# Apple TV app

11 Hacker News commenters recommended Apple TV app and 28 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for searching, watchlists and playing shows across services in one place. Critics mainly report crashes, playback glitches and Apple promoting its own shows.

## Why people recommend it

- Search, watchlist and playback in one place (2 comments): "It makes it easy to search for stuff, add it to your watchlist, and start playing it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46173598)) "The app is very convenient for keeping up with what I watch across services." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46111080))
- Works with YouTube and other services (2 comments): "The app is very convenient for keeping up with what I watch across services." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46111080)) "I use YouTube almost exclusively through the Apple TV app, and it's fine" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46052467))

## What people warn about

- Crashes, freezes and playback bugs (4 comments): "it's got a lot of other bugs. Lately it's been showing shows in the totally wrong aspect ratio unless I restart the app." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50077229)) "Every single one [that I routinely use] (including Apple’s apps) regularly crash or lock up" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46056058)) "Usually, it’s the app falling into a fugue state, at some point, as I am channel-surfing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46056184))
- Mixes Apple TV interface, promotes Apple shows (3 comments): "Their half-baked attempt to mix the "Apple TV" app with the entire Apple TV interface is irritating." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48562951)) "Apple TV advertises for the shows they've made in the Apple TV app instead of going to your library." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50330860)) "tied with TV the app, TV the hardware device, and TV+ the subscription service" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47644459))
- Slow playback on weak connections or DRM (3 comments): "pissed with the Apple TV player's performance on less-than-lightspeed internet connections" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46111122)) "the Apple TV app isn't quite as smooth in playback as it should be on the Shield" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50074638)) "DRM slowdowns have also made the built-in apps like TV worse for watching shows" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45779271))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [VLC media player](https://hackerapproved.com/p/vlc-media-player.md): 172 recommend
- [mpv media player](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mpv.md): 82 recommend
- [Infuse video player](https://hackerapproved.com/p/infuse.md): 78 recommend
- [Kodi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kodi.md): 64 recommend
- [TV Explorer](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tv-explorer.md): 37 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.apple.com/apple-tv-app/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Apple TV app", https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-tv-app/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).