DJariya

I know a lot of you love streaming and have thrown away your physical media collections in favor of it. Some of you want all new movies delivered through this medium and think it's the future and won't see anymore movies in the theater.

But, I'm sure there are many issues that a lot of you have with it. So go ahead and list them. I'll try to list as many as I can think of for a poll.

E Unit

My only gripe is the excessive amounts of streaming services where it’s hard to keep track of where shows and movies reside. And I’m definitely not throwing away my physical media, but I’ve pared it down quite a bit. Aside from boutique labels and 4K discs, most catalogs are leaving my house.

DJariya

I do agree that content is way too fractured. I struggle to keep up with all the notable things.

I also think rentals for new Hollywood movies are overpriced. $20 to 30 is too much in my opinion.

If I have to pay $20 I want the theater experience with a 100 foot Dolby screen and Atmos sound.

Eddie W

I hate the I often forget which shows I'm watching. I wish there was one central DVR-like list where all my shows resided. I know a few have tried this, but it's never reached the simplicity of a DVR.

I also dislike how their is no standardization on devices. I have to keep an Apple TV for playing lossless Apple music, but it doesn't have VUDU. My Fire Stick has VUDU, but only in HD. If I want 4K I have to use the Roku. Some devices have Hulu in 4K/Dolby Digital. Some only in HD and 2.0 stereo. It's maddening that there's not just one device that does EVERYTHING.

LorenzoL

For me is the fragmentation of streaming rights for movies and TV shows that you pretty much have to sign up to most streaming services. Then you need to check which films and shows are coming or leaving said services every month.

I think Disney+ is the only one that doesn’t remove films or shows unless to satisfy previous streaming contracts.

TomOpus

I don't have a Roku so I just use my 4k player for VUDU UHD content.

milo bloom

Too many services. They should have always stayed as a type of outsider service like Netflix. When each studio did their own thing it got too messy.

MLBFan24

Good thread question.

my gripes, though I’m sure I’ll think of more:

• Hulu Live app crashes. Only the Live content crashes often.
• Shows that were once on network and cable channels are now exclusive to streaming channels. For example, certain paranormal reality shows are now exclusive to Discovery+, when they were previously available on one of the many Discovery cable channels. Someone might say, if you want to watch them, then pay for streaming. Well, I’m already paying for it, through Hulu Live. Hulu has to pay for those channels, and those costs are passed on to me. So why should I have to pay again to watch on another streaming service?

lwhy?

Here's one of my gripes. I wanted to watch Adam Eats the 80s. I don't have the History channel, but I have Discovery+ which has History channel content, but Adam Eats the 80s isn't on there.... Also, the newest seasons of The Pioneer Woman and Girl Meets Farm aren't on Discovery+ either. Why even have a streaming service if you have to have a cable subscription to Food Network or History to watch the latest episodes/seasons.

Alan Smithee

Biggest gripe is interfaces that won't leave content the hell alone. I don't want anything at the beginning, usually also darkening the screen, telling me what something is rated and why- I already saw that on the menu screen! I then don't want to skip anything so don't put anything on the screen telling me to, and I want to let the full end credits play out without having them shrink or anything prompting me to go to the next episode or promote another movie. I know where the remote is and how to use it if I want to stop anything from playing or switch to something else at any point. Best way I've found around this is Kodi (usable on Fire Stick and NVidia Shield) which has very simple home-designed apps for many services including Netflix, Disney Plus, Hulu, HBO Max and Paramount Plus which show the content and nothing else in full quality including 4K and Atmos. Another workaround is Airplay, which requires an Iphone or Ipad to use but some non-Apple streaming devices support it (such as Roku.) This lets you start the movie or show on the portable device then cast it to the streaming device or TV and also play it through a generic interface that doesn't put any crap on the screen that you didn't ask for. Not all services work with these though, and some don't support full quality- Amazon only delivers 2-channel sound through Airplay for example, and the Kodi app can't access 4K video from it.

Technical quality has greatly improved from the early days of Netflix, some of which was Video-CD quality. Even high frame rate content is getting delivered properly more often now, though older sitcoms shot on video are older encodes and look pretty bad and The Muppet Show on Disney Plus just looks like ass at 24fps (most older video material is shown at 30fps, throwing out half the fields; 60fps is the proper frame rate for NTSC video or anything live in hi-def. A lot of current video material is intentionally shot at 24fps, which I don't agree with but at least that's intentional.) The live ABC News channel looks just like live video should though- it is available on a number of difference sources however and some only carry it in 30fps.

Having to use more than one device is a bit of a pain, I have one of every major device but have recently narrowed it down to just the NVidia Shield and Apple TV to get all the content I want in the best possible quality. I have little reason to use Roku anymore since they dropped private channels; everything that's left on it my other devices can access.

There is too much content and too many services, which may or may not be a bad thing. I have access to far too many right now between myself and my parents. If I had to drop them all to just one I would probably pick HBO Max as it has the best variety of content, both old and new. I wouldn't mind going back to just paying per movie rented, but I haven't rented a movie in a while since I have so many available through the subscription services and there hasn't been anything I needed to see right away, at least that I also didn't want to buy on disc. I would still never purchase a movie via digital as I don't feel I really 'own' a copy that way, they can still take it offline or change it as they see fit. Plus it's been inconsistent as to what quality a movie is available in, and how to tell what you're getting before you buy it. Some movies with 5.1 tracks are only in 2-channel, and some 2.35 movies are cropped to 16x9.

