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yourmn

macrumors 6502a
Jun 28, 2010
526
638
United Kingdom
Wasn't showing up on the ATV app or the device at the time. Bug probably. Seems, Apple is full of 'em these days.

The bugs in the Apple TV app drive me crazy. I went to resume a show this morning and it took me back in time by 15 minutes, and wouldn’t allow me to fast forward
 

nickdalzell1

macrumors 68030
Dec 8, 2019
2,787
1,669
Has yours ever done these:

1. Thinks you haven't finished the episode when you did, acting like it wants to resume it, or shows the next episode being the one just finished?

2. Skips an episode/season or gets the number of the episode/season wrong? (tons of this with Disney+ stuff, a lot of times Rescue Rangers displays as S20, e101 or something) Rescue Rangers for example I think only had two seasons.

3. Buy a series/season, and midway through, the next episode cues up but wants you to pay $1.99 to watch? This also happens with Paramount+ content; random episodes of certain shows aren't included or something. Another one is I bought the entire show Green Acres but somehow that didn't include Season 1, had to buy it separately.
 

yourmn

macrumors 6502a
Jun 28, 2010
526
638
United Kingdom
I've had the first one quite frequently, but I do with the likes of Netflix and Disney+ too - I think it's down to exiting the video before the pop up for the next episode / suggestion comes up.

I haven't noticed the other two but will keep an eye out!
 

nickdalzell1

macrumors 68030
Dec 8, 2019
2,787
1,669
The first one happens if I back out without waiting to watch the credits especially with movies. Or backing out of a TV series at the end credits.

An earlier bug regarded The Incredible Hulk (1978). The episodes were cued up wrong. Instead of Season 1, Episode 1, "Pilot" and "A death in the Family" after that (both two-part episodes) it had skipped to Season 1, Episode 4 "Final Round" instead, showing it as Season 1 episode 1. I had to actually buy the pilot episodes despite having bought the 'complete series'. Despite it being an actual part of the series (you can't really understand the plot of it properly without them!) the two two-part intro episodes were categorized by Apple as 'movies'.

This never would have happened on a DVD release--you get all episodes and extras.
 
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ackmondual

macrumors 68020
Dec 23, 2014
2,435
1,147
U.S.A., Earth
I've reduced my streaming services to literally one: Netflix (I love their original content and it's not available on DVD/Blu-Ray)

But I buy everything else mostly on physical media, including VHS, and sometimes digitally. I tend to watch a lot of the same stuff over and over and that means buying once vs. continual payments makes better sense.
I'll be doing this soon enough. I'm just waiting for my trials, and annual sub of Amazon Prime to expire. I have Paramount Plus Essentials till next year, but that was free, so I just need to cancel that when the time draws near. Am kinda excited to be down to one major SS, and Curiosity Stream for documentaries (since it's so cheap). Focus on quality over quantity, and do stuff ad-free!

Yeah, you don't see too many people with mass physical media collections these days :cool: Especially not on streaming area of forums! I do lose internet connection, but it's been rare (and even then, I'll just do other things around the house). I recently grabbed a slew of DVDs from a friend. He was giving them away b/c he sold almost none of it at a garage/yard sale, and his wife just wanted that extra clutter out of the house. He told me he had 3,000 of them! 😯 Having a few to a dozen DVDs on hand of movies and TV series isn't bad idea, but I absolutely do NOT want to deal with that much clutter myself. (having to move without relocation expenses scared me straight in that regard :\ )

The bugs in the Apple TV app drive me crazy. I went to resume a show this morning and it took me back in time by 15 minutes, and wouldn’t allow me to fast forward
I stream ATV+ through Firefox on my PC. It's a bit disheartening to hear that the app also has issues (after all, you'd think they'd want to push you to streaming on there). I've got some grievances with watching through a browser as well...
1) It used to be that you can add stuff to your "Up Next"/"watchlist", but you couldn't view nor access them there
As of about a month or so back, I noticed that as a new section on the ATV+ home page!
2) Web interface has no search feature
Workaround is to just go to google or some other search engine and type in "apple tv+ [name of show]"
3) Current tab/page where I'm watching doesn't update to the latest episode
For example, I start the a series' pilot. I leave off halfway through 1x03 (season 1, epis. 3). The browser tab I just closed the stream won't update to 1x03. It'll still be stuck on 1x01. My workaround is to have another tab that's on the home page of the TV series. Refresh that, and should be good to go. Then I would run into that issue again.

