Feedback about New Vudu Interface

[MaxH]

Re: Feedback about New Vudu Interface

As I have said before, sometimes it is better to release a feature that isn't exactly in its final state, because sometimes the feedback from and technical experience of releasing it can alter the way you want to implement it. Personally, I'm very happy that VUDU didn't make me wait for these features until they could implement them to someone else's satisfaction, as I have been using and enjoying them since their release. Some of you might feel that they shouldn't have released these features until they were in the state that you wanted them in, but then they would have been shorting me and others who feel the same as I do.

I have no idea if I am in the majority, but then likely neither do the rest of you. I can tell you that releasing features sooner has other benefits other than pleasing the users who want those features, such as appearing to be more agile and appearing to have those features ready before your competitors do. But ultimately it's just a matter of how they decide to manage their development process, and there is not only one right way or there wouldn't be a divide on this matter.

[BlakkMajik3000]

Re: Feedback about New Vudu Interface

As I have said before, sometimes it is better to release a feature that isn't exactly in its final state, because sometimes the feedback from and technical experience of releasing it can alter the way you want to implement it. Personally, I'm very happy that VUDU didn't make me wait for these features until they could implement them to someone else's satisfaction, as I have been using and enjoying them since their release. Some of you might feel that they shouldn't have released these features until they were in the state that you wanted them in, but then they would have been shorting me and others who feel the same as I do.

I have no idea if I am in the majority, but then likely neither do the rest of you. I can tell you that releasing features sooner has other benefits other than pleasing the users who want those features, such as appearing to be more agile and appearing to have those features ready before your competitors do. But ultimately it's just a matter of how they decide to manage their development process, and there is not only one right way or there wouldn't be a divide on this matter.

I don't think the problem is with releasing features (half-baked or not) per-se. Most just have issues with things being forced upon them. Speaking as a software developer, very rarely do you want to release non-optional functionality. There may have been a technical reason they had to force auto-play initially, I don't know.

To be honest, the only things I really want from VUDU now are a "material" Android app and a folders/playlists feature. They've already introduced the default streaming quality option I've asked about, but I'm sure my other wants are likely a bit more technically challenging.

[MaxH]

Re: Feedback about New Vudu Interface

I don't think the problem is with releasing features (half-baked or not) per-se. Most just have issues with things being forced upon them. Speaking as a software developer, very rarely do you want to release non-optional functionality. There may have been a technical reason they had to force auto-play initially, I don't know.

So you know how feature and scope creep can keep pushing back deadlines. It's very possible they considered there would be some displeasure with the feature, but wanted to gauge the reaction before prioritizing the additional time of making it optional, which as you can probably guess is much more complex than most end users would think it would be. (I'm not a programmer, but I sometimes manage projects involving programming and design.)

And I have to disagree about the universality of making things optional; I have to imagine it would depend on the nature of the particular application or project. There are many features in the multitude of apps and programs that I use that I wish were optional that are not. VUDU also has to prioritize the additional programming time of making a certain feature optional against using that time to add folders or other new features, because they can only assign work hours to a certain number of things at once from their list of prioritized programming tasks.

[Emissary35]

Re: Feedback about New Vudu Interface

Forcing a feature like Vudu did with auto play that covered the ending of videos and even cut the video off a few seconds early to play the next episode was a mistake. There are shows out there that still has content going through the credits and forced auto play destroyed that. Luckily Vudu listened to feedback and fixed it, but I don't see why in the design phase for auto play a disable option wasn't included when it was being developed. It shouldn't have had to be a later upgrade to get this done.

[Alan Smithee]

Re: Feedback about New Vudu Interface

The problem I'm seeing with online streaming in general is that they are run mostly by people who are "programmers" or tech people, and not so much by audio/videophiles or those who simply appreciate presentation quality. I found an online blog from a Netflix "Developer" that I found very disturbing, where he described the way he came up with an automated way of sensing where the end credits are so that the system can do the annoying screen-minimizing without even any human involvement to decide where the best point to do that might be. These people are obviously more into what sort of technological things they can do, and not concerned so much about just watching the material as it is with no intrusions! Reminds me of back when I was a movie theater film projectionist; I worked with union people, some of whom were very good at the mechanical side of things, but hardly ever actually watched the movies and were sometimes careless in the actual presentation.

While I know next to nothing about the technical side of things on these newfangled streaming services, I do know how things are supposed to look and sound, and if I ran any of them I would instruct the tech people to keep things like aesthetics and respect for content in mind when coming up with design changes or features.

