After announcing an update to the Hulu app a few months ago the app has been updated on a number of devices. The question is did Hulu fix problems or create new ones. It appears that the app was re-imagined with simplicity in mind. The top menu breaks down as home, my stuff TV Shows, Movies and Hubs. The new look replaces a set up that featured a two tiered row up top with multiple breakout categories and drop down menus.
No More Drop Down Menus
The Dropdown menu experience is virtually gone with the new setup. This means that the screen does not feel like it is exploding and transforming with each click. The first time we looked at the previous set-up we wondered if people would get overwhelmed with the multiple menus or have trouble reading the menus and descriptions. Whether it was reviews or customer feed back it looks like Hulu has taken some of those types of things in to consideration with what it has done with the new app.
Less sub categories On The Home Menu
Previous versions of the Hulu app provided various sub categories located at the top of the start page. Things like Spanish language, British TV, 1990s, and so on along with Keep watching and recommendations all out front. This new experience still provides a lot of those options but without dropdown menus on the home page and a more compartmentalized approach. It is sort of like Hulu went to Ikea or The Container Store and said “How can we break this up better”? For instance there is still a section where you can find the shows or movies you wish to follow. It is one of 5 tabs on the home screen. And it breaks down into TV Shows, Movies, Expiring and Networks. Expiring is an abundantly helpful category so that you can make sure you check things out before the drop off of the service.
The TV Section
One cool feature in the TV section is that Hulu keeps up with where you are in a given series. And will even tell you if you are totally up to date on a show. If you have seen all of the episodes available it is listed as “ALL CAUGHT UP” so obviously if it does not say that you will know that you can still see a favorite for the first time. The system also tells uses how many episodes of a series have not been watched. The series page still operates like it did before with the option to watch the next unplayed episode or look at the series overall. If you wish to clean up your watch history you can do so.
Movies
The Movies section is just like the TV section. There is a large list of subcategories set off with green lettering and black backgrounds. It is easy to see as you go along. There are also numerous rows of custom categories which are almost the bread and butter of any on-demand streaming option. Any movie can be added to My “Stuff” for later viewing.
We found the new app easier to navigate than the last one and think that it will be easier for new users to get the hang of. Helpful features like a keep watching row for shows or movies you are working through helps you get back to what you were doing in the first place and an expiring section can alert you when something will be leaving the service soon. Keep up with that so that you don’t try to start a heavy series without the time to binge through it.