I've learned to have 2 tabs for viewing... one on the series' home page, and another where I view it. This is one reason I binge Apple TV+... the shows are bingeable indeed (and nm my trial has a month left), but by getting them in a short time period means if ATV+ doesn't remember which episode I last left off, *I* can still remember where I left off. The home page with the list of episodes? Just click on that episode to get back and at it! As a plus, even though it can't seem to get the right episode, it does remember where I was in the current episode I last viewed
 

AVBeatMan

macrumors 603
Nov 10, 2010
5,831
3,732
Just seen the first 2 episodes of Slow Horses, a great show! Proper British spy story. Really good cast too as you said.
Finished this last night and was please to see there's already a season 2 to come. Excellent show.
 
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nickdalzell1

macrumors 68030
Dec 8, 2019
2,787
1,669
Keep in mind that having physical media isn't just about being prepared for an internet outage. It's just that I have control over it. I don't have to worry about ads being interjected into the show (Yea, Amazon, I'm talking to you!) or the show or movie going POOF just because they couldn't cut a license deal that year. Or some episodes not being available (I am not currently able to buy every episode/season of Leave it to Beaver for example) or even some shows not being available (SeaQuest DSV, anyone? Cold Case, yo!)

I've also dealt with certain streaming services cutting the video quality of streamed content. I am telling you, watching Star Trek: Voyager on Paramount+ then buying it outright there's a total difference. The purchased episodes look far better. In the Paramount+ it felt like 480P or 720P.

I do wonder and I'll have to test this later: Can I use a cable provider login to activate an app like Paramount+ or HBO Max if I subscribe to the channels via my cable provider? If so, I can use them for basically free. I know that the Boomerang app I use to watch classic cartoons works that way.

I still hate that the 'original' stuff on any platform, Netflix, ATV+, etc is so short, and there's so much time between seasons that I forget the entire plot of the previous season by the time the next one comes. I'm so used to 24-26 episode seasons which would take longer to binge than a mere 8 (screw you, Netflix!) or 10 (ATV+) and then a year plus to wait for the next season. It took a year and a half (or two years?) For season 2 of Another Life to come, and I'm still waiting for season 2 of Away and Sweet Tooth and when Another Life's season 2 launched, I had forgotten the story so I just re-watched Season 1. I thought the six-month wait for the second part of Star Trek: The Next Generation "The best of both worlds" was bad!
 
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The-Real-Deal82

macrumors P6
Jan 17, 2013
16,572
24,353
Wales, United Kingdom
Keep in mind that having physical media isn't just about being prepared for an internet outage. It's just that I have control over it. I don't have to worry about ads being interjected into the show (Yea, Amazon, I'm talking to you!) or the show or movie going POOF just because they couldn't cut a license deal that year. Or some episodes not being available (I am not currently able to buy every episode/season of Leave it to Beaver for example) or even some shows not being available (SeaQuest DSV, anyone? Cold Case, yo!)

I've also dealt with certain streaming services cutting the video quality of streamed content. I am telling you, watching Star Trek: Voyager on Paramount+ then buying it outright there's a total difference. The purchased episodes look far better. In the Paramount+ it felt like 480P or 720P.

I do wonder and I'll have to test this later: Can I use a cable provider login to activate an app like Paramount+ or HBO Max if I subscribe to the channels via my cable provider? If so, I can use them for basically free. I know that the Boomerang app I use to watch classic cartoons works that way.

I still hate that the 'original' stuff on any platform, Netflix, ATV+, etc is so short, and there's so much time between seasons that I forget the entire plot of the previous season by the time the next one comes. I'm so used to 24-26 episode seasons which would take longer to binge than a mere 8 (screw you, Netflix!) or 10 (ATV+) and then a year plus to wait for the next season. It took a year and a half (or two years?) For season 2 of Another Life to come, and I'm still waiting for season 2 of Away and Sweet Tooth and when Another Life's season 2 launched, I had forgotten the story so I just re-watched Season 1. I thought the six-month wait for the second part of Star Trek: The Next Generation "The best of both worlds" was bad!

