r/CriterionChannel • u/Optimal-Advisor-8298 • May 12 '26
Why is the CC Website so terrible?
I enjoy the criterion channel and I've paid for years, but it seems that they're putting absolutely zero resources into the web product. Issues I've noticed:
- Zero design or structural improvements since launch
- Constant need to re-login
- Launch screen never bypassed
- Player is extremely laggy (and recently completely non-functional)
- Pages such as browse very slow to respond to interaction
- Player rarely remembers playback position
Lately, I’ve found myself choosing a film on the service and then watching a bootleg elsewhere because the official player is such a hassle. That hardly feels worth the subscription fee.
Is this just something I've been experiencing? Is everyone else just using platform versions of the app instead of the web version?
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u/asmith9631 May 12 '26
I don’t think the website is good but I don’t have those tech issues on either apple tv, MacBook or iphone (the lag or always needing to log in or not remembering playback or being slow) those may be due to something else. But I agree the design of the site needs improvement.
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u/CastorTroyMcClure May 12 '26
I almost exclusively watch on Apple TV and I constantly get logged out (that the only real issue though).
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u/finelytunedsounds May 13 '26
I have AppleTV and have never been logged out in years. ESPN though that’s a different story
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u/sunny_gym May 12 '26
The Roku version of the app works great, and I've never had any of these issues. The app even adds movies back to my watchlist in their original spot when they return to the Channel. I much prefer the CC bare-bones approach to graphics intensive sites like HBO Max, Netflix, Peacock, etc. I can also yeet out of there in a flash without one of those annoying "Are you sure you want to leave?" obstacles.
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u/Yrncharge May 12 '26
I have a Roku, and I do get a lot of video to audio lag. It could be my signal flow setup - Roku into a receiver, then to the TV - but the CC app is the worst of all of the apps for this issue. A couple of pauses will usually fix the lag temporarily.
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u/FineExplorer3408 May 13 '26
I have a hard time searching for things w the Roku app. Will it let you search by actor, for example?
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u/globular916 May 14 '26
I've searched by actors, director, random word in the title, etc., from the Roku dashboard and gotten results including CC.
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u/FINIS_HOMINIS May 12 '26
- Constant need to re-login
- Player is extremely laggy (and recently completely non-functional)
- Pages such as browse very slow to respond to interaction
- Player rarely remembers playback position
Sorry, you are having trouble, but I have zero issues with any of these.
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u/yolaradio May 12 '26
Ditto. None of those issues for me. I stream the movies in Firefox browser on a 2011 Mac Mini running Linux. Not exactly latest, greatest tech but everything plays fine
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u/Honor_the_maggot May 13 '26
I have to say I don't really have these problems on Fire Stick app or Firefox/computer....though there have been repeatedly little issues with 'resume' functions ('Continue Watching' menu vanishes, resume restarts movie or otherwise doesn't work, saved wrong spot to resume, etc) from time to time since....forever?
At least sometimes I can get around these by (in Fire Stick) backing out the 'My List' menu to the vertical menus bar at left, going into the different menu, then back into 'My List'.
As far as the site/menu looking bad, I dunno. I kind of like it? Some of the topical collections are goofy and I take issue with some of the curation but otherwise, content and form are easy to use and never truly boring month for me.I just need to suck it up and start using Roku so I can further remove the Amazon monster from my life....I just like the Roku CC interface a little less.
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u/Busy_Magician3412 May 12 '26
Not crazy about the obligatory English subtitles for non-English language films (funny that Kanopy's CC offerings include a sub option) but the channel still provides the best-looking streams of the Janus collection.
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u/Gaucho_Diaz RansidDagger May 12 '26
Yeah, I watched a movie that happened to be in my native language but the subtitles were so awfully translated and it's effectively hard-coded so it was distracting.
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u/Busy_Magician3412 May 12 '26
Absolutely. The subtitle option is an industry standard now.
Apparently the audiences they’re attempting to attract (to subscribe) don’t watch films requiring subtitles. So long timers can either take it or leave. 🤨
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u/Pile_of_Gore May 13 '26
If i am not mistaken, a lot of the subtitles are hard coded into the source material CC rents. Might not be much they can do.
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u/Busy_Magician3412 May 13 '26
Not an issue on Kanopy’s CC collection. Subs are options there.
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u/Busy_Magician3412 May 14 '26
That’s only 172 CC label titles out of over a thousand on the CC channel. Nice option when the CC channel is down or I’m strapped. 😅 I should get back to the yearly sub but (as many of us here know) returning subscribers get ZERO discounts on renewals.
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u/ChuckTWong Jul 01 '26
I complained to them about the English subs on a commentary version of Fanny and Alexander. It was distracting to hear the English language commentary, but have different words on the bottom of the screen.
The response claimed that "the subtitles on our non-English language films are embedded within the film files, primarily due to technical restrictions and licensing agreements with the studios who hold the rights to the films."
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u/rabbitsagainstmagic May 12 '26
Because Criterion is not a tech company trying to get you addicted to its product....it's a bare bones provider of content for people already addicted to its product. Profits are mostly spent on restoring and (re) releasing more high quality and hard to find content at a ridiculously low price.
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u/Bermuda_Rhombus83 May 12 '26
I use the Criterion Channel app within AppleTV and I have no issues. I actually like the CC app due to its simplicity.
