All the recent talk of a Hulu buyout clearly isn’t distracting the team behind the video streaming site from the job in hand. Fresh from launching Hulu Plus for Windows Phone, introducing a new look for Apple TV, rolling out a new look for its Android app, and more recently showing off a new user interface for users of Samsung Smart TVs, select Blu-ray players and Roku boxes [draw breath here], the Los Angeles-based company on Thursday announced a new look for its Hulu Plus iPad app.
In a blog post detailing the changes, the site said the iOS iPad app had been
redesigned from the ground up, with a number of new features added.
Understanding that these days there is so much content out there – “an embarrassment of riches in this golden age of television”, as Hulu put it – the new-look app focuses primarily on “discoverability, efficiency, and the overall user experience.”
A new discover panel, for example, lets you find out more about an unfamiliar show with a single tap, pointing you towards the first, next or latest episode to watch, according to your viewing history with that particular show.
Tap an episode to pull up information on the show as well as that particular episode, and swipe left or right to browse the various collections and seasons of the show.
The revamped app also allows a degree of multitasking, so you can let a show run while browsing other Hulu Plus offerings. The post explains, “Touch the video and pinch your fingers together to minimize what you’re watching. The video will continue playing and you can carry on with using the app to do anything else you’d like while it does. As soon as you start to play something else, the minimized player will disappear.”
Easier episode-description navigation has also been introduced, enabling you to find a particular skit or favorite episode more easily via a couple of simple taps.
The refreshed iPad app also brings with it “a ton of other goodies”, including editorial curated collections, inline playback of clips, and improved search.
Hulu Plus 3.0 is a free download for both the full-size iPad and iPad Mini running iOS 5.0 or later and is available now from the iTunes app store.
