Viki
reviews and complaints

I’m addicted to this app so many great shows ! Definitely worth the money for the pass! If I may angels Last mission:love , to all the guys who loved me, W , while you were sleeping and suspicious partner, touch your heart, the liar and his lover , and Guardian:the lonely and great god are all 10/10 recommendations to watch! I have plenty of others but those are some of my top picks. The app itself works great for me I never have issues. I love that you can follow actors on there and see all the shows those actors specifically are in because there is a few actors I love and it makes it easy for me to see all the dramas they are in! That is one of my favorite features. Any show with kang ki young is usually hilarious he’s a funny actor I watched him in bring it on ghost and i could not stop laughing he’s usually in supporting roles but he’s great ! as for my favorite main actors are lee dong wook, yoo in na, lee jong suk, jung hae in, ahn jae hyun speaking of ahn jae hyun my love from the stars was good he was more of a supporting role in that one tho however none the less a good show ! OH LEE hyun woo in the liar and his lover SO GOOD! Anyways sorry I know I’ve rambled on if you read this all the way through your a champ thank you haha OH developer wise I’d love to see this app on Xbox one so I can watch it on there.

En español:

A mi me gusta mucho la App porque es como un Netflix asiático; pero lo único que no me gusta es que la mayoría de los dramas que yo he querido ver tengo que pagar el. Viki Pass y si es por mí yo lo pagaría con todo gusto, pero como no tengo una tarjeta Visa tengo que estar buscando en otras plataformas donde hay demasiados anuncios o a veces hay problemas con los subtítulos o con el audio o con el video.

En realidad a mi me gustaría que no cobraran por ver los dramas o programas porque de esa manera les facilitarían a las personas como yo que tienen que estar buscando en otros lugares por ver un drama o programa porque no pueden pagar.

Pero en general es una muy buena app.

In English:

I really like the App because it is like an Asian Netflix; But the only thing I don't like is that most of the dramas that I have wanted to see I have to pay for. Viki Pass and if it is for me I would gladly pay for it, but since I do not have a Visa card I have to be looking at other platforms where there are too many ads or sometimes there are problems with subtitles or with audio or video.

Actually, I would like them not to charge to see dramas or programs because that way they would make it easier for people like me who have to be looking elsewhere to see a drama or program because they cannot pay.

But overall it is a very good app.

i rarely ever write reviews. like ever. but tbh viki is so helpful. when it comes to watching a drama, and you want to know if youd like it or not, the descriptions are so much more helpful than “Two Girls. Trapped in a room. Can they escape?” or something like that. They actually explain stuff. And if thats not enough for you, there are discussions/reviews on the show! AND theres also a spoiler warning feature where if the review/discussion has a spoiler it will block the entire discussion and say “this comment has a spoiler in it” or something like that and gives you the chance to ignore the spoiler warning or not! and theres also a live chat while watching the show so if youre someone that NEEDS to discuss how you feel during a show thats perfect for you! if its too distracting though, you can always turn it off. theres also a learn mode, and it shows you the captions in the language youre watching in AND in the language of your choice. you can tap on characters/words and it would give you the definition. my only complaint about that is, its slightly too big and distracts a bit from the show. but its fine bc thats not why i bought viki anyway ! ALSO THE BEST PART:: MOST OF IT IS FREEEEE some shows are locked (you need the standard pass or the plus pass) but a lot of shows are free, NO CHARGE, NO ADS, NOTHING! IN LOVE WITH VIKI ! i promise you wont be disappointed if you get it

5/29 Again - no subtitles, no communication, no compensation, still have not addressed the security concern. My mistake was paying for the full year. One of their offices is near me - I will file suit against Rakuten if they do not compensate me.
5/28 Still no subtitles, no communication, no compensation, still have not addressed the security concern.
5/27 - Still no subtitles - security issue I reported on the 25th still not fixed.
5/26 - Still no subtitles - security issue I reported still not fixed
5/25 - Still no subtitles
Developer - Answer to your question is English. I have an open ticket where I have answered all the questions. Tried all of the fixes. Went to Twitter today and this is not an isolated case. Dozens of people are reporting this problem, so what is the fix? Where is our compensation for the missed weeks?
5/24 - Still no subtitle, No further contact, have not received compensation
5/23 - Still no subtitles, Support contacted me with try this and if it doesn’t work use your other devices until our developers can catch up with the new iOS release. I have no other devices so give me my money back. No response.
5/22 - Still no subtitles, Support has not contacted me.
5/21 - Still no subtitles, Support has not contacted me.
After the latest upgrade, subtitles disappeared for all shows for me (iPad Pro). Contacted support nearly a week ago and still have not received a reply.

