{"id":35865,"date":"2022-05-12T14:14:09","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T18:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=35865"},"modified":"2025-04-08T09:53:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T13:53:56","slug":"the-apple-services-experience-is-not-good-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2022\/05\/12\/the-apple-services-experience-is-not-good-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"The Apple Services Experience Is Not Good Enough"},"content":{"rendered":"

Benjamin Mayo<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Apple’s services tick the boxes, and they mostly do what they promise. However, nothing comes close to the quality of experience I expect to have from things branded with the Apple logo. When I am using these apps, I am not filled with confidence that striving for greatness was a top priority. Far too often, meeting revenue goals and business objectives seem more important to their creation.<\/p>\n

They are built to a passing grade, but nothing more. Basic features found in services from rival companies are either lacking altogether in Apple’s apps, or implemented half-heartedly and performance is sluggish. Browsing in Music and TV is painful, with an over-reliance on the infinite scroll. New content is just tacked on the bottom of already long lists. Meanwhile, the navigation bars are blank when they could include simple shortcut buttons and filters to help users navigate and explore. Moreover, these apps feature too many loading states and too much waiting around. They are akin to janky web apps, rather than richly-compelling responsive experiences.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The services apps are all frustrating to use. In may ways, they feel worse than Web apps. I cannot believe how Apple has let them regress so much. I miss iTunes from 15 years ago. Looking through movies in the TV app the other day: there is no way to see a sorted list of titles. There’s no way to search my list of purchases, nor even to jump-scroll by letter. There is no way to mark a movie on my iPhone so that I can easily find it again on my Apple TV. I guess I could start playing it for a few seconds to make it appear in Up Next? But I don’t want to download it onto my phone, and the sideways scrolling Up Next list is hard to work with and also includes the things that I’m currently<\/em> watching. Why does it scroll sideways? I guess so that the rest of the screen can be used to promote Apple TV+ content.<\/p>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n