March 29, 2018January 10, 2019

Introducing a New TV & Video Discovery Experience on PS4

Starting today, the TV & Video experience on PlayStation 4 is getting a complete refresh in the U.S. The new design puts content front and center, making it easier for you to discover and watch the best movies and TV shows available across your favorite streaming services, such as Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, and YouTube, in addition to PlayStation Video and PlayStation Vue. Canadians will also enjoy the same refreshed interface with access to streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, and Crunchyroll, in addition to PlayStation Video.

Browse in one place – You can now find trending content or discover new movies, TV shows, live TV events and user-generated content from your favorite video services in a single place, without jumping in and out of apps. TV & Video is now a central destination for exploring content and easily renting, purchasing, or subscribing to services that give you access to the content you want to watch.
Featured and Spotlight categories – The ‘Featured’ section shows you a mix of the best content from various video services. We also have a ‘Spotlight’ section that shows you popular content based on a rotating theme, such as “Superheroes” or “Award Season.”
Personalized YouTube experience – You can link your YouTube account to your PlayStation Network account to get personalized recommendations in the YouTube section. Personalized recommendations for other services are coming soon too!
Currently trending live channels on PlayStation Vue – The PlayStation Vue section shows you live channels that are most popular now in your area. PS Vue subscribers get one-click access to the livestreams and the content shown will be tailored to your subscription plan.
Direct app access – With the updated interface, you still have fast access to the video apps you use most, a full list of all available video services, and your PlayStation Store video library in ‘My Videos.’

We hope you enjoy the new look and feel of the PS4 system’s TV & Video experience, and we’ll continue to update with additional features… so stay tuned and keep checking back!

Comments are closed.

210 Comments

Fuhr31
March 31, 2018 at 8:50 am PDT

I dont like it. It looks good, but all it does is show me content from services i am not subscribed to. Dont be fooled, this is not for the users, this is for their app partners to get more subscribers.

Maybe it would work if i could customize it or get it to show only content that i have access to. Id love to hear a response, but we know Playstation only responds when you praise them…
Kramer-52
March 31, 2018 at 9:08 am PDT

Instead of treating 3rd part video apps as second class citizens, simply make the Sony video apps and aggregation app (tv and video) better. Some people may think Sony’s entertainment apps are inferior, and that is okay, perhaps Sony needs time to catch up. Pushing Netflix, Amazon Prime and their likes down, not allowing them to be pinned to the homepage (like Sony Entertainment apps) or hiding them behind your aggregation app is a transparent attempt to skip the process of becoming better. With the PS4 Sony controls the field, take pride in that, but do not bully your users, one day they may look for another place to play. Executives need to be told this. In today’s world, backlash is swift. Your most ardent users can be your most vocal fans or critics. Don’t skip the process, learn from your competitors (that’s what they are) and become better. This shortcut of ‘controlling’ the playing field may give some folks at top some instant gratification, or some people in the middle a boost to some stats that measure their effectiveness, but it is a false sense of security or complacency in an ever evolving world, don’t get left behind.
Fuhr31
March 31, 2018 at 9:25 am PDT

@Carrie Surtees Are you going to respond to any of your customer’s concerns?
- Gwaeraurond
  March 31, 2018 at 10:07 pm PDT
  
  They don’t care about their customers. She’s clearly just a spin doctor whose only job is to make garbage look like something of any value to anyone other than their advertising partners.
  
  The only way this will change is if every single person who has an issue with this files a complaint separately with the FCC and FTC and maybe even the BBB. A few complaints will do nothing, MILLIONS of complaints will force them to take a step back.
S-Man2099
March 31, 2018 at 11:58 am PDT

WHY???
First, why won’t you guys figure out we don’t want a bunch of advertisements on our gaming consoles? I don’t want to wait to load onto a separate screen with a bunch of “recommendations” of what to stream or rent. I don’t want full games downloaded to my console to be locked out until I purchase it. Why do you even have to be told this? Do you guys want added inconveniences in your downtime?
Just let the apps I have be represented on screen and treat them like games. Let me put them in a folder myself and leave it at that.
I was so excited coming off the PS3 for the PS4 to come out. I thought you would improve on what you were doing right, but you went so backwards. You took features away, gave us an ugly UI, treated us like we were dumb for wanting backward compatibility and put People You May Know as a feature we can’t get rid of.
I NEVER thought I’d prefer Xbox, but I do. At this point, I’m preferring my Switch to my PS4.
TheScareMonger
March 31, 2018 at 5:15 pm PDT