A friend of mine suggested that I try this app since I watch Hong Kong dramas as well as korean ones. I’ve been using it for about a week or so and despite the heavy amount of ads, I really liked it initially.

I usually don’t like leaving reviews unless i have tried the product/service for a short time period. Just when I was going to leave a good review for this app, my mind changed yesterday: the app, both on my phone and through my Roku was glitching all day. First you couldn’t log in, it kicked me out. Then after a few hours, I got back into my account but no movies were loading up or it would keep saying I have the outdated version. Which was not the case since no updates were available.

I can understand that maybe there were issues being fixed. But I logged on this morning and the shows I just watched and/or in process of watching, are all now membership required. It all changed to no longer free. Was that a tease that they didn’t tell you about? Just so you start watching and now it’s no longer free? (And I’m not referring to the 1 wk free Pass Trial either. Just the regular watching with ads.)

Not sure if it’s still the company fixing the service, but if it’s mostly fees only now, I don’t think the company was right to not explain the limitations on usage at the beginning that most shows are free for about a week. If it changes or fixes soon, I will update this review. I hope it will but we’ll see.

In reality, Viki deserves 5 stars, but I don’t know how else to voice my frustrations.

Viki has made a lot of great strides since I first started using it, but it has its flaws as well.

I sometimes wish they had the rights to certain new dramas that they don’t. I used to be able to go between Viki and DramaFever to find access to almost anything, but now it’s Viki and Netflix. I really haven’t been all that impressed with Netflix’s selections so far, so I rely on Viki more heavily. Viki has much, much better subtitles, hands down.

I would really love it if Viki could fix the technical issues I experience when using the app. First of all, the “recently watched” section is broken. It doesn’t show anything I’ve recently watched. The last thing listed there is an episode of a drama I watched in March (it’s May now). I also dislike how it lists every single episode of the drama in that section, rather than just the last episode OF that drama. It’s tiresome scrolling through it.

Lists and collections could also be improved. Gaining access to them is unnecessarily complicated. Many people watch and rewatch favorite dramas multitude times, and those sections should assist with that rather than simply be there.

I wish I could watch Viki using streaming devices other than airplay. It’s impossible to get any video from Viki up on a tv using a device that requires apps like PS4 or Apple TV. I don’t want to buy a Roku or Chromecast just to stream dramas, so I wish it was more accessible on other devices.

I used to like Viki but over time their service has gotten worse and worse at uploading videos correctly and providing subtitles in a reasonable time frame. There is currently a show I’m watching called “All out of Love” and they have uploaded it incorrectly with the wrong cuts because they mixed up the directors cut with the regular show cuts. I never see this sort of extremely unprofessional editing happen with any other paid video streaming services. They make their service expensive and you are charged about 5 to 10 dollars a month and you’re forced to wait forever because these nice people are subbing during their free time and can’t upload subtitles as quickly as people who are paying for a monthly subscription service have the right to expect. Viki is just so greedy, why am I paying money for a monthly subscription if you can’t even use some of that money to pay your subbers so videos are uploaded with subtitles right away, and why are you even uploading a video without no subtitles in the first place it makes no sense since no one can even watch it and understand.

Also scroll down a bit, anyone else notice how many fake reviews this company has? It’s crazy
I mean if you’re going to make all these fake reviews at least make them look realistic, anyone with a bit of common sense can tell all those weird reviews with dozens of different emojis and random exclamation marks are so fake. I think I’m going to contact Apple so they’re notified of all these fake 5 star reviews so these reviews can get properly investigated and taken down so we can see what the true rating is.

