The new Sling TV update is so bad I want to cancel my subscription
The new Sling Tv set update is so bad I want to abolish my subscription
Over the final few months Sling Tv set has been rolling out a redesigned app experience, which for the most part has been well-received by my Tom's Guide colleagues and other reviewers.
Unfortunately, I've found the latest Sling update to be packed with a few extremely poor user interface changes. Years of intuition in using the navigation thrown out the window, I'chiliad at present frustrated and squinting at the screen, lost at body of water. I've never been legitimately depressed by an app update before, but here we are. I'one thousand almost set to cancel my subscription.
I should start past mentioning that I've been a big Sling TV fan over the years. The combination of content, price and app design always fabricated Sling a no-brainer for my cable replacement choice. No other streaming app has gotten as much apply in my household on a twenty-four hours to day basis. Cord cutting has been great to me — I'd be fine with never touching a clunky cable box remote again for the rest of my life.
So information technology'southward with a heavy eye that I'm now pondering cancelling what was previously an excellent app. A quick look at Twitter shows that a number of aroused users appear to agree with me: Sling'south latest update is a huge downgrade.
Coincidental channel surfing is now a pain
Swiping upward (or clicking up) used to be an piece of cake way to channel surf in Sling TV. Information technology was a simple, powerful way to bounce around live television — like a better, more responsive version of what cable boxes accept offered for years. A single swipe upward summoned the 'mini guide' navigation bar, which took upward a small sliver on the lesser of the screen.
Going left or right at that bespeak would whorl through the All Channels view without ever leaving your current show. Aqueduct logos were clearly visible against the blackness background. Y'all could see the showtime time, time remaining and show coming upward next. The mini guide could even exist customized to show only your favorite channels in the My Channels department.
That minimalist interface has been totally bungled with the latest update. You have to swipe up, then down, and so right, so downwards over again to get to the equivalent menu — which for some chaotic reason is now ordered alphabetically, with smaller channel logos tucked inside giant thumbnail images (which often are a useless, blank default graphic).
Despite only displaying the channel logos as a tiny icon and showing far less information, this new menu somehow eats up more than than a third of the screen. It's taken ane of Sling's strengths — easy channel surfing while watching a live evidence — and rendered it utterly frustrating.
Sure, y'all could go over to the full-screen Guide page to surf effectually instead, simply doing and so takes you away from what you're currently watching. That's exactly what I hated about alive Television on Hulu, and at present Sling has essentially copied information technology. Boo.
It'southward way harder to get quick info about what you're watching
Some other massive downgrade in terms of ease-of-use comes with how you view program data. Swiping down on the Apple TV remote used to apace show the info for what yous're currently watching: season and episode info, recording controls, etc.
At present yous take to swipe all over the identify to encounter the same matter: Up, down, right, right once again, then down again. Information technology'southward turned a unproblematic UX action that I'd previously performed dozens of times a twenty-four hour period into an unpleasant and deadening Dance Dance Revolution combo move.
It'southward not all bad
To be fair, there are some good things about Sling's latest update. The overall design has benefitted from cleaner elements and improve search functionality.
The abode screen at present offers more logical menus for accessing DVR and on-need content, which was previously hidden away. And the add-on of "Recent Channels" to the mini guide is useful for ping-ponging betwixt a few alive shows — even if the current implementation leaves a lot to be desired.
What Sling needs to do next
Sling tin can still salvage this redesign; in fact, with a few key modifications it might fifty-fifty exist better than ever.
First off, swiping (or clicking) up once when watching live TV should have you straight into the mini guide, like it'd been earlier. And swiping downwards should once again take you lot directly into the program info. The process for channel surfing needs to lose all the unnecessary clicking around brought by the update.
Next, Sling needs to redesign the mini guide so it makes sense again (and takes up less space). It should brand the channel names more clear, instead of using minor, inscrutable icons. You lot could easily borrow back some of the space now taken up past gigantic thumbnails; these thumbnails don't add much, and aren't really necessary in a mini guide to begin with.
Finally, de-alphabetize the "All channels" view and make information technology the default in the mini guide — setting it back to the old channel order, with local channels showtime. And bring back the customizable "My channels" or "Favorite channels" view as a mini guide option, allowing users to reorder them withal they please there.
Give people the power to build their own experience. At a minimum, users should take the ability to make these kinds of menu changes in the settings, rather than being locked into half-baked default options. Make Sling TV great again.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/opinion/the-new-sling-tv-update-is-so-bad-i-want-to-cancel-my-subscription
Posted by: brubakeralks1993.blogspot.com
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