Slower, more clicks to get to what I want, somehow even more unwanted ads on screen at once (this time with the added benefit of being totally disorganized!), it’s like they are trying to confuse people into accidentally clicking into services they don’t already pay for in order to get them to sign up. Disappointing to see this take such an obvious step backwards (which is impressive, since the original solution wasn’t exactly hitting it out of the park). There is such a simple solution to all of this but it circumvents their ability to push ads so it will never happen. I just wish those ads would subsidize my PS+ fees…
- Gwaeraurond
  March 31, 2018 at 10:02 pm PDT
  
  yeah, if they are going to sell our hard drive space to the highest bidder the least they can do is make it worth it to us. They need to be stopped before PC makers get the bright idea to start adding bloatware that can’t be removed that also allows them to add new bloatware whenever they like.
  
  I’ll be filing a complaint about this with the FCC and FTC. I mean, they remove installed bloatware. That’s an FCC concern. They also fundamentally altered the experience of a product I paid for after buying a subsription. That’s an FTC concern. Additionally, the adds market R-rated content to children which is likewise an FTC and FCC concern.
SpooNManX
March 31, 2018 at 5:15 pm PDT

I really dislike this!

All I cared about was Netflix, Amazon Video, and YouTube.. Now I have to wait extra time for all of this advertising to load.
It’s dumb. At least give us the option to remove it and go back to how it was.
SpooNManX
March 31, 2018 at 5:17 pm PDT

Also, why can’t we get something that makes sense.. like YouTube TV, or Spectrum TV (Full cable viewing through an app for Spectrum Cable customers)
Gwaeraurond
March 31, 2018 at 9:57 pm PDT

Not only does this look horrible, but it’s functionally broken. I have over 40 GB available space, but every time I try to start a video app it tells me to delete like 243ish MB in order to launch any media app. So I delete an entire game, then can watch something, but after the next reboot I get the same message.

I now regret buying a year of PSN Plus. I mean, I literally have to delete an entire game every single day now.

The fact that is was remote installed without my consent raises other issues. Unlike most apps which tells you that an update is available, Sony pushed this arbitrarily. There’s no good reason for Sony to even require an update like this because services like Netflix don’t make any use of Sony’s servers any more than the Netlix on my Sony android tablet does. Installing something to promote adds without user consent is a violation of multiple US laws. Sony can restrict my continued access to it’s servers if I refuse to do something, but it cannot install something without my permission.
- Gwaeraurond
  March 31, 2018 at 9:58 pm PDT
  
  Then there’s a privacy concern. I mean, there’s only two possibilities here: Either Sony is being paid to sell my hard drive space to the highest bidder, or Sony is obtaining usage data from how I use other video apps to make recommendations in which case they are violating privacy laws by collecting information without my consent and then transmitting that to third parties.
  
  Either way, I have absolutely no control over this. Children are not prevented from accessing Youtube for Kids, as an example, without first going through a series of ads for R-rated films – which is also a crime. You CANNOT market R-rated films directly to children.
  
  All together, this is a very bad move. At this point I request a way to completely uninstall ALL media apps and this stupid TV/Video mess because Sony clearly has no idea how to set up a proper media center. I’ll just buy a smart TV with adroid to stream media apps from and save the console for games only.
PATH_OF_PSYCHO
March 31, 2018 at 10:11 pm PDT

Very disappointed in with this. I’m happy the suggestive BS has been moved, but why isn’t there an option to pin commonly used video apps the dashboard’s scrolling feature?
Inval1dat0r
April 1, 2018 at 12:06 am PDT

I hate the update so much. More steps to do the same thing. Why on Earth would anything think this is an improvement???? Please change it back.
Eccentrick
April 1, 2018 at 1:01 am PDT

I have to agree with most of the negative comments here. This update has made the already bad user interface for video apps even worse. It goes in the opposite direction of what I wanted.

I wanted Netflix and YouTube to be separate apps that I could organize as I see fit, without having to drop down into the Video menu – which would sometimes take awhile to load, and now loads even slower.

You have broken some of the major rules of good UI design: you have added steps to access frequently used content, instead of reducing them. You have added clutter to the design instead of reducing it.

