- Max added greater than 120 new options to its app in 2024
- A WBD survey signifies a rise in design, stability, and personalization
- The service has been rolled out to 73 new nations within the final 9 months
Max has been busy making quite a lot of updates to its app within the final 12 months as a part of its world enlargement to extra nations, however not each new characteristic is a welcome one.
Of the 120 new options that had been added to the Max app in 2024, most are aimed toward bettering the content material discovery journey to discovering the perfect Max motion pictures and finest Max exhibits, however there have additionally been some much less favorable ad-related updates.
These embody adverts that allow you to store for merchandise associated to the content material you are watching by clicking on a QR code, sponsored content material suggestions, and commercials that concentrate on ‘moments’ (to not be confused with Netflix’s ‘moments’ characteristic that makes sharing content material on social simpler).
It’s an space that lots of the finest streaming providers are more and more doubling down on as they search for extra methods to generate misplaced income from unsuccessful motion pictures and exhibits. Indeed, Prime Video has additionally been including quite a lot of the identical advert options over the previous 12 months, making it slowly refill with much more adverts.
Aside from the advert onslaught, Warner Bros. Discovery has been making different modifications to the Max app, together with enhancements like an improved navigation design on the homepage to make your streaming life simpler.
This replace moved the navigation instruments usually discovered on the prime of a title to the left-side utility menu, making it a lot easier to seek out these choices (see the distinction this made within the picture beneath).
Global subscribers have additionally been handled to extra methods to seek out content material within the app, even whereas in the course of streaming. This characteristic helps you to browse comparable titles whereas watching a film or present by clicking a drop-down arrow to entry the advice listing.
Like Netflix, Max has additionally added comparable performance to advocate extra motion pictures and exhibits to observe after you have completed streaming a title. This implies that after 25 seconds, if you have not chosen one thing else, a associated style title will mechanically begin taking part in.
Another Netflix characteristic that Max has added is that titles on the homepage will mechanically start taking part in the trailer with audio whereas shopping. I do not find out about you, however I am unable to assist however discover this distracting whereas shopping for content material and would fairly that the audio be muted whereas the video performs. At least, this characteristic has solely been rolled out to the US for now.
Other US-only options which have been added embody the flexibility to observe 5 of HBO’s linear channels by way of the app. These embody HBO, HBO 2, HBO Signature, HBO Comedy, and HBO Zone.
And, after all, we won’t neglect the brand new multiview characteristic for 2025’s NASCAR Cup Series that places you within the driver’s seat that was added to US subscribers’ apps earlier this 12 months. It’s an ideal sports activities characteristic we’re seeing being added to many streamers, such because the Apple TV app and YouTube.
These are only a small portion of the tech updates that Max’s streaming app has added since September 2024, however they spotlight quite a lot of the behind-the-scenes work that the service is doing because it appears to increase into extra areas.
Max has been rolled out to 73 new nations within the house of 9 months and can quickly launch on Aussie shores on March 31, simply in time for HBO’s The Last of Us season 2, which premieres on April 13. However, for these of us within the UK, we’ll should patiently wait a bit longer till we will entry all of those nice options within the Max (probably early 2026, going by reviews). In the meantime, the perfect place to stream HBO content material within the US is on Sky or Now.