This is a great app with tons of great content.
It is very well organized without being visually overwhelming, which is important to me. It is similar to Hulu but with a few nicer perks. You are able to search by title or actor. If you like an actor and really want to see more, you can easily see what other dramas they are in. Additionally, you can make your own watchlists so that you can organize your content. You can easily rate a drama and comment. Spoilers are flagged so you will only see them if you choose to unhindered them. Occasionally, some will get through but other users can also flag spoilers.
The option to turn on and off the timed comments is a great idea which should make both types of people happy. The ads are annoying and excessive but by subscribing, that wouldn’t be a problem.
The only things keeping this app from a 5 star rating are as follows: Sometimes, the app doesn’t save where you left off and you have to FF or switch episodes, which can take too much time with having to watch ads until you find the right spot. Additionally, sometimes it freezes during commercial, which forces me to close the app one or more times, having to rewatch even more commercials before I can move on with the show. Also, I’d like the option to create nicknames for timed comments. Last, when you make a timed comment, you have no idea what length is too long. If you go over, it makes you retype the entire comment I and just guess.
If these small issues were addressed, I will change my rating to a 5. But overall, this is a great app and it seems like it’s getting better all the time.
Thank you to the wonderful subbers who help make it possible for people who don’t speak the language to have this opportunity to enjoy these shows. I appreciate everyone’s work very much.

To get straight to the point:

-Not needed Swiping the screen to get to the next episode (I have had too many times where I accidently just even touched the screen a tiny bit and it went to the next episode and sometimes even a different drama that's completely unrelated.)

-Unnotified ads (We all keep getting not only random amounts of ads but they're also at different places.)
-No more Artists or Music section (I loved watching K-Pop on my iPad through Viki now I can only access it on the computer, and even there it says theres a problem with loading the page.)

-Viki's New Look (I can't honesly say 'In with The New and Out with the Old' anymore. The Older version of Viki was perfectly fine, and there were a lot less errors. I'm only saying what many others including me were thinking, if we could see just little of what was lost in the old version of Viki I think that would be fine.)

-Timed Comments (Don't get me wrong I love them, because I can see what others think and feel on the situation. Not to mention some are extremely hilarious! But since it is inside the video and not a little bit outside like on the borders I find it very awkward to see them covering a characters face or something. I know I'm probably really dramatic but I'm only stating my opinion. Plus I can't stand 5 seconds without reading them and because the curiosity kills me.)

On the positive side Viki has a fine arsenal of Dramas that I love, and very high definition videos and good sound quality! Along with amazing subbers to top it all off. So for all those facts of both positive and negative I will sadly only give this app a Two Star rating, for now only. I know probably no one will read my entire review but I do hope it helps those who want to download it and ViKi Inc. who want to improve this app.

To all other ViVi's or KiKi's, Saranghae! Ciao!
~katherine_wen_2

I won't lie and say the app is completely awful because it does have lots of different shows you can watch. They also have a feature to help you learn the language while you watch the show which is cool. Even though some you have to pay for there are plenty of free shows to watch. HOWEVER.. the ads are awful I sat through 2 full minute ads in a row followed with one ad that was i could skip. And the ads aren't only set per episode it's through out the episode and the ads are repetitive. Also I can't stand the comments why was that feature added in the first place it is so hard to watch the show when the comments are constantly popping up at the top of the screen! I really wouldn't mind this app if it had an option to turn them off but there's is no option and it very distracting and annoying to see all of the hate and obnoxious commentary from so many people.

This app used to be great. I have been using it for 6 years. However recently its very glitchy.

1. If you try to resume watching a video, it freezes on a scene and nothing happens. No ads come up and the video has no play ir any buttons. Restarting app and reinstalling it doesn’t help either.
2. In the middle of second episode, Viki decided to make the Korean drama Touch Your Heart for Viki Pass only. It was free when I statted watching it but all of a sudden they decided to make it Viki Pass only. Dont think thats the best way to pish people to pay for a show.
3. Wayyyyy too many ads. The algorithm is glitchy and doesn’t understand that the ad has already been played at a certain interval.
4. Sometimes while the ad the playing, the show is also playing in the background.

I think am going to delete this app as its become too unstable to watch anything at all. Hopefully the paid members have better xp.

