General Discussion Streaming Frustrations (1 Viewer)

[David Deeb]

HBO Max needs an "Are You Still Watching" capability.

Not sure of another term for it, but some way to ensure the streaming doesn't continue till the end of time if a family member leaves it running on a TV series. Netflix and Disney + feature it on their series after a certain number of episodes. Why doesn't HBO Max? Or should the frustration be with data caps?

Great thread by the way. I almost overlooked it in the sticky area.

 

[Max Taxable]

I've been pretty lucky with my streaming, although I'm not much of a user. I use Amazon Fire Stick and have only a few apps. I get what I want to get and watch it, no problem. Soon when I finally cut the cable I plan on being a lot more of a power user though.

But, it almost ended because I kept having trouble with buffering and stuff, shows just stopping while the stick looked for a signal. There was nothing wrong with my cable connection or service, nothing wrong with my internet - I would go in and fire up the PC and watch a YT vid, no issues. Got another firestick for free, same stuff was happening.

Then one day it hit me and I was floored, and experimental reproduction of the action proved it - any time I run my microwave oven I lose the stick! The RF from the microwave blocks the signal between my wifi and the stick! BAM! Months of frustration ended.

But, dog gonnit sometimes I want popcorn or some other chow while I'm watching. Fixed it - got a RF blanket for the microwave I put on it before using while streaming! Mean ole dropouts and interruptions gone!

 

[Todd Erwin]

Not sure of another term for it, but some way to ensure the streaming doesn't continue till the end of time if a family member leaves it running on a TV series. Netflix and Disney + feature it on their series after a certain number of episodes. Why doesn't HBO Max?

That would be "Auto-Play" the next episode.

 

[David Deeb]

That would be "Auto-Play" the next episode.

Thanks for helping, ha, I guess I had a brain freeze.

But HBO Max won't let you turn it off. In fact, in their "Help" section they literally say: "Auto-play can't be turned off". That's a bit risky for any streamer with data caps, which means the majority of us.

Max | Learn about the settings available in Max, including account, subscription, playback controls like autoplay, notifications, downloads, and more.

help.hbomax.com

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I don’t mean to sound snarky or anything, are the majority of broadband users subjected to data caps? I’ve never had a data cap on internet usage going back to the first time I got broadband internet in 1998, and that’s been my experience living in multiple states dealing with multiple service providers.

I don’t like auto play but more because I find it to be an obnoxious feature.

 

[Todd Erwin]

I don’t mean to sound snarky or anything, are the majority of broadband users subjected to data caps? I’ve never had a data cap on internet usage going back to the first time I got broadband internet in 1998, and that’s been my experience living in multiple states dealing with multiple service providers.

I don’t like auto play but more because I find it to be an obnoxious feature.

Comcast has been in the news recently for instituting and enforcing data caps, while Spectrum was (and may still be) trying to lift the "no data caps" policy they had agreed to for five years as part of the Charter/Time-Warner Cable merger prematurely with the FCC.

 

[Todd Erwin]

More frustrations today - Edge of Tomorrow has disappeared from my Prime Video Owned Movies library. This is an MA-eligible title. Why has it disappeared? Because Amazon has retired the ASIN (aka SKU) that was mapped to my Movies Anywhere redemption. Contacting Amazon support was, of course, futile, as no one seemed to know what Movies Anywhere is or how it works. Movies Anywhere was able to provide a link back to Amazon to view it on my PC, but I am still unable to actually pull up the title any other way unless I want to purchase it again.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Ugh. It’s telling that while I have Prime connected to MA, I’ve never actually watched an MA title on it. Their setup is so clunky in the best of times.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Ugh. It’s telling that while I have Prime connected to MA, I’ve never actually watched an MA title on it. Their setup is so clunky in the best of times.

I would never have known that the movie was removed except that it popped up as a recommended title to watch. I clicked on it, and realized that Amazon wanted me to rent or purchase it if I wanted to watch it. Searching for "Edge of Tomorrow" under Prime Video, and that is the only title that comes up.

Movies Anywhere was able to find the version I own, one of those convoluted "with Special Features" versions where you can't access a specific feature because it is one long 4-5 hour stream.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I would never have known that the movie was removed except that it popped up as a recommended title to watch. I clicked on it, and realized that Amazon wanted me to rent or purchase it if I wanted to watch it. Searching for "Edge of Tomorrow" under Prime Video, and that is the only title that comes up.

Movies Anywhere was able to find the version I own, one of those convoluted "with Special Features" versions where you can't access a specific feature because it is one long 4-5 hour stream.

A somewhat similar thing just happened for me w/ Apple/iTunes (and maybe one or two other times before).

I noticed (on CheapCharts) On Golden Pond went on sale for $5 at iTunes, but I already bought it (for $5) several months back. For whatever reason, they apparently discontinued the old listing (or perhaps old ID/key for the movie) that my owned copy is linked to and created a new one, and only the new one can be found via their search functions (and shopping pages I guess) -- CheapCharts does still also have the old (for now).

Seems I can only access my copy directly via my library on whichever app, which I guess is normally just fine as that's the most likely scenario. Just a bit confusing w/ potential to cause me to unknowingly rebuy it, if I had forgotten I already own it, which has happened several times in the past w/ discs though not yet w/ digitals...

No idea if the transfer is different at all, but I guess this probably means I won't gain any potential 4K upgrade for free...

