HBO Max launched its app way back in 2020, even if it was not yet ready for a stable release globally, leaning towards fixing the issues and bugs along the way.
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 29: Kevin Reilly, Content Officer of HBO Max and President of TNT, TBS, & TruTV, speaks onstage at HBO Max WarnerMedia Investor Day Presentation at Warner Bros. Studios on October 29, 2019 in Burbank, California.
HBO Max App Debut
As per a news story by Engadget, the app of HBO Max has had a couple of overhauls, along with numerous bug fixes every now and then since it debuted.
On top of that, the news outlet went on to highlight that the HBO Max is known for constantly crashing, which ruins the viewing experience of most of its users who want a seamless binge-watch session.
In fact, just last year, or on Aug. 15, 2021, to be precise, the buggy TV app of HBO Max also had a major revamp to fix annoying playback issues, which were making it essentially impossible to use.
But it turns out that the folks behind the HBO Max launch knew that the app was still a disaster filled with issues. Thus, making it unfit for an official stable release.
HBO Max Execs Knew About Buggy App
In fact, according to a recent report by Protocol, the head of product experience of HBO Max, Sara Lyons, herself admits that the app still had several flaws and bugs during its debut two years ago.
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 29: Tony Goncalves, Chief Executive Officer of Otter Media, speaks onstage at HBO Max WarnerMedia Investor Day Presentation at Warner Bros. Studios on October 29, 2019 in Burbank, California.
The HBO Max exec said that the top brass of the giant cable network intends to release it even with its issues.
It comes as they wanted to lure in viewers first. Once the audience base has been established, HBO Max will start fixing its wonky app.
Despite that, the HBO Max head of product experience said that she thinks they made the right decision.
Lysons further added that "we've been changing out the engine of the plane while we're flying the plane."
While it sounds like a dangerous thing to do so, the HBO Max exec said: "I do think it was the right decision to try to balance both."
Read Also: HBO Max New Features Introduced for Apple TV: Scrollable 'Hero Banner', 'My Stuff' Feature, and More
HBO Max vs. Streaming Services
Lysons went on to disclose that the now giant streaming service, Disney+, launched when they were still planning the release of HBO Max.
Not to mention that the streaming market has already been saturated with other services like Netflix and Apple TV+.
That said, they decided to release the HBO Max app even if it still had tons of issues that needed to be fixed back in 2020.
Related Article: $43 Billion WarnerMedia Merger with Discovery to Bring HBO Max and Discovery+ to One Streaming Service
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Written by Teejay Boris
