A TV app can't please everyone. What one person considers a perfectly organized home screen, another might find empty. Every decision in this regard is a balancing act between technology, features, and personal taste.
A TV evening begins with a decision: watch live, continue watching something, retrieve an old program from replay, or resume a recording. Behind each of these choices lies a need. How quickly that need is met depends on decisions made long before in the UX design: what paths are available, how many steps they require, and what should be shown first.
Different viewers, different approaches
Those who know exactly what they wanttake the direct route. The search function finds programs and channels. Those who know the channel can go to the home menu via the channel selection or directly to the player.
Those who want to see what's on noware the classic live viewer. For them, there's "Now on TV," both as a series on the home screen and as a separate view for the current program. In the player, they use the Quick Zapper. And those who know their channel number by heart can type it in directly.
Those who want to continue where they left offcan rely on the bookmark. It remembers the point not only for replays but also for recordings. On the home screen, "Continue Watching" takes you directly back to that point.
Those who want to browsehave no destination and don't need one. Home makes suggestions. The Replay Gallery shows curated highlights from primetime or can be filtered by genre. The TV Guide contains everything, both from the future and the past.
These four types are a simplification. No one belongs exclusively to one of them, and other factors come into play: Age influences how naturally someone uses a remote control with many buttons. Background determines which channels are searched for and in which language. Technical knowledge determines whether functions like bookmarks or filters are even discovered.
Device differences and their pitfalls
Netstream TV currently runs on Android TV, tvOS, iOS, Android Mobile, and in a web browser. Since operating systems and devices have different interfaces, a truly identical experience is rarely possible or practical.
The remote control illustrates this most clearly. Android TV comes with a full remote, complete with a number pad and everything. Apple's remote has fewer controls. Direct channel selection via numbers is therefore only available where numbers are present.
On mobile phones and tablets, you tap directly with your finger, while on the web, a mouse is available. This allows for more flexibility than a simple remote control.
What we are working on to further improve the search function
We are currently building a new suggestionagso that viewers can find similar content more quickly and receive relevant suggestions based on their user behavior.
In addition, the Home app will be customizable. Users can already personalize their homepage in the browser, and this feature will follow in other apps. Planned features also include "Tonight" as a dedicated TV series, "Continue Watching" in the browser and on mobile devices, preview images when rewinding, and a mini-guide on the TV. Full details on upcoming features can be found in our roadmap.
Our promise
Nothing pleases everyone. But we do our best everyag to provide a suitable experience for every user behavior.
The easiest way to see for yourself is toaga test account and click through.
