The original post: /r/piracy by /u/FezVrasta on 2025-01-01 18:19:51.

TL;DR – Streaming services have terrible apps and terrible quality so I resort to piracy. Anyone else?

I’m subscribed to a few streaming services: Netflix, Disney, Apple, Prime, Discovery, “Now”

I would expect to enjoy all the shows I want from my Apple TV 4k, but of course not.

Prime is basically unusable because the whole app UI loads at 720p, making it painful to find and select the episodes. Also, the cards that suddenly expand any time you stop scrolling just drive me nuts.

Disney keeps loading HIMYM episodes at 720p and only one episode out of ten loads okay, and of course the splash screen animation runs a couple of times in a row to make sure I understood I’m on Disney. Sometimes it even shows up while I’m watching a show and press any button. Same quality issue for Netflix, but there it’s enough to quit the episode and start again to fix it. Mind I’m on a 2.5gbps fiber connection.

“Now” has the worst UI ever created, I can favorite shows, but there’s no place in the app to see a list of my favorites! They even have a buggy app icon that is cut out.

Most of these apps just straight out forget my watch history or decide to not show a “continue watching” button somewhere prominent.

I’m forced to use my pirate setup, composed of Infuse, Trakt, Plex, and Synology Download Station, to download shows that are already available on the services I’m subscribed to just so I can watch them at full resolution, have a good UI, and good watch history.

Am I just the unluckiest man on earth or is this a common issue?

p.s. The only service that just works is Apple TV+