Disney+ Hotstar

About

Disney+ Hotstar is a single-player streaming platform offering a variety of live sports, TV shows, and movies in multiple languages. However, the gaming experience can be marred by annoying ads and frequent bugs, which may detract from the overall enjoyment of the content. While the selection of programming is diverse and plentiful, the technical issues and intrusive ads may impact the user's experience.

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

33%

Audience ScoreBased on 820 reviews

music3 positive mentions

monetization446 negative mentions

Disney+ Hotstar offers a vast library of movies, TV shows, and live sports, making it a great entertainment app.
The user-friendly interface and content variety are impressive, catering to a wide range of audiences.
The app provides access to popular franchises like Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars, which is a significant draw for fans.

The app is plagued by excessive ads, even for paid subscribers, with many users reporting multiple ads during short episodes.
Frequent buffering and technical issues have been reported, making it difficult to enjoy content smoothly.
Customer support is often unresponsive, and many users have faced issues with their subscriptions not being recognized or functioning properly.

monetization
452 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
1%
99%
The monetization strategy of the platform has drawn significant criticism, with users expressing frustration over the excessive number of ads, even for those who have paid for subscriptions. Many reviewers report being bombarded with multiple unskippable ads during short episodes, leading to a viewing experience that feels more like watching ads than actual content. Despite paying for premium plans, users feel that the presence of ads undermines the value of their subscriptions, prompting calls for a more user-friendly approach to ad placement and frequency.
- “As compared to other OTT platforms, what I like is that there are no ads while watching highlights; otherwise, most OTT services have ads even with a subscription.”
- “It's a very good app. By installing it, I found relief from stress. You can watch whatever you want without ads disturbing you. Overall, I would say that my experience with Disney Hotstar has been fantastic.”
- “Great! I pay for watching content, not for ads.”
- “Even after paying for a subscription, I still see a lot of ads, which completely defeats the purpose.”
- “It's a joke to have to pay for a subscription and still get ads.”
- “The sheer number of advertisements that you get on even the paid account is just appalling.”
optimization
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
The optimization of the Disney+ Hotstar app has received significant criticism, with users reporting poor performance, frequent glitches, and excessive advertisements disrupting their viewing experience. Many have noted a decline in stability and functionality following updates, contrasting sharply with earlier versions that were more reliable. Overall, the app is seen as needing substantial improvements to meet user expectations in a competitive streaming market.
- “Exploring the performance challenges of Disney+ Hotstar OTT app in the competitive world of OTT platforms, performance is key to user satisfaction.”
- “Disney+ Hotstar, a prominent player in the streaming service market, has faced criticism from users experiencing performance issues such as lagging and errors in the video player.”
- “It runs smoothly without any interruption.”
- “Terrible performance, used to be better earlier.”
- “Unoptimized UI, filled with glitches and bugs.”
- “Very very bad performance, it was not expected, even after paying for subscription.”
stability
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The stability of the app has been widely criticized, with users reporting numerous glitches, constant buffering, and issues with audio and video synchronization. Many have experienced difficulties loading content, even with a stable internet connection, leading to an overall frustrating experience. Despite previous positive ratings, the app's performance has significantly declined since its acquisition, leaving users hopeful for future updates to address these issues.
- “Pathetic app, has numerous glitches, doesn't load properly and has ads even though I paid for its subscription.”
- “Used to rate this app very highly before the acquisition by Jio, but after that there have been so many glitches. My internet connection is perfectly fine, and all downloads from the Play Store and other sites are going well. Other streaming apps are being supported equally well, but playing a single episode on your app has been a hassle. It's unable to play even when in the background, and the speed is between 3 to 6 Mbps.”
- “Glitches are common, with audio and video constantly going out of sync.”
story
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
75%
Users express frustration with the story aspect of the app, citing issues like frequent interruptions from ads, which disrupt the viewing experience and detract from emotional engagement. The pacing is criticized as slow, with episodes lacking substantial content beyond what is shown in teasers, leading to dissatisfaction with the overall narrative progression. Many feel that the focus on monetization undermines the storytelling experience, risking the app's long-term viability.
- “The pace of the story is irritating; apart from the scene in the teaser, there isn't anything in an episode.”
- “Cinema is an experience, and when consumers are consuming the cinema, the mountains of emotions generate; they forget everything while watching, and suddenly an ad appears, making them feel thrown out of the story.”
- “Uploading a season is still bearable, as it comes with an open ending, but this cutting half like don't know when the story will complete stuff is just irritating.”
- “Even after taking a premium membership, you have to watch ads if you don't want to pay more and more. This type of thing will be the reason that one day this app will be closed or merged with any other OTT app. Cinema is an experience, and when consumers are consuming cinema, the mountains of emotions generate. They forget everything while watching, and suddenly an ad appears, and they feel thrown out of the story of the cinema. Focus on experience instead of earning.”
- “The pace of the story is irritating. Apart from the scene in the teaser, there isn't anything in an episode.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, particularly due to the cumbersome process of deleting downloads individually and the inability to download entire seasons at once, especially for shows with many episodes. The user interface is also criticized for adding to the overall frustration.
- “It's a very tedious task to delete downloads one by one while needing more space for new downloads.”
- “The user interface is tedious.”
- “You cannot download an entire season in one go; if anything has over 10 episodes, imagine how tedious it is to download?”
graphics
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
Users have mixed feelings about the graphics, noting that while some movies feature good graphics and sound, others suffer from pixelation issues. Additionally, there are reports of technical problems, such as the smartphone shutting off and visuals not displaying properly despite audio being present.
- “The movies have good graphics and good sound.”
- “I can only hear the voice; I can't see any visuals.”
- “Pixelated graphics, and my smartphone automatically shuts off.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
50%
The reviews highlight a desire for improved accessibility to live music content on platforms like Vijay TV, suggesting that it should be more easily navigable rather than categorized with other shows. Additionally, there is a request for the option to skip songs in films on Disney platforms, indicating a preference for user control over music playback.
- “The music in this game is absolutely captivating and enhances the overall experience.”
- “I love how the soundtrack perfectly complements the gameplay, making every moment feel epic.”
- “The variety of music tracks keeps the game fresh and engaging, making me want to play for hours.”
- “But Disney, please let us skip songs in films.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find humor in the frequent buffering issues of the platform, with one commenter noting that it's amusing that Hotstar lacks a customer service number for support.