Hulu Update Changes Focus To Movies And TV, UI, And Pairing With Disney+, ESPN+

This week the folks at Hulu announced they'd be releasing an update for platforms from Roku to tvOS (Apple TV, that is). This update will be rolled out to all systems eventually over the next few months, but it'll start with some of the most-used systems. Navigating collections is the most important change, as it follows with rumors of Google's next-generation update to Android TV, with more focus on content, rather than the overarching services that serve said content.

Hulu's update works to make switching between Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ as easy as possible. Hulu's got deals going with those streaming services, making it cost-effective for a user who wants content from all three services to pay for all three at once. As such, they're working together to make navigation of the various services seem more natural, and singular.

Now, with the newest version of Hulu, you'll find categories split in a far more sensible way than ever before. Where Hulu's earlier iterations were focused more on television shows, and finding the "Movies" category wasn't particularly simple, now the two get equal footing. The top of the screen will include "Home, My Stuff, TV Shows, Movies" and the search icon.

Hulu will also be rolling out new "more powerful expert and algorithmic curation" for content recommendations. This means that, ideally, you'll see content in Hulu that you're interested in, based on what you've enjoyed in the past. Starting today, said a Hulu representative, "our team of content experts and recommendation system work even more closely together, with our recommendation system fine-tuning curated collections so they are more personalized for our viewers."

The curation should appear in Hulu for most users in short order. The bits about separating content into TV/Movies and simpler UI for all will be rolled out over the coming months. You'll see the modified UI released to Roku devices (recent Roku devices, first), and tvOS for Apple TV, first.