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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Wheelbarrow produces Shaun Tan app

An app has been produced for author-illustrator Shaun Tan’s latest title, Rules of Summer (... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ross Levinsohn Among Leading Execs to Speak at Digital Entertainment World

Ross Levinsohn, CEO of Guggenheim Digital Media, publisher of Adweek, The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, is on the growing list of industry executives set to speak at the inaugural 2014 Digital Entertainment World conference in Los Angeles. The global marketplace and conference, which is... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pitchfork Launches “Weekly Magazine” App

Most successful content sites are monetizing with sheer volume now, but Pitchfork is betting there's still a place for lean-back engagement. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Polaroid Kids Tablet 2 comes loaded with apps from Cartoon Network, Disney and Marvel

A kid-friendly tablet often isn't enough by itself to keep little tykes happy -- you have to get the content they want, too. Polaroid is counting on this formula to lure parents to its newly available Kids Tablet 2. The 7-inch slate comes preloaded with the full versions of 70-plus apps and... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kindle First provides early access to unreleased books

When it comes to reading, I use a Kindle PaperWhite. I hate paper books with a passion -- they take up space and are obsolete. The Kindle is wonderful because it allows me to easily bookmark pages, look up definitions, and scan the book for certain words with the x-ray feature. An Amazon Prime... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2013-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Show Notes : Editors & Mag Execs Evolve With The Times

By Lynn Rosen It was a powerhouse session at our magazine keynote presentation this year at the Publishing Business Conference. We asked four top execs to speak to the topic of Facing the Future, and to share some... Continue reading at Publishing Executive

[ Publishing Executive | 2013-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's top NY publishing exec to depart

Amazon Publishing, which launched a general-interest book publishing operation in New York two and a half years ago, is losing its top executive here.Seattle-based Amazon announced Friday that the head of its general-interest publishing division, Larry Kirshbaum, would leave the company Jan. 17... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2013-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Official Facebook app (finally!) available for Windows 8.1 users

For all the improvements Microsoft has made in bolstering the Windows Store's app selection, one insistent question has held back the company's dreams of grandeur: "Yeah, but where's Facebook?" Indeed, the largest social network in the land has been a conspicuous no-show in Microsoft app... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2013-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Erie Times-News Releases iPad, iPhone, Android Apps and Mobile Web Powered by Whiz Technologies

Erie Times-News and www.GoErie.com, based in Erie, PA, owned by Times Publishing Company, announced that it has released new tablet apps for the iPad and Kindle Fire, new smartphone apps for iPhone and Android, and HTML5 mobile web to its readers. Th ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Year of Lessons from Korea’s Book App Developer Moglue

TaeWoo Kim, CEO of Moglue — the Korean platform for book app development — reflects on the first year in business after launching his publishing-related startup. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PEN Urges Gov't to Admit Trojanov Into U.S.

In a letter it issued Tuesday, the PEN American Center is asking the government to revisit its decision to block Bulgarian-German author Ilija Trojanov from entering the country. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook's new mobile ad format keeps users coming back to familiar apps

Ads for mobile apps are frequently ineffective after the first viewing -- once users install a given app, they rarely have incentives to try the software again. Facebook may have found a way to sustain customers' interest through its new deep linking ad format, however. The approach takes... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lucidpress: drop-and-drag publishing app simplifies document design

For professional looking design, Adobe Creative Suite products such as InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop are feature-rich tools you can use to create stunning projects. But using them isn’t cheap. Creative Cloud, which gives you Web access to these software offerings  is $50 a month, and even... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2013-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Page Turners: The Best Smartphone Apps for Serious Readers

Bookworms are always seeking new text to devour. These apps will help procure ebooks, stories from the web, audiobooks, and even dusty analog tomes.     Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2013-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kindle's iOS app gets a flatter design to match iOS 7

We swear, we won't be giving you the blow-by-blow on every single app that gets updated for iOS 7 today, but this one seemed like a biggie. Amazon just announced that its Kindle reader for iOS has received a major redesign, with fonts, menus and other details retooled to match the flat,... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The App That's Going Large

BigOven has something for everyone, and seemingly something from everyone, whether they know it or not. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Niche News Apps Reign Supreme on Smartphones

Mobile devices are fast becoming the preferred way for people to keep up on the news, but a new survey of consumers shows big usage differences by gender, app type and device. Men were much more likely than women to download news apps for the smartphone, while women often were more likely to... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oyster: A Gorgeous New App Offering Unlimited Books for $9.95 a Month

Can a Spotify-like service created by ex-Googlers shake up the publishing industry?     Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2013-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A New App Tells A Neverending Bedtime Story, Of A Kid’s Own Design

InfiniScroll, populated by a winding parade of creatures with tails and tales, is an upgrade for child and parent. A favorite tale of children’s book publishers and parenting blogs is set in a land not so far away, where the evil e-reader is a slayer of the bedtime story. In another version... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Zite's Personalized News App Comes To Google Glass

Mark Johnson is possibly the only person in the world who has gone through two pairs of Google Glass in five weeks. (He chalks up the loss of his first pair to an unfortunate brunch incident.) During a recent interview with Fast Company, the CEO of personalized news app Zite was staring into the... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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