Here’s why you can’t use the Siri Remote’s best feature on Disney Plus and other apps
Apple’s new Siri Remote introduced a gesture that makes it easy to scrub through content by turning the control pad into a scroll wheel. But a number of Apple TV users noticed that the feature doesn’t work properly on some services, like HBO Max, or at all on others, like Disney Plus.
A spokesperson for Disney Plus confirmed to The Verge that the feature — one of the best on the redesigned Siri Remote — isn’t supported on its service. It’s not a service issue, though, but instead related to custom video players.
Some streaming apps available on Apple TV use their own players, while others use the tvOS media player. The jogging gesture works with streaming apps that use Apple’s native media player, but it is not yet supported for third-party developers that use a custom media player, and that includes Disney’s streaming titan.
What that means is that beyond just Disney Plus, the scrubbing tool may not work for any video app that uses its own media player. It’s not clear when exactly Apple will make the feature available to these app developers. But the Disney spokesperson told The Verge that Disney Plus does plan to develop the tool for its own service once it does eventually become available.
The issue had been the topic of discussion in a Reddit thread from user batsforbreakfast21, who noted experiencing issues on Disney Plus but not other services like Netflix and Apple TV Plus. Other users expressed having issues with HBO Max and Peacock as well.
Neither Peacock nor HBO Max immediately returned requests for comment.
Ideally, the issue will be resolved quickly. Until then, the older and often unfairly maligned Siri Remote doesn’t seem so bad, right? Anyone?
Apple’s new Siri Remote introduced a gesture that makes it easy to scrub through content by turning the control pad into a scroll wheel. But a number of Apple TV users noticed that the feature doesn’t work properly on some services, like HBO Max, or at all on others, like…
