X

Hulu's iPhone hiccups (with video)

Hulu Plus is both the name of a new app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, and the premium subscription service that Hulu just launched. Find out the flaws we've discovered so far, and our take on how Hulu can course correct.

Jessica Dolcourt Senior Director, Commerce & Content Operations
Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).
Expertise Content strategy, team leadership, audience engagement, iPhone, Samsung, Android, iOS, tips and FAQs.
Jessica Dolcourt
2 min read

With such insistent clamoring for a mobile version of Hulu.com ever since the streaming TV site captured the hearts and eyeballs of American viewers, this week's release of Hulu's new Hulu Plus app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch has received a surprisingly large number of user complaints.

Why? Of the multiple reasons, the most significant is price.

Although the Hulu Plus app is free to download, the premium Hulu Plus service costs $10 a month for access to a full helping of TV series and movies, rather than the current online sampling of five episodes for each show. For many users, the price feels too steep, and the fact that advertisements run with the same frequency for subscribers as they do for online viewers of free shows only serves to rub salt in the wound.

The detractions, however, are countered by profuse praise from Hulu fans who enjoy strong signal on their iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touches. Indeed, when the iPhone and iPad are glutted on data and Wi-Fi, Hulu Plus runs extremely well.

However, we also experienced signal interruptions even with reliable 3G and Wi-Fi while testing the Hulu Plus service on both the iPad and iPhone 4. The video quality could get pixelated and choppy, and when the signal flagged, the app suddenly stopped and restarted. Luckily, the videos often picked up again close to where they left off, though we were shown a few more ads in the process than we should have been.

Occasional hiccups are to be expected, though they made us wish Hulu Plus included a way to download content--even for a limited time--for later viewing in areas with rocky, or no, signal, like an airplane.

Thanks to its larger screen size, Hulu Plus for iPad provides a cleaner, more easily navigated interface than the cramped app for iPhone and iPod Touch. The latter tended to bury features we'd rather bring to the surface, and lacks a well-positioned search bar in each screen, though there is one search screen for the entire app. The lack of a search bar and filters is especially noticeable in movies catalog.

While you can sync Hulu Plus content across Hulu.com and the Hulu Plus apps, only the Hulu Plus videos videos will show up in your mobile queue, since the content not covered by the subscription won't play in the Hulu Plus apps.

Though we're glad to see Hulu make a splash on mobile, we hope the company continues to improve its apps as they expand to mobile phones that have less screen real estate than the iPad.

Update, 2:10 p.m. PDT: We updated the story with more information on syncing Hulu Plus content.