[Capt-Cupcake]

Re: Feedback about New Vudu Interface

Awesome, I disabled autoplay and it works perfectly. Thank you very much!

I can finally watch New Girl! That show has content through the end credits and in addition to the countdown timer covering the picture, the autoplay would usually cut off the last bit of each episode.

Really appreciate you taking user feedback into consideration. Even though it seems most users enjoyed this feature, my tv episode watching is going to be a vastly better experience now.

How do I disable it? (I'm at work on my PC and not in front of my TV so I can't see the interface. is it easy/self explanatory?)

[qazzaq]

Re: Feedback about New Vudu Interface

How do I disable it? (I'm at work on my PC and not in front of my TV so I can't see the interface. is it easy/self explanatory?)

Very easy!

Go into the vudu app on your device of choice, navigate to the gear icon at the top of the screen, go down to Autoplay Settings, then select off

[Emissary35]

Re: Feedback about New Vudu Interface

The problem I'm seeing with online streaming in general is that they are run mostly by people who are "programmers" or tech people, and not so much by audio/videophiles or those who simply appreciate presentation quality. I found an online blog from a Netflix "Developer" that I found very disturbing, where he described the way he came up with an automated way of sensing where the end credits are so that the system can do the annoying screen-minimizing without even any human involvement to decide where the best point to do that might be. These people are obviously more into what sort of technological things they can do, and not concerned so much about just watching the material as it is with no intrusions! Reminds me of back when I was a movie theater film projectionist; I worked with union people, some of whom were very good at the mechanical side of things, but hardly ever actually watched the movies and were sometimes careless in the actual presentation.

While I know next to nothing about the technical side of things on these newfangled streaming services, I do know how things are supposed to look and sound, and if I ran any of them I would instruct the tech people to keep things like aesthetics and respect for content in mind when coming up with design changes or features.

You are so right, I did read that netflix article and it was absolutely infuriating to me how this guy has created algorithms to detect credits and mess with them on the user by shrinking them. This person and the people at netflix who employed him to create this have no respect at all for films, TV shows, or paying customers who want to watch their content uninterrupted. I don't care about their fancy apps and programs that can minimize credits just because they can, just because you are able to do something doesn't mean that you should. And even if some people like this it should still have an off option. I've been steadily complaining to netflix to give us an option to stop interfering with the credits for longer than I can remember. They still do not listen, at least in a few months Vudu corrected it's issue with covering the credits. Goes to show that this is a worthwhile service, and streaming sites like Netflix and Amazon do not care about customer feedback and continue to interfere with videos at the end. Vudu has got it right, I only wish they had their own version of an Amazon Prime type subscription because I'd sign up in a heartbeat and dump netflix and amazon for good.

[AtomAnte]

Re: Feedback about New Vudu Interface

Please consider adding grouping or filtering based on tag like perhaps category or season and such in the IPAD UI. Having one long list of downloads is frustrating to say the least.

[beamer]

Re: Feedback about New Vudu Interface

I like to binge watch episodes. Fall asleep to them, do housework...

If I choose autoplay for a season, I kind of expect it to autoplay the whole season. Not 3 episodes and stop autoplay.

Is there a way to change autoplay settings that I have not come across. I've checked the app on my samsung and vizio tvs and my tivo apps and didn't see anything.

[REIBOCHIEF]

Re: Feedback about New Vudu Interface

Now that the new Vudu interface is out of beta, and available to almost everyone, I will offer some feedback.

First of all, thanks for all the hard work that was put into it. Overall I like it much better than the old one. The color scheme is much brighter, and that's a good thing. The interface elements go well together. I also like the new features, such as the watchlist, and the new genre's and sub-genre's.

What's Missing? The My Vudu section is missing an animation genre. It's available in the store, but not for what we own! For those of us with large collections, it is needed. Also a Disney genre is needed. In any store Disney movies are grouped together, why not in our own libraries?

It appears that vudu spent a lot of time on this interface, but much of the improvements are aimed at finding films to buy. Where are the improvements for loyal customers, who have already bought a lot of films, and built up a large collection?

I would like to request a feature that would allow us to group our movies into custom "folders" or bundles as vudu likes to call them. A lot of movies have sequels, and many have multiple sequels that could be grouped together, and that would save a lot of scrolling when trying to browse our collections. I know that would set vudu apart from the competition! That's my number one request now.

I would enhance this even further by adding a watch list that will stream the movies or tv shows in the order we put them in. I am disabled and have a difficult time moving and using my hands. So the effort of putting the tv shows or films I want to see into a watch list folder to stream them completely would save myself a lot of trouble in the end.