I’ve just donated nearly 300 Blu-rays to a local charity shop. Everything I want to watch is available in some form and storing physical discs is a pain in the backside. They were in a box in my garage and I haven’t looked through them for nearly 5 years, so took the decision to give them to a good cause. Streaming is so much easier for my needs and I’ve never been one of these people that puts all my films on shelves on display as that’s tacky as hell in my book.
 

Pezimak

macrumors 68040
May 1, 2021
3,135
3,490
Finished this last night and was please to see there's already a season 2 to come. Excellent show.

I finished it yesterday, totally agree a great show and too was glad to see a second series being teased. It's a show they could have a pretty decent run with I think.
 

ackmondual

macrumors 68020
Dec 23, 2014
2,435
1,147
U.S.A., Earth
Keep in mind that having physical media isn't just about being prepared for an internet outage. It's just that I have control over it. I don't have to worry about ads being interjected into the show (Yea, Amazon, I'm talking to you!) or the show or movie going POOF just because they couldn't cut a license deal that year. Or some episodes not being available (I am not currently able to buy every episode/season of Leave it to Beaver for example) or even some shows not being available (SeaQuest DSV, anyone? Cold Case, yo!)
While these are definitely additional benefits, it's just not to my situation. I've learned over the decades that while there are many movies that I cherished, I never needed having them around. At least not worth putting up with the hassle of having too many DVDs and other physical media. I think YouTube spoiled me in this regard b/c in most cases, I can look up key and memorable scenes on there, and call it a day. Yes, YouTube does have ads and can take things down, but for the former, it's only 5 to 30s ads. For the latter, I'm bummed, but won't be devastated whenever that happens. I know some people have families and entertain guests, so having movies on hand (literally) makes much more sense.

Also, some DVDs do have ads :p I heard in some cases, they appear when you fire up the DVD, and cannot be skipped!
 

nickdalzell1

macrumors 68030
Dec 8, 2019
2,787
1,669
Actually, you can skip DVD ads. You can't do it via the fast forward button, but the 'chapter skip' can speed right past them! Neat little trick.

There are tons of shows not available to purchase or stream digitally. That's the biggest reason I try to find DVDs (or VHS tapes, as they're 50 cents a tape!) A DVD of a season often is half the price of the same season on a streaming service if you buy used.
 

pmiles

macrumors 6502a
Dec 12, 2013
809
676
Actually, you can skip DVD ads. You can't do it via the fast forward button, but the 'chapter skip' can speed right past them! Neat little trick.

There are tons of shows not available to purchase or stream digitally. That's the biggest reason I try to find DVDs (or VHS tapes, as they're 50 cents a tape!) A DVD of a season often is half the price of the same season on a streaming service if you buy used.
I totally get the physical media choice. I have a Synology with a bunch of content on it. The problem herein is that anything on physical media is in a time capsule... meaning it is not going to upgrade itself whenever you upgrade your stuff. Case in point being your Voyager assessment... yes it is in a lower resolution because the show was shot in a lower resolution... and when I say shot, I mean the CGI stuff was all done at a specific resolution. That's why you don't see a 1080p or 4K version of it anywhere... they'd literally have to reshoot the CGI (at great expense mind you) to do so without some sort of awful upscaling going on. Babylon 5 is a another example of this. Cult favorite, but locked into a lower resolution due to cost of CGI.

Now if you kept your old CRT TV and your trusty VHS, you could watch VHS versions of shows at their intended resolution. VHS degrades over time (tape stretches with use), so you really don't have an infinite number of viewings. DVDs may last as long as cockroaches... but we're conditioned to replace or TVs like phones these days.

Ultimately the physical media is cheaper, because you only pay for it once, but its availability is waning fast. Streaming has basically killed the DVD market. It's why you see smaller and smaller sections at your local store dedicated to it. If you were a pro at this... you would have bought it as a VHS, then as a DVD, and in some cases Blu-Ray (depending on the age of the content). Disney certainly managed to get everyone to buy the same thing multiple times over.

The one thing that physical media does offer you is a way to keep watching really really old content again. There really doesn't seem to be a mindset to preserve the old stuff, especially since 4K TVs are now the norm and most of the really old stuff is lucky to be available in formats beyond NTSC or PAL. Subscribing to say Paramount+ for the old Star Trek series is a bit of a waste if it were not for the fact that you have access to their latest offerings. That's the one plus of streaming over physical media. Reality is, most people want to see new stuff, not old stuff forever. I am a fan of Star Trek, but even I can't watch the same episodes forever without virtually memorizing it. A la that scene in Apple TV+ For All Mankind with The Bob Newhart Show. It's funny but as kids we grew up on reruns of old shows that most of us weren't even alive for when first run. We're sort of conditioned to hold on to programs that today's generation wouldn't even think of watching twice because they didn't or don't have reruns of them anymore.

