Hi all,
Since the TV app on my Apple TV has been updated to now include everything in one place it's become impossible to tell which films have audio description reliably.
Let me explain.
Before, I used to go to the Movies app, which allowed me to browse films and purchase or rent them from the Apple store.
This worked okay, as voiceover would read out if the film had an AD track or not.
Since the update, the Movie app is no longer working and there is a store section inside the TV app instead.
This new store section will let you know if the movie is available on streaming apps, as well as allowing you to purchase the film.
The problem is, the description of whether the movie has audio description or not is totally unreliable as it takes this information from the multiple ways of viewing, the streaming apps and the Apple store.
As an example, the film "The Menu", has an AD track in it's description.
However that refers to the version on Disney Plus. The version on the Apple store doesn't have one.
So I read the description, it said it had an AD track and I purchased the film, only to find out the copy I purchased has no audio description.
The same is in reverse.
The new Dungeons and Dragons film has AD showing in it's description, but that's for the version you can purchase from the store.
The version available to stream via Paramount Plus doesn't have an AD track.
Basically what I'm saying in a long winded way, is that it's now impossible to tell if you're getting audio description on a movie, based soley on the description mentioned in the Apple TV app.
If anyone has any ideas on how to get back to the old way viewing just the store description of a movie, rather than this current mishmash of store and streaming descriptions I'd be greatful.
Comments
I am having the same problem
I am having the same issue. I purchased a movie that has audio descriptions in. It’s accessibility options, but I can’t play it. I am in Canada, and I know that there are many movies here that do not have audio descriptions. However, this one definitely says it does. I can’t change it to English with the audio descriptions.
Apple TV Accessibility
I haven't experienced this exact issue, but I really, really miss the dedicated movie and TV apps. They were a lot more voiceover friendly than the mess we've got now. Apple TV Accessibility in general seems to be deteriorating more and more with every TV OS update. Every week or two, I try to check out the list of movies available for pre-order; there are a few I'm looking forward to acquiring when they become available, but spending too much time in the store section of the TV app just makes things really weird and sluggish. Also, I think that after a certain point, VO is reading titles from other sections other than the one I'm actually trying to browse. Just lately, I've found it slightly easier to do my browsing and purchasing on my iPhone instead. In my mind, that tells me just how bad things have gotten on the Apple TV lately, because I used to hate using the TV app on my phone. I still find it confusing at times, but at least it seems to read things slightly more accurately than my Apple TV does these days.
A long way around but... STill hate subject lines...
Use:
https://adp.acb.org/adp-search
To check where AD is available. I think it is US specific, Honor Among Thieves is listed on Paramount and I know the US store has a more robust AD library. It can give you some indication though. HBO, Netflix, Apple TV, Disney, Prime Video, seem to have parity between countries.