Hulu is set to roll out a slew of new features to its iOS and Android apps that'll make the overall viewing experience a whole lot better.
Across the board, improvements include more control over recommendations and viewing history and a portrait player, to name a few.
The additions aren't exactly huge, but it's safe to say that plenty of users will welcome the update with open arms. As evidence to that, HDMI support for iOS devices is one feature that subscribers have been asking for.
Recommendations
With "Stop Suggesting," users will soon have the option to let Hulu know when they don't want to keep seeing a certain recommendation on their home screen. When they do, the selected content will no longer appear as a suggestion.
Meanwhile, the "Remove" option is more straightforward: It lets the user get rid of items from their viewing history. This is handy because it'll make Hulu's recommendation engine "forget it ever happened," helping it provide better suggestions tailored to users' taste.
Portrait Player
The upcoming portrait player is more than just another mode to view content. Not only does it offer an alternative to the traditional landscape mode, but it also lets users watch a show and browse for other channels.
Live TV Shortcut
To save users a couple of clicks, there's a new lightning bolt icon in the navigation bar. When it's tapped, the app will bring users back to live TV in a snap.
iOS HDMI Support
When the update goes live, iOS devices will have HDMI support, allowing users to watch on a TV just by plugging their phones into one. As mentioned earlier, it's a user-requested feature, and based on that, a lot of customers apparently travel around and tune in to Hulu shows outside their homes.
Chromecast
The company is improving Chromecast integration by giving users the ability to control playback and browse channels at the same time on their devices via the portrait player.
"[O]ur new portrait player lets you control Chromecast playback and channel-surf all in the same place," Richard Irving, Hulu's VP of Product, says.
The changes are expected to arrive sometime next week for both the iOS and Android versions.
As for what Hulu didn't announce, there's still no word on expanding its library. For instance, big names like AMC still isn't on board, so popular shows such as The Walking Dead is nowhere to be found in the service's library. In the same vein, 4K streaming is also not on the horizon just yet.