If people like this new interface, let them have it. Just give the rest of the option not to.
batbugz
April 1, 2018 at 8:18 am PDT

Please just get rid of this and put the ones I’ve downloaded on my dash so that I can arrange them to my liking. The media tab was always annoying and slow this doesn’t change that.
Kramer-52
April 1, 2018 at 10:46 am PDT

I think as a community we are open to a conversation that balances our needs with Sony’s corporate interests but so far there has been no replies to our concerns. Perhaps if this conversation moves to Twitter we might get a response.
Kramer-52
April 1, 2018 at 10:53 am PDT

We are considering buying a smart TV or perhaps a Roku.
Randinator-_001
April 1, 2018 at 3:56 pm PDT

i dont like it! Dont fix what aint broken!
longballburrell
April 1, 2018 at 8:49 pm PDT

This is absolutely terrible. I want easy access to my apps. I couldn’t care less about the suggested content that someone is paying Sony to shove in my face.
DarkShadow667
April 1, 2018 at 10:22 pm PDT

I dont like it as much. It still suffers from the same issue I had before. That was that I cannot customize the order of the apps so that the ones I actually use are first and the ones I dont want or need are last. I want to have Hulu and WWE network to stay at the top and not keep moving around. Definately needs an option to enable or disable the apps on it.
BuNKiTZ
April 2, 2018 at 2:15 am PDT

It’s terrible. I was happy enough with the previous version, I just had to press down and Netflix and YouTube would be there. Now I have to load an entire app just to see them, and there’d be a whole bunch of other things on that app that I simply don’t care about. Having to load that app, which takes a while, is an unnecessary extra step that we didn’t have before. Add to that the fact that my unique Persona 5 theme icon for the TV tile is now gone, and I’m just really unhappy with this forced update. Please return it to how it was before.
ThisisRay21
April 2, 2018 at 2:50 am PDT

Honestly Sony, what is wrong with you? This folder was already bad enough with having to see ads for apps I already had installed among other annoyances but now every time I want to watch YouTube I have to scroll past the PlayStation Store app. What is the point of that when it’s already pinned to the home screen? My final major issue with this update is what honestly makes you think I’m gonna not go to Netflix when I wanna watch Netflix? What are you offering that’s so great I can’t open the actual app? This is unnecessary, intrusive, and highly anti-consumer and if you even care a shred about your customers who are nice enough to support your company then you’ll change this so we can put OUR apps where WE want them. It’s bad enough you force to buy PS Vue or go somewhere else if you want to watch live TV. Stop finding more ways to inconvenience us.
Karkaddon
April 2, 2018 at 8:32 am PDT

I appreciate the attempt to change the UI, but this clearly needs more work, as the overwhelming majority of comments seem to confirm.

I understand you will need to advertise, and so though clearly nobody wants to see services they don’t have, I am not so naive to think that’s going away.

However, I am very unclear as to what user improvements this actually provides?

•Slower loading than the previous folder
•No unified search function
•Blue icon

With some tweaks, this could be an excellent change, but as of now the frustrated voices have call to be heard.
Good luck.
Kramer-52
April 2, 2018 at 4:55 pm PDT

There’s an article at engadget you may want to comment on:

https://www.engadget.com/2018/03/31/ps4s-revamped-video-section-focuses-on-shows-over-apps/
bobby_dyls
April 2, 2018 at 5:41 pm PDT

This is terrible UX. I’ll be going back to my Chromecast for TV and Video for the time being.
kshunterco
April 2, 2018 at 6:03 pm PDT

There’s already a chorus here singing the same lines as me, but I’ll add to it anyway. This UI update is terrible. NOBODY WANTED THIS! We all want streaming apps to be like games, so that they can be added individually to folders, so we only have what we want. It is annoying that you don’t do this, despite repeated and continual requests from your user base.
SE7ENstringSNPR
April 2, 2018 at 9:03 pm PDT

I agree with those saying this is cluttered and not needed. The only issue before was that the apps would sometimes rearrange themselves into a random order (I guess because of some of them being recently updated). This is not well designed, takes more steps, and is generally out of the Xbox handbook as others have mentioned. Not a smart way forward.
Tomoprime
April 2, 2018 at 10:25 pm PDT

I dislike it. Please allow us to put media apps inside custom folders as this forced media update is terrible. Or please put everything back to the way it was.
Kramer-52
April 3, 2018 at 6:48 am PDT

There is an article on Engadget, you all may want to go there and make a comment.
DrunkReaperMatt
April 3, 2018 at 8:21 am PDT

This “new design” is completely disastrous. Extra steps to access your apps, unwanted ads, counter intuitive controls. That’s just from 3 minutes using this mess of a UI. There was nothing wrong with the old layout, but forcing this cumbersome excuse of an interface with no way of reverting back to the previous iteration is laughable in its incompetence.
l3abble
April 3, 2018 at 9:34 am PDT

