Apple TV app for macOS could get a sidebar
The Apple TV app for Mac is getting a redesigned interface. The upcoming version has a sidebar for navigating the various sections in the app.
Apple TV+ has been growing steadily in popularity over the years, some of its Originals have even won some Emmy and Oscar awards. The service also offers live sports such as Major League Soccer (with MLS Season Pass), and Friday Night Baseball.
The library may not be as large as that of Netflix or Disney+, but the content on the streaming service is nothing to complain about. But when it comes to the user experience, Apple TV on Mac has a serious problem. Saying that navigation in the app is tedious is putting it mildly.
The app's interface has 4 tabs at the top of the window: Watch Now, AppleTV+, Store and Library. Those are the only options that are currently available for Mac users. The Menu bar at the top doesn't have options to switch to different pages in the app. If you want to discover new shows, you will have to jump to one of the 1st two tabs, and scroll down until you find something interesting. For instance, if you want to check out the New Releases, you have to go to the Watch Now tab and keep scrolling. The experience is utter garbage. The search bar helps if you know what to look for, but that's the extent of the various options to browse through the service's library.
Apple TV app for macOS could get a sidebar
9to5Mac have reported that they were able to access a new version of the Apple TV app in macOS 13.3 Beta. The redesigned app is disabled, but the blog activated it and shared some screenshots of the same. It looks similar to the iPadOS version's interface.
The sidebar has 5 sections: Apple TV, Store, Library, Devices, and Playlists. The Apple TV tab can be used to access Watch Now, Apple TV+, Apple TV Channels that you are subscribed to including MLS Season Pass, Showtime, or Starz. The iTunes Store can be accessed from the Store tab, from where you can buy movies and TV shows. The media that you have purchased or rented, and content that is shared with you, will show up under the Library section of the app, along with your recently added media, Home Videos, downloaded content, and Genres. There's also a playlist section to view your saved lists.
It is unclear when the company will launch the new version of the Apple TV app, or whether it will be released at all. The new sidebar can be helpful for users, but navigation in the right pane could still be a problem in the Apple TV app, especially for TV shows that have several episodes. You have to scroll through a horizontal list to view the episodes per season. A list view would improve this greatly.
Apple TV app is also available on Windows, the Preview version can be downloaded from the Microsoft Store. You may also want to check out the Apple Music app for Windows. The experience on Windows isn't exactly great either, it does have a sidebar, but the options are identical to the Mac version's tab bar.