The new Disney+ streaming service offers customers a catalog of over 800 programs to choose from, and unlike its competitor Netflix, accomplishes this with a user-friendly, easy to navigate interface. However, the streaming platform’s design has a significant flaw: it lists movies that aren’t actually available yet, drawing attention to the gaps in its offerings.
Disney’s latest venture has an edge over other streaming services because of the company’s rich history of classic, quality programs - even if Disney can’t compete with Netflix’s history. In many ways, the Disney+ launch has been incredibly successful, but it has had its share of hiccups, like episodes streaming out of order, and customers having their accounts hacked and sold online. The service has been slow since launch, with many user complaining of difficulties accessing content.
It seems, some of Disney+’s innovations are also causing issues. One of Netflix’s biggest problems is the sheer volume of content to sort through. Its system is designed to guide users towards certain titles over others. Disney+ instead offers users a very clear layout of titles, with the option to search for Disney titles that are not currently available on the platform. This can be frustrating for users who expected much more of the Disney back catalog to be available upon launch.
This is best seen with the high-profile franchises with only some movies on the service. If you search “Thor” on Disney+, you get Thor, Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok in the results, but if you click on the latter film, it’s not available yet (Ragnarok will debut on November 5). While this won’t be a problem when the service has a more robust back-catalog, for now it can make finding what to watch a little more fraught.
Of course, Disney still has decades of content from its vaults to entice customers, and if nostalgia alone isn’t enough to keep viewers interested, there are some notable original programs debuting on Disney+. In addition to its new live-action Star Wars TV series, The Mandalorian, Lucasfilm is releasing Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7 in early 2020. Marvel Studios is working on a slew of programs for the platform, including Loki, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk.
Even with all of the challenges Disney+ has encountered, the service remains one of the best value packages. The service is available on multiple platforms, including both Xbox and Playstation, and the monthly cost is lower than its main competitor, Netflix. Customers even have the option to try Disney+ for free.
More: Disney+ Movies & Shows May Have Expiration Dates
