbury Children’s is launching a new app to accompany the release of the Spy Toys series, written by Mark Powers and illustrated by Tim Wesson. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bloomsbury children


Snapchat's Latest Moves Are Making It Look More Like a TV Disrupter Than a Social App

The next-generation television company may be in your pocket. Snapchat, once pegged by the public as a social-messaging app and recently self-declared camera-based platform, is actually starting to look more and more like TV for young viewers who prefer smartphones over flat screens, industry... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2016-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #great job #interesting question #adweek magazine


Max Porter scoops Sunday Times/PFD Young Writer Award

Max Porter has won the Sunday Times/Peters Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year Award 2016 for his "extraordinary" debut Grief is the Thing with Feathers (Faber). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #max porter #debut grief #feathers faber


Hachette streamlines apps strategy

Hachette UK has "canned" many of its apps to focus on "fewer and better" following its acquisition of mobile app and games developer Neon Play in June, its chief executive Tim Hely Hutchinson has revealed at The FutureBook Conference 2016. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hachette uk #mobile app


Indie Booksellers See Early Holiday Sales Boost

A post-election sales bounce made for a solid Thanksgiving week at many independent bookstores. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #indie booksellers #independent bookstores


New Owners for Village Books and Kramerbooks Early Next Year

Two of the country’s most iconic bookstores are about to change hands. The management team is buying Village Books and Paper Dreams in Bellingham, Wash., while a local D.C. restaurateur is purchasing Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #village books #iconic bookstores #change hands #management team


Facebook reveals fresh flaws with its data

Facebook reveals a further four flaws with the data it shares with publishers and advertisers. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2016-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook reveals


iBooks StoryTime app narrates children's stories on your Apple TV

To encourage parents and kids to read together, Apple has debuted a new app for tvOS. The iBooks StoryTime app features "Read-Aloud" tool that narrates books and flips pages automatically. For the times when you'd rather read to your child yourself,... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2016-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #apple tv


Goldsmiths Prize launches app

Goldsmiths Press has released an app for The Goldsmiths Prize ahead of the latest winner, due to be announced tomorrow (9th November). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Max Porter on Sunday Times/ PFD Young Writer shortlist

Granta editorial director Max Porter is among three debut authors shortlisted for The Sunday Times/ Peters Fraser and Dunlop Young Writer of the Year award. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Even Scholars Misunderstand Early Christianity: Larry W. Hurtado

Scholar Hurtado set out to “to correct what I perceived as a scholarly imbalance and some popular misconceptions” with his new book, 'Destroyer of the Gods.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's New App, Rapids, to Offer Children's Stories

Amazon Rapids is a new children's app that features short, illustrated stories designed to look like the text-chat feature on a smartphone. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digiday’s Publishing summit: What’s on the mind of European publishing execs

It’s not often you get to shake out what publishers’ biggest concerns are across the entire range of European markets, all at once. When 250 execs from leading publishers from across Europe convened on the French riviera this week for the Digiday Publishing Summit, we asked them to literally map... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2016-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #leading publishers #publishing summit #biggest concerns #european markets


Hely Hutchinson listed among 2016's Leading LGBT Execs

Tim Hely Hutchinson, group c.e.o. for Hachette UK, has made it onto a list published by the FT of 100 leading LBGT executives. Hely Hutchinson came in at number 62. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hachette uk #list published #hely hutchinson


Max Mosley-funded press regulator would be 'attack on free speech'

If Impress is recognised, publishers risk exposure to potentially huge legal costs even if acquitted, argue UK publishersNewspaper publishers have warned that if a would-be regulator funded by Max Mosley is formally recognised it would amount to “an attack on free speech” and expose the press to... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #free speech


PRH staffer's early-years journal delivered to MOM

Penguin Random House Children’s publishing director Shannon Cullen has signed with Michael O’Mara to publish a journal for parents after a “very competitive” auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #competitive auction


Comic books come to VR through an app

You may have felt immersed in a comic book before, but never quite so literally as this. Madefire has released a free Gear VR preview app that lets you read its Motion Books in virtual reality. As you might guess, it's all about depth. Pages now fill... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2016-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #comic books #comic book #virtual reality


Don’t Get Sucked into Shopping: PW Talks with Max Lucado

The bestselling author is looking beyond the shopping lists at the promise of redemption he sees during Christmastime in his new book, 'Because of Bethlehem.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #shopping lists #max lucado #bestselling author


DK launches audio walking tours app

DK is launching an audio app this month providing free walking tours of "two of the most visited cities in the world" - London and New York. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Serial Dilemma: Does ‘Belgravia’ Spell ‘Success’ in Book Apps?

As innovative as publishers may want to be, how do we evaluate market response to 'Julian Fellowes's Belgravia' with so few apps as apt comparisons? The post Serial Dilemma: Does ‘Belgravia’ Spell ‘Success’ in Book Apps? appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book apps #julian fellowes