Please either put it back the way it was or give us a truly customizable interface we can choose what apps we want quick access to WITHOUT entering another ugly screen first! The icon doesn’t match my PAID FOR PS4 theme either. Ugly, cumbersome and filled with bloat advertising for apps I don’t, and won’t subscribe to. I never wanted all those icons I had to wade through to get to my downloaded chosen apps as it was. Please stop with the advertising. I pay for my PSN membership. If you want to push ads, offer a cheaper rate like Amazon does to Kindle owners. I want my PS4 to look like and feel like it belongs to me.
DustyBlue
April 3, 2018 at 5:00 pm PDT

Glad I can now move it into a folder so I don’t have to see it anymore! I am not subscribed to anything anymore. Quit hiding Crunchyroll so much, by the way.
elevator_dingo
April 4, 2018 at 3:58 pm PDT

This updated UI for the video app section is trash. Confused the hell out of me at first and I don’t like it at all. It’s cumbersome and annoying. Change it back. I’ve always been a ps fan to Xbox but they’re making me dislike the system more and more with ads and the inability to customize MY system the way I want it. If this garbage keeps up I’ll go back to PC and stop giving my money to what I thought was a worthwhile all around system. I got my PS4 because of ease of use but it’s just turning to another add filled waste as the updates keep rolling on.
KaDaVeRaToR
April 4, 2018 at 8:03 pm PDT

Hate it, slows down time to reach app, compounded if made wrong selection, advertisements are for things already watched, wouldn’t be so bad of launching didn’t take forever and adverts were targeted
- Gwaeraurond
  April 12, 2018 at 5:48 am PDT
  
  My ads are for things I never watched and have no interest in, and all user accounts see the same ads, even children. Some of the ads are for R-rated content, so youtube kids is pointless now.
Milesthumbs
April 5, 2018 at 12:34 pm PDT

Honestly, I just want to know at what point someone actually thought “Y’know this is an AMAZING idea, and we should just push it through with no sort of foreword whatsoever”.
Also I’m just really mad that it replaces icons in themes that I paid for with their ugly blue ‘Windows 8 square’.
- Gwaeraurond
  April 12, 2018 at 5:46 am PDT
  
  I don’t think anyone at Sony thought it was amazing. The conversation more likely went like this:
  
  “Y’ know, if we make this change we can sell even more space to advertisers. They’ll be paying us per video they want featured!”
  “But it’s kind of awful. Won’t the customers hate it?”
  “Bah, the customers will just complain in our blog and continue using it regardless. Even if they ignore it, we will have the view counts to show the ads at least load. ”
  “Y’know, this really is an amazing idea!”
  
  and that was the day the PS4 died.
Belitch
April 5, 2018 at 12:54 pm PDT

Single biggest change that makes me move away from PS4 from the first time since PS1. Really I must look at shows and services I don’t subscribe 2 : Pay 400 bucks then sub to a service at 15 a month to not even get into the app fast and look at competitor services offerings?! This has started to become a scam like xbox…….
theNsquad
April 6, 2018 at 12:49 pm PDT

I signed on to the blog for the first time just to say how much i hate this update ive owned a ps4 since october 2014 and the previous way to display video apps was perfect, the menu is slow and cluttered, please please just change it back i can garuntee you right now i will never buy a thing of the playstation video side of it nor get another streaming service just make it back to when it was simpler
- Gwaeraurond
  April 12, 2018 at 5:42 am PDT
  
  Personally, I was considering buying things from playstation video, but now I am glad I didn’t. If Sony can’t get a loader right there’s no way they’d ever get videos to work right. and even if they could, I don’t want to reward evil anti-customer behavior, so I will NEVER purchase any video from anything Sony for as long as they continue doing this.
Shivashankarr
April 7, 2018 at 5:41 pm PDT

This is almost as bad as the amount of time it takes to invite someone to party chat. The day I decided to leave Xbox and buy the PS4 was when I started the path of regret.
thefreshclassics
April 10, 2018 at 8:43 pm PDT

Is this update working for any of you guys? I’m in SF trying to watch Netflix and litteraly none of the apps I use will load past the initial loading screen. One by one I open each app and then I can’t do anything with the remote controller. It just freezes and hangs as soon as I get into the App.

Anyone know of a workaround? Please send help!!!
- Gwaeraurond
  April 12, 2018 at 5:39 am PDT
  
  I had to delete more than 40 GB of games in order to be able to load any streaming app (whereas before my hdd could be full) so doing that might help you, but even then it won’t be nearly as stable as you recall.
  
