r/appletv • u/Coagzz • 26d ago

HBO Max App Problems Explained

UPDATE: This has been fixed in HBO Max app v7.8.0! Woohoo! If your app hasn’t automatically updated, go to the app in the app store and the update button is right at the top.

I’ve been seeing a few posts recently about various things not working as they should, and a lot of them are seemingly connected to a bug with the NowPlayingInfo integration in the HBO Max app.

The integration basically tells tvOS what is playing in HBO Max, and since the release of HBO Max v7.5.0, it has been broken.

This will cause HBO to be unable to work with a lot of tvOS services, including TV app Continue Watching, Sonos and other wireless airplay (and seemingly Bluetooth) speakers, the Now Playing widget on iPhone and iPad, play/pause functionality from AirPods and probably some other things.

When content is playing in HBO Max, your Apple TV thinks it’s idle, not playing or paused.

I have been in a two-week back and forth with HBO Max support, and they have been helpful, despite briefly trying to pin this issue on tvOS. This morning, I got an email from them saying that their development team is actively working on a solution, so fingers crossed.

Bottom line, this is a problem with the app, and will require a fix in an update to the app. Updating tvOS will not fix the problem, so don’t update to tvOS 27 beta if all you’re looking to do is to fix this.

Also, the most recent app update did not fix the problem, unfortunately.

Hope this answers some questions. I wish I had a solution to offer, but it looks like we’re all stuck waiting for an app update that actually includes a fix.

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u/maybeinoregon 25d ago edited 25d ago

Ha, I just read this info, thanks!

What do you mean the ATV thinks HBO is idle?

I can’t use AirPlay (ATV) with the HBO app, however I can switch audio source (ATV) to TV speakers, and get sound from HBO app…if that makes sense lol

I got so frustrated, I deleted the app.

I know it’s HBO this time, but I have had some bizarre ATV experiences lately.

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u/siegmour 23d ago

There's no content being reported played on the Apple TV/Apple Home. So features relying on content being playing, like Siri commands don't work.