Hate hate hate this app I can’t even fully enjoy the drama that I am watching and when I want to comment the commenting thing goes up like can’t I just comment normally like hello can’t I comment on the app like other platforms does it really have to go up can’t the comment bar just stay in one place? when I sent the comments it goes up and it’s so annoying because when I do it in a full screen the screen becomes smaller after commenting and it’s hard to watch it and the ads they get stuck I have to refresh it SO MANY TIMES just to have the ads get unstuck I am a broke high school student so I can’t pay for the subscription yet but at least you can make this a free app for some time. After watching that drama I am deleting it I just downloaded it to watch that one drama because it is not in other websites (illegal) websites like (drama cool) but now I just need 1 more I gotta bare with this app HATE IT

As of today I am still having major issue with the app on my phone. It is trying to charge me 24.12 to before it will allow me to download. On my Roku i paid the subscription and can watch just fine so why am I being OVERCHARGED on the app. Won’t even download to allow me to login to my account.

Dropping my rating from 4 to a 2.

Literally as of moment ago. My account is doing ads when I have had the access pass! I realized it was due today and went to pay but the only option is to upgrade. I was watching and then had to log out and re-enter my info. I’ve used Viki for about 2 years now and never had a problem. Sure subbing can be slow but it’s volunteer so I try not to complain but if I’m going to be forced to watch ads now even while having the Standard pass then that’s an issue. We already don’t get access to all the shows and if you account for subbing I think $5 a month plus tax is worth it. Can someone explain what’s suddenly happening? I’ll change my rating once I get an understanding because this is honestly a good app to watch Asian drama on.

Pros: I love that they show BL content!❤️ If you are offended by so content, then find another app or just go watch asian dramas on YouTube instead, the whole world doesn't revolve around you and your religion. If you're offended, then just leave! -They have a good selection of shows. I watch shows which I now consider my favorite because of this app! I mainly watch Japanese shows (they don't get as much as attention as Korean shows but that makes me love by Japanese even more!) so I hope they keep giving me the best in the future! Cons: -I hate that in the reviews there's a thumbs up and a thumbs down button I think that there should not be a thumbs up or thumbs down button. It just doesn't seem fair. -yes the ads can be too much -please get rid of the homophobic comments on the BL shows. -I subscribed to Viki a few months ago, but deleted my subscription because they're movies sucked really bad. There are so many good Asian movies out there and I felt like I got the worst bunch! the shows they upload are much better than the movies. So, please put better movies up and maybe I can subscribed sometime again

The app has been great until about a week ago. I am no longer able to cast to my Samsung TV and play through a show. Intermittently it will connect to the TV but as soon as the episode plays, it will skip to the next episode and it will just spin. I tried with 3 different iOS devices and all have the same issue. This has never been an issue until about a week ago. I don’t have any issues casting other applications with the same devices. I also am able to cast to my LG TV fine. The issue started happening with the Samsung TV.
UPDATE - the issue started happening on my LG TV as well a couple of days after I posted this review. Just to clarify, I’ve had Viki Pass Plus for almost a year and casting via Airplay to my Samsung TV and LG TV worked absolutely fine all the way up to about mid March. I’ve tried all the troubleshooting tips that were provided with no success. I am now seeing multiple folks posting about this issue in Viki’s support forum, and the posts are being marked as solved when it is clearly not solved. My subscription is due to expire next month and if this is not solved, it will not be worth renewing my subscription.

I rarely write reviews, especially bad ones but this is just insane. The app has a great selection of dramas but there are times when dramas all of a sudden switch to Standard or Plus so you could be in the middle of binging one and you can’t watch it anymore.

The worst part is the ADS. I understand that’s how Viki makes its money but 6-9 ads in a row after every 10 minutes of an episode is preposterous. There are often 30 second NON-SKIPPABLE ads too. You could literally spend nearly 5 minutes watching ads after watching every 10 minutes of a drama. Not to mention there are times the ads pause and buffer or the screen turns black and it doesn’t even play. I really have to WAIT for the ad to run smooth so I can get back to the drama. It’s gotten worse and worse over the years. I’d say to keep it to 3 in a row MAX and 30 second ads should be skippable after 5 seconds of watching. If this keeps getting worse I may just stop using the app completely.

One other suggestion I’d give is for a “drama” filter because right now there are only “TV” and “movie” ones but I’d like to filter out the variety shows. Otherwise the app runs relatively smoothly/ok and is organized well.