  Sony obviously doesn’t want us buying games anymore if it would design it’s new “features” you be less stable the more hdd space you are using for games.
Resairus86
April 11, 2018 at 8:52 pm PDT

Horrible Layout. All this update does is make us waist time.
outlawstar182
April 11, 2018 at 10:24 pm PDT

I have been unable to use my video service for 3 days now. When clicked or dropped down it goes to a blue background with no options. Sometimes I get a please wait but it does not advance to allow me to use services I am currently paying to access. If this is not addressed, the UI problem, playstation network will be the reason I discontinue using streaming apps altogether.
Gwaeraurond
April 12, 2018 at 5:37 am PDT

Since this was implemented, for the first time ever I’ve had EVERY different video app I use crash the same way. So not only is it slower to load, with giant ads that are a violation of laws prohibiting R-rated movies from being directed at children, but it’s now less stable when loaded as well.

Any chance there ever was for my to purchase any Sony video is gone now. Clearly, Sony is incapable of making a proper video playback experience so at this point I’d just like to completely remove your video app so that children are not able to see the R-rated ads. I will remember this experience going forward, and expect that any video product Sony ever promotes will be worthless to anyone.

Gratz Sony, you now have a worse implementation for video playback than Nintendo.
Belefauntes
April 15, 2018 at 6:19 pm PDT

I gave it a shot. I hated it the first day, and I still do. I have no interest in Vue, I don’t need PS store in my TV & Video folder, or any of that other b.s., either (funimation, crunchyroll, etc). It wouldn’t be so bad if you could pin the video apps directly to the XMB, or put them in your own folder. But Sony won’t allow us to manipulate these app shortcuts IN ANY WAY. We can’t disable or rollback this update, nor customize anything about this “experience”. This is nothing more than an advertising tool chock full of bloatware, and not even cleverly disguised. It’s a bunch of crap nobody wants. I’ve been a loyal fan, but the way Sony has treated it’s customers with PS4 is infuriating. We’re force-fed ads, can’t play many games we paid money for online without PS+ (did i buy Xbox, d-bags?), can’t access websites which should have apps by now, like Pandora. Cut the crap, Sony! Pull your heads out and try listening to your consumers.
jedinut
April 15, 2018 at 7:19 pm PDT

I want to know how to control what services are shown on this screen. It is very annoying to see Hulu there when I have uninstalled that app and no longer have the service!
G6_PAPABEAR
April 16, 2018 at 4:43 am PDT

Absolutely hate the change. My voodoo app is now hidden inside this tv and video folder. So to access my movies now takes 2 clicks. If I want to close vudu and switch to netflix i have to hit ps4 button click tv and video, choose vudu and close it then click tv and video choose netflix. So many more clicks now. This is a mess and simply done as marketing to get us to look at other sources then vudu. Please change it back
youkilledtina
April 18, 2018 at 7:20 am PDT

Buggy, slow, broken, un intuitive, ergonomically incorrect please die in a fire. How do I disable?
spot944
April 18, 2018 at 5:33 pm PDT

Awful. Simpler is (was) better.
Jason_c_o
April 20, 2018 at 12:39 pm PDT

This is garbage. More clicks and longer loading times to access my media. I hope you pay attention to all of the comments here.
the_alaconda
April 20, 2018 at 9:08 pm PDT

This update is absolute garbage. Adding annoying extra steps for such a simple task is a step in the wrong direction.
NOTW116NOTW
April 22, 2018 at 5:19 am PDT

This update is slower than the old format and is almost as tedious to use too. We want the ability to customize our video apps! Why won’t you give it to us? I only use about 3 or 4 of the streaming apps and I don’t care about the rest. Yet you throw all of it in my face and make me scroll through them in order to get where I want to be. Please if you insist on keeping this format at least let us customize our experience!
steelic
April 22, 2018 at 11:21 pm PDT

This update is terrible. It has only added unnecessary input between switching from apps, and the new design is of no benefit to those who only use one or two streaming services (which is most people).

There is hope for improvement however. The new design breaks down content by streaming service, i.e a row for Netflix, a row for Prime video, a row for Hulu, etc.

As such, if users were able to resume previously watched content via these breakdowns, as well as given the option to completely remove the useless filler (Playstation Vue, Playstation Store, etc) in addition to any other content that they have not explicitly downloaded, the this update would be actually be an improvement.

As it stands now, this change is one step backward and nothing to be excited about.
trtrkng
April 23, 2018 at 3:12 am PDT

Why did this have to ruin the video icon for every theme? Obviously the usability is poor but that’s nothing new for PlayStation’s media section. At least fix the main icon to be compatible with theming again
punkdrummer1096
April 28, 2018 at 6:49 am PDT

I hate that you can’t delete the wwe garbage from the tv & videos screen.