FWIW, I've also noticed a handful other titles I had on my CheapCharts wishlist get discontinued (or are currently no longer available for purchase) over the last couple months. Seems at least some of them will likely reappear under different ID/listing in similar manner...

_Man_

 

[Todd Erwin]

I would never have known that the movie was removed except that it popped up as a recommended title to watch. I clicked on it, and realized that Amazon wanted me to rent or purchase it if I wanted to watch it. Searching for "Edge of Tomorrow" under Prime Video, and that is the only title that comes up.

Movies Anywhere was able to find the version I own, one of those convoluted "with Special Features" versions where you can't access a specific feature because it is one long 4-5 hour stream.

And that version has since been deactivated, with the "not currently available in your location" disclaimer. A ticket has been filed, but only after several support agents and a supervisor tried to tell me that Amazon is not and never was a Movies Anywhere retail partner.

 

[Robert Crawford]

More frustrations today - Edge of Tomorrow has disappeared from my Prime Video Owned Movies library. This is an MA-eligible title. Why has it disappeared? Because Amazon has retired the ASIN (aka SKU) that was mapped to my Movies Anywhere redemption. Contacting Amazon support was, of course, futile, as no one seemed to know what Movies Anywhere is or how it works. Movies Anywhere was able to provide a link back to Amazon to view it on my PC, but I am still unable to actually pull up the title any other way unless I want to purchase it again.

It's gone from my Prime Video Owned Movies library too, though, the 4K digital is still present in my iTunes, MA and Vudu digital libraries.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

And that version has since been deactivated, with the "not currently available in your location" disclaimer. A ticket has been filed, but only after several support agents and a supervisor tried to tell me that Amazon is not and never was a Movies Anywhere retail partner.

It's gone from my Prime Video Owned Movies library too, though, the 4K digital is still present in my iTunes, MA and Vudu digital libraries.

Guess that's one more reason not to buy any digitals from Amazon, especially those not MA-eligible. I've only ever bought a few from them using "No Rush" promo credits.

_Man_

 

[Robert Crawford]

Guess that's one more reason not to buy any digitals from Amazon, especially those not MA-eligible. I've only ever bought a few from them using "No Rush" promo credits.

_Man_

Yeah, but this was a MA-eligible title so that's another reason why not to buy from Amazon.

 

[Robert Crawford]

One more frustrating issue is the non-consistency with Atmos audio. Edge of Tomorrow is 4K/Dolby Vision across iTunes, Vudu and MA. However, of the three platforms, the audio is not Dolby Atmos on iTunes like it's on Vudu and MA.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Yeah, but this was a MA-eligible title so that's another reason why not to buy from Amazon.

I was thinking you'd at least still own copies ported over to MA, et al, if this happens w/ an MA-eligible purchase on Amazon, not that it's great comfort though.

Anyway, I just checked the few I bought from them, and I still have them (for now anyway).

Interestingly, I also came across some old ones credited to my account pre-2015 (according to my order history) probably from BD purchases where they offered instant digitals. But unlike the offers for CD purchases, these apparently don't seem permanent -- I don't recall if they were ever intended that way as I just didn't care back then...

_Man_

 

[Robert Crawford]

I was thinking you'd at least still own copies ported over to MA, et al, if this happens w/ an MA-eligible purchase on Amazon, not that it's great comfort though.

Anyway, I just checked the few I bought from them, and I still have them (for now anyway).

_Man_

Just to be clear, I purchased Edge of Tomorrow 4K digital from Vudu.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

It's gone from my Prime Video Owned Movies library too, though, the 4K digital is still present in my iTunes, MA and Vudu digital libraries.

It’s doing the same for me. A work around is to launch the Movies Anywhere app on your Amazon fire device and watch it through that. Ignoring streaming for a moment, we need a UHD release for this film.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Amazon Executive Customer Relations' response to my issue:

"Hello Todd,

I'm Joulem of Amazon's Tech Support Executive Customer Relations team. Jeff Bezos received your email and I'm responding on his behalf.

I'm really sorry the service we provided was not up to the usual standards you've come to expect from us at Amazon.com. I hope you'll give us another chance to prove the high quality of service we normally provide.

When it comes to the Movies Anywhere platform, though it is not own by Amazon it is possible to link your account with their website,
When you link your account with Movies Anywhere this allows you to watch content purchase and register under the Movies Anywhere platform on any Prime video application or
compatible devices, the same would happen if you were purchase a movie on Amazon.com that is compatible with them, it would allow you to watch the content on the
Movies Anywhere website.

However, reviewing your account and previous correspondence I understand that the movie in question "Edge of Tomorrow" was not purchased using Amazon and instead was being provided by the
Movies Anywhere platform, like most content available in online streaming services their catalog and available participating studios can change for many reasons now that said studios own
the rights to the movies, meaning that sometimes movies might be added or removed from their website.

Furthermore, If possible I'd like to know if you have recently check if your Amazon account remains link to your Movies Anywhere library, so that in case that the movie is still available on their platform
we can look further into it from our end. (You can visit https://moviesanywhere.com and check under your account settings to confirm)

Thank you for using Amazon. I'll be attentive to your response."

 

[Todd Erwin]

Update on "Edge of Tomorrow" - Movies Anywhere, in response to my forwarding the above email from Amazon to them, have now confirmed that this is a known issue and they are trying to work with Amazon towards a resolution.