Apple TV+ has the lowest overall experience score of major streaming platforms and customers are least likely to want to return, suggests a new report from UserTesting, a platform that connects organizations to their customers.
While the numbers aren’t appalling (Apple TV+ had a satisfaction score of 83% versus Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu’s 90% and HBO Now and Amazon Prime’s 87%), it’s still another indicator that Apple TV+ is not overwhelming customers the way it perhaps should.
When customers answering the survey were quizzed on their expectations, 46% of respondents shared that Apple TV+ met their expectations, while 27% said it fell short, and another 27% said it exceeded expectations.
Customers were also asked to compare it with other services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. 40% of these respondents said that they were less likely to want to return to Apple TV+.
Photo: Usertesting
As just one survey, these findings can be taken as anecdotal. However, they do seem to reflect a broader trend of lack of interest in Apple TV.
A recent survey by MoffettNathanson looked at usage of streaming services during the second quarter of 2020. Among houses that use streaming video services, Apple TV+ hovers at around 7% of households. By comparison, Netflix is in about 73% of households and Amazon Prime is in roughly 51% of households. Disney+, which launched about the same time as Apple TV+, is in approximately 28% of households.
Drilling down on Apple TV+ experience score
Given that Apple TV+ is relying on building its own content library from scratch, it shouldn’t be too surprising that Apple TV+ lags behind. But the lower satisfaction scores are another story. Even when Apple hasn’t been a leader in terms of market share in every category, it’s historically scored very highly on user satisfaction.
So far, shows and movies on Apple TV+ have been generally well-received. However, it has yet to score a massive breakout hit. (Although the movie Greyhound and recent series Defending Jacob have supposedly both done well in terms of garnering an audience.)
It’s not just about the quality of content, though. The UserTesting report remarks on lack of content. This has been a notable issue from the start. There have been weeks where zero new content is uploaded to Apple TV+. It also reports that:
“Notably, participants found that Apple TV+ has unusual navigation with no search functionality, resulting in the lowest number of participants who were able to locate a specific show. The inability to filter and sort by specific sub-genres was another hindrance to overall positive customer experience.”
How do you find the overall Apple TV+ experience 9 months on from launch? Are there changes you would like Apple to make, either on an interface level or in the kinds of content it makes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
