Apple TV app
Shares rank 17 of 38 music players by recommenders
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.
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.
39 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 28
- approval share
- 28%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Search, watchlist and playback in one place
“It makes it easy to search for stuff, add it to your watchlist, and start playing it.”
Comment from 6 Dec 2025 in “Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros” “The app is very convenient for keeping up with what I watch across services.”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “Netflix kills casting from its mobile app to most modern TVs” Works with YouTube and other services
“The app is very convenient for keeping up with what I watch across services.”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “Netflix kills casting from its mobile app to most modern TVs” “I use YouTube almost exclusively through the Apple TV app, and it's fine”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Someone at YouTube Needs Glasses: The Prophecy Has Been Fulfilled”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Crashes, freezes and playback bugs
“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.”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “New Apple TV 4K” “Every single one [that I routinely use] (including Apple’s apps) regularly crash or lock up”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Someone at YouTube Needs Glasses: The Prophecy Has Been Fulfilled” “Usually, it’s the app falling into a fugue state, at some point, as I am channel-surfing”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Someone at YouTube Needs Glasses: The Prophecy Has Been Fulfilled” - Comment from 10 May 2026 in “Apple to Make Design Changes in macOS 27 to Address Tahoe Quirks”
Mixes Apple TV interface, promotes Apple shows
“Their half-baked attempt to mix the "Apple TV" app with the entire Apple TV interface is irritating.”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Fox to Buy Roku Streaming Service in $22B Deal” “Apple TV advertises for the shows they've made in the Apple TV app instead of going to your library.”
Comment from 1 Nov 2026 in “Ask HN: Which TV do you recommend for privacy?” “tied with TV the app, TV the hardware device, and TV+ the subscription service”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “How many products does Microsoft have named 'Copilot'? I mapped every one” Slow playback on weak connections or DRM
“pissed with the Apple TV player's performance on less-than-lightspeed internet connections”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “Netflix kills casting from its mobile app to most modern TVs” “the Apple TV app isn't quite as smooth in playback as it should be on the Shield”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “New Apple TV 4K” “DRM slowdowns have also made the built-in apps like TV worse for watching shows”
Comment from 1 Nov 2025 on Hacker News
Other music players people recommend
The four most recommended other music players, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VLC media player | 172 | 83 | 67% | 12 | 20 yrs7 owners | Approved |
| mpv media player | 82 | 12 | 87% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Infuse video player | 78 | 11 | 88% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Kodi | 64 | 38 | 63% | 12 | 15 yrs3 owners | — |
| Apple TV appThis page | 11 | 28 | 28% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
39 of the 44 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Apple TV advertises for the shows they've made in the Apple TV app instead of going to your library.”
“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.”
“the AppleTV app on smartTVs won't remember what I was watching”
“the Apple TV app isn't quite as smooth in playback as it should be on the Shield”
“It's a prerequisite for having an app that does video on Apple TV”
“Why does MacOS "require" AppleTV (even monopolizing the folder name TV in your official Movies folder”
“it should remember properly which provider you watched a series instead of constantly reverting”
“I find that it's actually more annoying than it is useful”
“This was driving me nuts while showing a moody black & white film for a movie night”
“Their half-baked attempt to mix the "Apple TV" app with the entire Apple TV interface is irritating.”
“Too many promos of other shows before watching a show.”
“What you have described is no different than having a streaming only subscription where you dont own the files”
“That Apple server copy can be revoked at any time.”
“The Apple TV app is terrible .”
“where the enshitification takes the crown over all of their competitors”
“Open apple TV. cmd+w -> minimizes window.”
“Apple TV movie trailer playback is broken for second or subsequent trailer”
“tied with TV the app, TV the hardware device, and TV+ the subscription service”
“which is perpetually buggy”
“literally just determines the recently watched data in the Apple TV app”
“the Apple TV app has ads when I open it from my Apple TV device”
“their TV app features their own shows to an overbearing degree”
“It's absurd how much that improves the experience.”
“it really does if you don't move Apples apps off the top row of the screen”
“Nor does Apple sell personal data.”
“Absolutely everyone in the Apple ecosystem complains about Netflix not integrating with the AppleTV app.”
“I knew you would consider this as acceptable tracking.”
“this is just the what I can easily see with my own eyes”
“It makes it easy to search for stuff, add it to your watchlist, and start playing it.”
“I always assumed the TV app is the one that sucks on its own.”
“You can either stream directly from the app or use screen mirroring. Both work.”
“AppleTV content usually doesn't work over AirPlay. You just get a black screen.”
“pissed with the Apple TV player's performance on less-than-lightspeed internet connections”
“The app is very convenient for keeping up with what I watch across services.”
“Apple TV is equally egregious in not supporting Chromecast.”
“Usually, it’s the app falling into a fugue state, at some point, as I am channel-surfing”
“Every single one [that I routinely use] (including Apple’s apps) regularly crash or lock up”
“I use YouTube almost exclusively through the Apple TV app, and it's fine”
“DRM slowdowns have also made the built-in apps like TV worse for watching shows”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.