I was subscribed to Paramount+ through their app and happily watching my way through Yellowstone and Frasier and other such high profile releases, when Apple TV released an update to their platform that integrated usability with certain streamers. From the outset that was already confusing, because you could add a channel, such as Channel 4, Paramount or Disney and it would bring in the traditional gallery of potential watches that would then take you to the programme.

However, it wasn’t clear which of these were properly integrated or not. Disney, for example, shows you all the shows that are available on the streaming giant, but if you click any of them, it takes you out into that standalone app - so there’s not really an added benefit to having it listed as one of your channels. Meanwhile, Paramount+, and at the time Lionsgate+ were different: when you selected any of the shows or movies to watch, you remained in the Apple TV app and watched in there.

It seems like a small thing but one of the key pieces of functionality that Apple TV has over other apps is the playback speed. Suddenly, the option to watch Yellowstone at a slightly faster speed was there which was fantastic… it’s a gorgeous show but it’s not exactly pacy. So not being able to tell which channels would work the same way or not was a bit frustrating but nevertheless I got on with it. The only niggle was having to cancel my separate Paramount+ subscription and subscribe within Apple TV instead, but no big deal, easily done.

Except cut to a few weeks later and I wanted to watch Naked Gun 2. Searched for it in the TV app on the Apple TV and it came up, saying open in Paramount or purchase through Apple. Opening in Paramount takes you to that singular app, for which I no longer have a subscription because the sub is integrated into the Apple channel instead. So go to the Apple Paramount channel but there is no way to search within there only, and the list of movies is massive with not a great way of finding what you want. I scrolled for a bit but eventually got bored and rented the movie. Paying a couple of quid to save a bit of time and a lot of headache isn’t ideal but it’s the choice I made.

But what kind of user experience is that??

Streaming TV is hard and I appreciate the efforts to bring things under one roof to make navigation easier. Apple are making great strides in this arena but there is, apparently, still a very long way to go.