Apple TV is rolling out a new movie recommendation feature called ‘Genius Browse’, but it’s left one of the biggest streaming platforms out of the mix | Tech Radar

Overview

Apple TV fans will get a great free upgrade for discovering movies and TV shows soon, but there's a catch

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Details

Apple TV is getting a new recommendations tool called 'Genius Browse'

It's coming to the Apple TV app and will suggest content across streaming platforms

Genius Browse will land in tv OS 26.4 soon, but sadly doesn't cover Netflix

Choosing a movie or TV show to stream on the best streaming services is almost an impossible task these days, given the slew of new titles that are pumped out monthly — but Apple TV’s new search tool is aiming to cure your indecisiveness.

As spotted by 9to 5 Mac, ‘Genius Browse’ is Apple TV’s latest content discovery feature that's now available in beta (albeit not for us in the UK), but will be rolling out widely soon with the final release of tv OS 26.4. In addition to Genius Browse, the tv OS 26.4 update will see the end of the dedicated i Tunes and TV show apps.

With Genius Browse, Apple’s goal is very simple; to reduce the time you spend scrolling for something to watch. Situated in the Home tab of the Apple TV app, Genius Browse consists of a row featuring a slew of content categories to choose from.

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It not only offers you recommendations based on genre, but groups movies and TV shows based on 'vibe', allowing you to select a title that fits your mood at that moment.

For example, you can choose from categories such as ‘Fun for the whole family’, ‘Thrilling blockbusters’, or ‘Good for a pick-me-up’ when you need a little boost of energy. Categories in Genius Browse vary for each user profile and are based on personal taste, updating regularly to keep new suggestions coming your way — but that’s not the best bit.

When you select a category to view its list of recommendations, hovering over each title will present another row of recommendations based on that movie or TV show, adding an extra layer to how you discover new content in Apple TV — which is something that not even Amazon’s monster Fire TV upgrade has. That said, it doesn’t end there.

When you’re flicking through Genius Browse, it doesn’t just pull together recommended titles from the company’s flagship streaming platform Apple TV, it also suggests titles spanning HBO Max, Prime Video, as well as Disney+. Sadly, the whole streaming world isn't covered — Netflix isn't included in the feature, which makes sense as it's refused to have any integration with the Apple TV app.

Genius Browse looks like a promising tool for movie and TV recommendations, and Amazon's Fire TV should take notes. However, not every Apple TV user is thrilled about the new feature because, according to them, Apple needs to prioritize other improvements.

Aside from the disappointment of Genius Browse being absent from the i OS and i Pad OS apps, the comments in the Reddit thread above point to two tools in particular that users would rather see over Genius Browse. The first is the option to disable trailer previews at the start of TV shows, and the second is a playlist tool that allows you to group your favorite episodes in one space.

As it stands, trailers are what viewers are peeved with the most. According to users in the thread, many are constantly faced with trailers before every episode of a show (one account gave Monarch: Legacy of Monsters as an example), and more often than not, it’s advertising the show that they’re already streaming — which one user compared to the ‘luxury car’ theory, insinuating that Apple targets existing customers to assure them that they’ve subscribed to the right streaming platform.

Will you be taking advantage of Apple TV's Genius Browse feature when it lands in tv OS 26.4? Let us know in the comments.

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Rowan is an Editorial Associate and Apprentice Writer for Tech Radar. A recent addition to the news team, he is involved in generating stories for topics that spread across Tech Radar's categories. His interests in audio tech and knowledge in entertainment culture help bring the latest updates in tech news to our readers.

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Key Takeaways

• Apple TV fans will get a great free upgrade for discovering movies and TV shows soon, but there's a catch

• When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission

• Apple TV is getting a new recommendations tool called 'Genius Browse'

• It's coming to the Apple TV app and will suggest content across streaming platforms

• Genius Browse will land in tv OS 26