Ads When You Start Your Fire TV
Amazon is adding full-screen video ads that will play when you start your Fire TV unless you quickly perform an action on it.
This new update will be rolling out to all Fire TVs made in 2016 or newer. With this update, the ad at the top of your Fire TV will now start playing full-screen, often promoting a movie or TV show. By hitting the home button, you can quickly exit the ad or if you quickly perform an action on the Fire TV once it finishes, you will avoid the video ad, but you only have a few seconds.
In a way, this isn’t as crazy as it sounds because turning on a TV has historically shown full screen content that you weren’t expecting to see. But Amazon is not offering this as a Special Offers discount, and it sounds like there’s no way to turn it off. They are altering the implicit deal with customers, notwithstanding the attempt to spin this as an “immersive experience” feature.
Via John Gruber:
I really don’t understand how anyone uses anything but an Apple TV box. Apple TV is far from perfect but holy hell, it really does start from the perspective of respecting you, the user.
It sure doesn’t feel like that if you don’t subscribe to Apple TV+. And the Netflix app, especially, constantly shows unsolicited partial-screen previews when all I want is a static menu with no sound when nothing’s playing. But, yeah, the grass is not always greener.
The people at Apple who make it are obviously trying to create the experience that they themselves want when they’re watching TV at home.
To me, this is not at all obvious when using the product. Who wants wants a multi-step process to toggle subtitles? It feels like it was designed by people who don’t watch TV. And that don’t respect me to choose for myself what I want to watch.
Previously:
- Sony Removing Purchased Discovery TV Shows
- Apple Services Price Hikes
- Apple Is Finally Killing Off iTunes
- The Apple Services Experience Is Not Good Enough
- An Unsolicited Streaming App Spec
13 Comments RSS · Twitter · Mastodon
"I really don’t understand how anyone uses anything but an Apple TV box"
That's probably because he has never used anything but an Apple TV box. There are plenty of other devices that put the user first.
"That's probably because he has never used anything but an Apple TV box. There are plenty of other devices that put the user first."
What streaming devices are that? AppleTV’s home screen is a grid of apps that can show you a preview if they are left at the top row. Roku, Fire Stick, Google TV’s top navigation systems either feature ads, or are heavily focused on the hardware app’s own services.
"And the Netflix app, especially, constantly shows unsolicited partial-screen previews when all I want is a static menu with no sound when nothing’s playing."
I believe I was able to stop those previews here:
https://www.netflix.com/profiles/manage
Autoplay Controls -> Autoplay previews while browsing on all devices (toggle off)
I've only used AppleTV, but it's been years since I thought AppleTV respected me as a user. And it doesn't seem to matter whether I'm subscribed to Apple TV+ or not, TV+ permeates everything.
“ I've only used AppleTV, but it's been years since I thought AppleTV respected me as a user. And it doesn't seem to matter whether I'm subscribed to Apple TV+ or not, TV+ permeates everything.”
But does it really? You can put it in a folder and ignore it entirely. AppleTV’s Home Screen grid is hands down the cleanest and most responsive UI for a steaming device.
But why would you want to? If it’s in a top Home Screen grid spot, it lets you easily continue off on content from all your other apps without having to navigate to the app & media themselves. Pretty convenient.
"What streaming devices are that"
I have an Nvidia Shield.
"are heavily focused on the hardware app’s own services"
Buy any device that isn't sold by a company trying to sell you its services. It'll cost more, because it won't be subsidized, but these devices do exist.
I vastly prefer the Chromecast to the Apple TV. Granted, I only use the apple tv at my parents place. I really don't like the remote, especially when trying to serach for something and using a gamesconsole type keyboard...
I guess people with iPhones can type and interact via their phones instead of the remote.
Note, I'm not talking about Google TV. I've never used it and I have no urge to ever use it if I can help it. Another bonus with the Chromecast is that the kids can stream anime from dodgy streaming sites. Yarrrr
>I really don’t understand how anyone uses anything but an Apple TV box.
I mean, for a start, because Apple TV is among the pricier options, compared to something like Fire TV Stick, or, y'know, using a modern TV's built-in capabilities.
>Apple TV is far from perfect but holy hell, it really does start from the perspective of respecting you, the user.
>[..]
>The people at Apple who make it are obviously trying to create the experience that they themselves want when they’re watching TV at home.
So, I don't personally have an Apple TV, but I do have the TV app on macOS.
I _want_ to fully agree with Gruber's take, because that's how it _should_ be, but the TV app just has too many papercuts for this to be true.
Even if we ignore the awkward "Apple is both an aggregator for multiple channels, _and_ a channel of their own, with more prominent placement" position, there are lots of small things that make the TV app an, IMHO, mediocre experience. To use Gruber's parlance, it doesn't feel very "Mac-assed" at all.
It really feels more like they took iTunes, extracted the video playback portions, then added a bunch of web views on top so you can navigate streaming services. Whereas, if that hadn't been the approach, perhaps there would be more integration between what feels like two apps in one. For example! I can't, to my knowledge, take a TV+ show (or a Paramount+ show, for that matter), and add it to a section in the sidebar. Which would give me things like, gasp, badges to show me there's an episode I haven't watched. Instead, I have to go to the streaming service, then be treated like I'm in a shop somewhere being advertised to, and hopefully find what I'm looking for in a section like "Up Next". This doesn't fit my mental model at all.
And that's _before_ we get to the actual video player, which also has its fair amount of annoyances.
A very helpful post. Amazon is going too far, imo. And the Anonymous post explaining how to stop Netflix previews showed me how to do somethng I've wanted to do for a long tine but did not think was possible.
Gruber’s POV has grown increasingly out of touch with reality on both Apple/technology stories as well as his occasional commentary on political issues.