BackStJoe

My two biggest issues:

1. Interfaces. Folks, make it easy to find and play stuff. That's it. Right now Paramount+ is the worst interface of any service I use. And give me an easy option to turn off previews!!

2. Buffering. Instead of "instant on" can we please just take a few seconds to buffer content? I'd rather have a few moments to buffer for full HD content than to have it drop down to what looks like a 56k modem while it struggles to catch up. I'm looking at you PrimeVideo.

TomOpus

Never had an issue with Prime. Maybe I'm lucky or it's the Google Fiber but no buffering issues.

davidh777

My main concern is stuff getting yanked that isn’t available elsewhere. If it has to be bought, then fine. But what if Netflix decides to pull an exclusive and it’s no longer viewable anywhere?

DJariya

That happened to me on Hulu.

I was 1 episode away from finishing the UK Asia travel drama Gap Year. It's a 1 hour drama about a group of friends who travel all across Asia. I really liked it. But, it turns out Hulu pulling it at Midnight on the day I was trying to finish it. Once I tried clicking the last episode, it was unplayable. Gone, Poof. And no other service has it.

It was a little bit of my fault though. It was on the service for over a year and I kind of procrastinated finishing it.

TomOpus

This combined with the downturn of physical media makes it frustrating nowadays.

Defiant

Long list of gripes, but it's mostly the first four or so that are really annoying:

Movies and TV shows going away from a streaming service with little or no warning - more annoying with TV series, as I might be in the middle of the series

When bugs happen (a movie isn't viewable because of a glitch, a service is down, the service thinks I'm travelling when I'm not so it won't give me access, etc).

A movie I purchased getting removed from my library (only happened once to my knowledge, and I got refunded, but I'd prefer it not happen).

A service going out of business, and losing my library (Movies Anywhere helps a lot when it comes to (supported) movies, and fortunately, I haven't really lost anything significant to this so far)

Having an HD version of a movie, but only being able to watch the SD version (I'm looking at you, Vudu). - although provided the quality of the print is good enough, I'll be satisfied with SD.

Poor print or bad format (eg, pan and scan) - this isn't limited to streaming, and MoviesAnywhere actually helps with this, since sometimes a movie with a bad print on one service will have a good print on another service or on moviesanywhere.

I generally watch via my PC and I don't like the playback system on Itunes (the app is flaky and has frozen up at times) and, to a lesser extent, vudu (minor stuff, like not having the rewind 15 seconds button).

Having a rental or a screen pass, and forgetting to watch it in time (OK, that's my bad.)

I'd like services to have better track of what I've watched - sometimes it doesn't register that I've watched an episode (and the ability to easily reset a show I've watched) - it would be more useful in keeping track of what episode I'm up to when watching or rewatching a show.

While expense is an issue, I generally rotate between services (aside from Amazon, where streaming isn't the main purpose), which keeps prices down (between free trials, discounts/promotions) or I'll take a break from subscribing to anything and rely on my own library.

Content is fractured, but like I said, I rotate between services. I think for me, a bigger issue for a while (after Warner Archive Instant went away) was that few services had much focus on classic movies, but more recently, I've found a few services that have focused on it.

Edit to add (since someone else listed it) being able to increase buffering would be nice.

MLBFan24

For Hulu Live, I can’t set a manual time recording. I just have to select “record” for the particular episode or record “only new” episodes. As a result, sometimes the recording will cut off the last minute of a show abruptly. If that happens, I usually search for the On Demand episode and fast forward to the final minute I missed.

I prefer to set up manual time recordings with 2 minute buffers before and after the episode.

This is more problematic when a sporting event goes into overtime and the regularly scheduled program is delayed.

OldBoy

i, honestly, have no complaints or at least ones to gripe about. everything, every app runs smoothly on all my devices. i thought it was the way.

Tom Banjo

I really miss having access to extras likes deleted scenes and alternate endings.

MLBFan24

If I’m rewatching a movie and want to jump to a particular scene, I have to hold the fast forward button and find the scene. No chapters!

dvd-4-life

Services that don't show closing credit's (unless you hit the back arrow tab).

The overall cheapness of most in-house productions.

Trying to find stuff too watch is more difficult with some services.

Not knowing when one of your favorite shows is being pulled.

Missing episodes from past tv series.

Not enough older tv series from the 1960s and 1970s.

Streaming can be so-so on Saturday evenings(might be a Spectrum problem).

Too many foreign movies don't have an English Dub.

TomOpus

Many of the services I use will have a "watch credits" button pop up when the movie ends. Just gotta look for it.

I won't even go there.

Noonan

Not having a Previous Channel button on Hulu Live.

MLBFan24

My Amazon Fire Cube Hulu Live app has the Previous Channel option

• Watching live content
• Press UP button on Fire remote
• Gives options like Pause, Go Live, and Previous Channel

It does seem like a new update because I only noticed this feature 2 days ago.

I also checked Hulu Live via my web browser and it does not have the Previous Channel option.

Giantrobo

Dam dude, throwin' some shade.