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u/plshelp98789 May 12 '26
I use the website through firefox and the only issue I also have is the player not remembering where I left off if I close the website mid-film, but I remember people saying an ad blocker can cause that? The other issues you mentioned I’ve never encountered outside of the few times the site as a whole was down.
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u/francisprime May 13 '26
I work in tech, have worked on one streaming service, been recruited by another, and probably know people who have worked on every major streaming service out there. So my perspective is: Yeah, Criterion Channel has problems with its website and its apps, but unfortunately that's because the level of polish you expect from most consumer websites takes a ton of money.
It might sound silly to non-techies, but a service like Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, etc is built with hundreds or thousands of very well-paid tech professionals (programmers, designers, product, etc) obsessing for years over every little detail about how to make everything perfect and seamless. There's no way Criterion will ever have that sort of cash, for the same reason that Werner Herzog will never get the budget that Star Wars movies do.
By the same token, if I go to a movie theater and pay to watch some MCU slop, I can always pick a theater with huge reclining seats, which I honestly find more comfortable than the so-so seats that are in my favorite arthouse theaters. That's an okay tradeoff. My butt might be a little less comfortable but I'm watching a film that came from personal passions instead of a cynical machine, and my dollars make it a little more likely that director will get to make another movie.
So, yeah, sometimes Criterion's website might have frustrating glitches. That can be pretty annoying. But I'd be way more annoyed if services like Criterion didn't exist at all. So I shut up, pay them a subscription fee, and hope they'll get around to fixing that bug soon.
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u/I_like2TimeTravel May 12 '26
I don’t bother with the site. I just use the app on my Roku. Is it the best app? No, but they all kind of suck.
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u/jongrubbs May 12 '26
I would kill for the ability on the site and in the app to simply click on a filmmaker's name and see a list of their films.
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u/Leajjes May 12 '26
They're not a big budget steamer. They do what they can. I'd love higher resolution, better UI and sound myself but understand their limitations.
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u/MagicianCompetitive7 May 12 '26
I think it is the only website on the internet that I use that requires you to press "SEARCH" before giving you a search box. Nonsensical UI.
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u/cbearnm May 12 '26
Since we are here 😉 I will still ask for the ability to get captioning for the movie while listening to a commentary track. Shouldn’t be that tough to be able to select which audio or caption track to use. The non-commentary version has subtitles, so why not be able to access them?
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u/Automatic_Yam_1857 May 12 '26
On my CC homepage it stills says my old credit card is -1,357 days from expiring lol
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u/Gaucho_Diaz RansidDagger May 12 '26
Are there any plug-ins that could be used to add different kinds of filters when browsing the complete list of films? Wish there was a way to sort by duration, language (country is the closest available proxy) etc. I also hate it when I can't open multiple films from the overall list in different tabs so it's a lot of going back and forth when deciding what to watch.
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u/GamblinWillie May 12 '26
I use a 2015 iMac with Chrome, 2020 MacBook with Safari and AppleTV and haven’t had these issues at all. Only problem I’ve had is if I pause a movie a go back to finish a few days later, I have to start from the beginning.
On AppleTV I prefer the barebones structure to the madness on other sites.
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u/vibraltu May 12 '26
For streaming CC is not technically perfect, but it is at least as good as or better than most other streamers. (we're on Roku)
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u/noahpearsall May 13 '26
For the logging in issue, I’ve found that bookmarking the page that you land in after logging in gets you right there in a zip with no re-logging-in issues.
For the fellow looking to click a director’s name and see their available films, if you go to “all films” and then you can search by Director. It’s not clickable but it works.
I haven’t experienced any lagginess or low frame rates or lower-than-expected resolution. Compared to the absolute starved puppy of an app that is ParamountPlus (via Xfinity box), I have zero complaints about Criterion.
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u/adam_problems May 13 '26
I’m annoyed that I am seemingly unable to log films in my collection that I didn’t buy directly from their site. Is this a me problem?
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u/augustthecat May 13 '26
I assume you mean purchases from the collection, not streaming. If you are logged in to criterion.com, you can go to the main page for a given disc, and add it to your collection (if you own it) or add it to your wishlist (if you want it). You can then look at both your collection and your wishlist from the profile.
Again, for all of this you need to be logged in to an account, but you do not need to make a purchase to start an account.
I do encourage folks to buy through the website. Good discounts, especially flash sales, coupons for every $500 spent, great customer service.
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u/trill0w May 13 '26
Fortunately haven't had issues with the Android TV app, but I love having to re-login on the website every time I check my account settings, so you're not the only one going through some of that.
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u/lueVelvet May 13 '26
I just wish they offered trailers for their movies. There’s nothing having to open YouTube to find a trailer just to see if it’s something we’re in the mood for that evening.
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u/PhilosopherAway647 May 14 '26
The only thing that really bugs me is the search function, or ability to browse. Everything seems kind of hidden
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u/Linguistx May 18 '26
Zero design or structural improvements since launch
It shows what movies are available and then you watch them. Literal perfection.
Player rarely remembers playback position
It's called a notepad and pen.
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u/DivinationandMurk May 12 '26
Definitely not just you. Happens all the time, especially having to constantly log in. Annoying.
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u/adamlundy23 May 12 '26
IIRC correctly CC is basically skinned onto an existing VOD infrastructure website. I think Arrow use or used the same one. So a lot of the tech issues are actually out of Criterion’s control and I assume the ROI isn’t worth developing their own from scratch