Warning to Longtime Users – WATCH TCM Review

Avoid Upgrading | Features have been removed! Well, it's been years now since TCM ceased publishing their excellent Now Playing magazine with its complete Schedule. Too bad. Yet, now some bozo has removed the Movie Schedule from this app as well. Why? One used to reach for the magazine to plan ahead for watching films. When that went away you could easily launch this app to check for favorites and view details of future films. With this upgrade (Summer 2019) there is NO list of upcoming films. And they have also removed facility to view any information on the currently live broadcast film, not just the detailed articles, even the most rudimentary data is inaccessible. No genre, no cast, no director, no running time. No nothing. If you counted on this application for any type of guide – forget it. May as well just use the website. And who thinks the email schedule is convenient to use on a daily basis? Another fail. • Let's hope functionality returns. • The new design is NOT a User Experience improvement. I champion TCM for steadfastly providing access to a rich heritage of cinematic wonders. Always a 5-star choice. But please give a little more thought into dumbing down the Watch app. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Review from 5+ years ago: TCM has been my most-watched, single channel for decades. While many other movie channels have commercialized to the point of being unwatchable – Turner has matured and widened it's appeal. I subscribe to the print guide "Now Playing" and recommend it to fans. I also found the old TMC app very useful for the articles and trailers. I've constantly missed it since it was unceremoniously retired a few months ago. I'm not sure why they undertook developing a totally new application with live and on-demand streaming; perhaps this is a step closer to offering a stand-alone paid TCM. • • • I know many of us would jump at that opportunity. As TCM access is the single reason for not "cutting the cord" in this household. As far as the new Watch app; it works quite well on this 2nd gen iPad. As noted by others, I've had an article close up on me while reading. And no doubt there are a few rough points, dependent on your device and/or provider. Yet, the developers should be applauded for crafting a great GUI and quite a functionally complete adjunct to our favorite Classic Movie Channel. Other than the occasional trailer or clip, I have no interest in watching cinematic features on a mobile device. Thusly I see little value in the streaming options UNLESS ** One will be able to mirror your mobile screen to your big screen (usually by way of a dock to HDMI adapter). I have never purchased one – understanding that Apple and/or the providers cripple this function while using most all streaming video apps. I'd be very interested to know if anyone has successfully been able to port viewing the TCM Watch content to their TV set?? Will even an Apple TV box allow this? Well, even if video output is crippled – I still consider this app an "Essential," if you are a TCM fan. Get it. Use it. And thanks, in advance, to anyone who will post their success, or failure, with screen mirroring.
Review by Pixel-bender on WATCH TCM.