The new Sling TV app rolling out across multiple platforms is a big upgrade that in many ways simplifies the experience for its users. But in its hurry to roll out something that looks and works in a more modern way Sling left out one feature that is found on its competitors and even on its older apps. The ability to see what is on other channels without actually leaving a current channel.
The older Sling TV app had seemingly too many on-screen options, Grid View, Channel View, when watching a channel it had a menu accessed by pressing up, a menu accessed by pressing down, and a menu users call up by pressing the ok button. The new app dutifully streamlined so many of those issues but lost the key feature that allowed users to browse other channels on screen while still enjoying their selected content. The problem is pretty easy to fix based on the current on-screen options. At the moment when a user presses the ok button, Sling presents users with the ability to jump back to recently viewed channels. But what it does not allow for is for users to take a look at available programming on channels that the users has not recently viewed. Sling TV would be doing its customers a big favor if the programmatic menu was still available via screens other than the grid.
The truth is that people’s habits will almost take care of things themselves. The reality that most people watch a handful of channels is a bit lost on consumers at the moment. But with the recently viewed channels right there for the picking users will probably find that everything they want will be right there for the picking. Whichever cable news channels they watch will be right at the bottom of the screen one click away, the sports networks they watch will be a click away. What they miss out on is the ability to explore the entire menu while supposedly watching content at the same time. My guess is that Sling TV decided that if people are looking through tv options they are not watching what is on the screen in the first place.
People think they can multitask but once you are bouncing around a menu you are not watching TV anymore. But for the sake of saving it from bellyaching, the situation is worth addressing. If you give the people what they want, even if it is not what they need, you will be rewarded.