This is not to say vinyl records have gone totally away. Just a different client listening to them and at great expense these days.
 

nickdalzell1

macrumors 68030
Dec 8, 2019
2,787
1,669
You got it backwards regarding Star Trek Voyager example. The Paramount+ version was playing in a much lower quality overall than the digitally purchased version on iTunes. I wasn't watching that via physical media.

Also, I don't upgrade a TV. I got all the TVs I need. All a TV has to do is display a picture and emit sound, and work reliably. If I had different furniture in this house (I inherited it from my father) I would have been perfectly happy with one of those 3-way stereo-TV-record player multiplex units with a 25" size CRT.

I never could get into the Bob Newhart Show. It wasn't funny to me. Boring, perhaps, much like trying to watch Seinfeld. Now, the spin-off in the late 1970s-early 80s, "Newhart," was much better. That one had a lot more humor similar to Laverne and Shirley. No one today gets the reference when I mention Larry, his brother Darrell, and his other brother Darrell.

Sadly, not a lot of 'modern' shows work for me. They're designed for the short attention spans of most people these days, and are just not my cup of tea. Not to say I haven't found some memorable Netflix shows or shows such as The Orville (where's season 3?!) but it's rare I find any new show as watchable as I Love Lucy, Lassie, BeWitched, M*A*S*H, Mister Ed, or Green Acres.
 
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Tdude96

macrumors 6502
Oct 16, 2021
430
645
Not sure I'd characterize Apple TV+ as a complete failure. They've had some successes. But it hasn't seemed overwhelmingly compelling to people either. I'm on a free trial of it right now, and can't foresee paying for it. Most of the content just doesn't matter to me, but perhaps I'm simply not the target audience.

Streaming subscriptions in general are largely dead to me. Back when Netflix was effectively the only streaming option, I used it extensively, but dropped it about 6 years ago and haven't missed it. Aside from the Apple TV+ trial, I have Amazon Prime and periodically use that, but have been largely been turned off of it due to the licensing deals coming and going. Nothing like really getting into a series, only to have them lose licensing halfway through and leave you hanging.

I simply don't have the time or desire to subscription hop or to keep on top of watching the latest thing on any particular service. If something is good, I'll hear about it from friends, we'll have watch parties or something. If I like it, and it's worth seeing again, I'll buy it (if available as a standalone purchase). If I really like it, then I'll buy it on physical media (if available).

Apple TV+, I think, came along at a time when it was "too little, too late." It missed the initial streaming boom, and it essentially only offers Apple original content with few exceptions. While celebrity-studded and generally very high quality, it just isn't terribly compelling when there are other services with not only (arguably better) OC, but also licensed content. They might have been better off from the start trying to swing package deals and partnerships in a way that could have incentivized other content creators to add to an Apple TV+ portfolio rather than creating their own competing streaming services. They (seemingly) didn't start trying that until after launch, and again it was just too late.
 

nickdalzell1

macrumors 68030
Dec 8, 2019
2,787
1,669
ATV+ also offers 'channels' for a separate fee similar to Prime Video channels. Other than that it's just for their own original content.

Nothing like really getting into a series, only to have them lose licensing halfway through and leave you hanging.

This. So much. This. Thankfully I was able to buy some of the series I was unable to finish on Prime way back, such as Green Acres, but unfortunately, NO ONE seems to have SeaQuest DSV or Irwin Allen's 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea' (Latter being Star Trek TOS underwater, and former Star Trek:TNG underwater) available to purchase anywhere, although I could probably find the DVDs or tapes somewhere.
 

matrix07

macrumors G3
Jun 24, 2010
8,226
4,893
For the past 6 months I haven’t watched any shows anywhere. I'm subscribing to TV+, Netflix, Disney+ and HBO and I watched zero show. ?

now I’m in the mood to watch shows again and I browsed TV+ and wow, too many good shows to catch up. Started with Shining Girls, great. Now Severance, looks awesome.
it will take me 4 or 5 months at least to finish shows I want to watch on TV+ alone (let alone on HBO and Disney+)
 
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