Peacock TV
reviews and complaints

After reading through various customer reviews, it's evident that Peacocktv has left many users dissatisfied. Issues such as constant buffering during live events, poor customer service, and technical difficulties have plagued the user experience. Customers have expressed frustration over the lack of live support, unreliable streaming quality, and difficulty in accessing content. It seems that Peacocktv falls short in meeting the expectations of its users, leading to widespread disappointment and negative feedback.

The layout is great. So easy to find content and simple to navigate. There are only 2 Major problems that I can see after only a few days of use. One is that when scrolling through content, the previews start playing automatically at a volume that is so much louder than the full content that if I forget to decrease the volume before navigating back to the previous menu, it causes physical pain and probably hearing damage. I’m concerned that the volume difference is so great that if, after watching a movie or something where I’m going to want a louder experience, I forget to decrease it, the sudden loudness of the automatic preview could blow out either my speakers or my eardrums. In fact, these previews play louder than anything on my AppleTV, in any app. Either decreasing their native volume or providing an option to turn off automatic previews would solve this.
The second problem is with navigating within content that I’ve chosen to play. Normally, I can press on either the right or left side of my remote’s touchpad to skip forward or back a certain number of seconds, and holding either side allows me to fast forward or rewind without having to pause and scrub through the video. This doesn’t seem to work which makes pinpointing the exact moment I’m looking for very difficult as the touch pad is very sensitive and the longer the length of the content, the more difficult it becomes because the time bar is the same length no matter what so making movements small enough to move through a matter of seconds becomes near impossible. Most of the time, when I need to move within content it’s just to jump back a few seconds because of a short interruption, so the current system can become very frustrating.
I look forward to spending many hours exploring PeacockTV and these little convenience changes would make a world of difference. Thank you.

For whatever reason, NBC decided to create their own custom video player interface.

It’s terrible.

No visual scrub scrolling, it’s scrolls WAY too fast so you go minutes instead of seconds to where you want to scrub to.

The information icons don’t provide much information and it takes up entirely too much of your screen. Almost half your screen is covered when you touch it to see video position or info.

There’s no picture-in-picture.

Every time a video loads you are presented with a dialog across the top of the video that asks if you want to restart your video from the beginning or continue where you left off. It defaults to restart which leaves users accidentally tapping on it at times. Now you have to restart the video and scrub to where you left off but since there is no visual scrubbing you can’t see it very well and since it scrubs by minutes you go too far or early.

I simply do not understand why these companies do this. Apple provided an extremely simple and intuitive interface to use that offers everything a user needs. Hulu uses it and adds to it with a more episodes function by swiping up from the bottom. It’s also confusing and cumbersome to use an inferior interface when one is coded right into the system itself?

Now all of this is made entirely worse when using it on an Apple TV. I hate it.

The user interface itself on video selection is good and looks nice. The integration with the TV app is good too. Still no picture-in-picture on Apple TV either and same terrible video player interface.

Please fix this video player thing. If the interface added functionality on top of an already excellent interface then it would make sense (like Hulu’s). But yours doesn’t. It’s actually a step backwards and not only looks dated but works worse in functionality which makes this all the more confusing as to who decided this would make sense?

3/7 UPDATE: Support did finally respond & attempt to resolve the issues mentioned in my previous reviews but the problems persist. Additionally, Peacock does NOT have the Bravo content I initially believed them to have. They don’t have any episodes of the Housewives of SLC and I’m pretty sure there are new seasons of Below Deck that I don’t get (I have the premium level package). I paid for the year but not sure if I’ll continue when the year is up.

1/1 UPDATE: I was contacted by product support after posting my original review. I responded on 12/20 providing additional information about the issue & my device. To date, I have yet to receive a response despite 2 follow up emails. The issue persists, EXCESSIVE buffering. For the lack of Support communication, I’ve dropped my rating to a 2.

Excessive buffering. Apparently, this is not a true “streaming” service - bits of content are downloaded in “packets” and a slow or full connection may cause buffering between packets. That being said, I experience frequent buffering despite a fast internet connection when no other devices are in use (and a single phone used at the same time shouldn’t cause this amount of buffering). It seems to be most common after watching for some time - Peacock doesn’t appear to be a fan of binging. The only remedies offered on the Peacock website (they’re clearly aware of the issue) is to check your Internet speed & stop using (or put in airplane mode) all other devices. The service does also lack some features of other actual streaming services (as described in other comments). Despite all this, I paid for the premium annual service because it’s the cheapest of the only 2 options I’ve found to get ALL Bravo content (lower tier Peacock doesn’t have full content & Hulu+Live TV is cost prohibitive) which is the only thing I was missing in life. I can only hope the service is improved over time.

It takes ALOT for me to write a review (good or bad) but I wanted to warn new subscribers (who want the $4.99 subscription) about this app, as I unfortunately had to learn the hard way! We specifically subscribed for The Office (as this was the one selling point for having to pay for yet another separate subscription for something) so my son could watch again (he missed it terribly once it was taken off of Netflix).

I noticed very early on that the ads were not placed at the original/correct commercial break cuts throughout the episode. Instead, actors would be speaking/mid-sentence and the ads would start up, cutting them off unexpectedly. We hemmed and hawed (as this was obviously poorly placed/checked on Peacock/NBC’s end), but then patiently waited to get back to the episode/scene that was cutoff, and to our surprise, the episode continually jumps ahead to where the original/correct commercial break would have restarted otherwise (so you lose at least a few minutes before the intentional commercial break, and are left confused/lost as to what happened in between). And for the record, this wasn’t just a few episodes/occurrences, it was at LEAST happening 90% of the time on every ad break in almost every single episode.

I can’t figure out why it’s impossible to resume the episode from exactly where you left off following the ads (or at least a few seconds prior to cutting off, so you get to actually watch and finish whatever was meant to be shown). Regardless, the only apps I’ve encountered this from (occasionally) are some of the free network/cable apps (i.e. TLC/Bravo) but I’ve never encountered this with a paid subscription otherwise. I refuse to be “bullied” into paying $9.99 monthly just to avoid “most” commercials (which I think is pretty steep as it is, just for Peacock). I’ve rated this one star until this is updated/fixed, and will be cancelling my subscription if not, as this was a big let down by NBC/Peackock

okay, so i think i've been saying this over a year now, (i use an apple tv box, lost the remote and don't feel like paying for a new one since i have 2 iphones to use instead), it's really frustrating when i try to go back a few seconds, (it's rare, like maybe 5% of the time so i'm excited when it does, when the go back 10 seconds key shows up and it's one of the only apps this happens with), so when it's not there and i miss something or just want to make sure i seen it right, i try to go back but it slides all over the place, like ill go from 28 mins down to 14, back up to 31 and this goes on for like 25+ seconds back and forth until i give up and say close enough ill guess ill watch an extra 30 seconds or so because it's taking too long trying to go back a bit. i do like that i usually don't have to replay commercials, but that's unless i pause it and fall asleep and the whole show will usually start over next time i try to play unless i exit to the menu of episodes. also there's been a few times i've hit the menu or my main screen on accident, it exits out and i wouldn't mind the 10 second rewind it automatically does unless it rewinds me back over a commercial i just watched and makes me watch it over again, (not nearly as bad as hulu that makes you rewatch no matter what even if you just watched and rewind too far because it cuts off in a weird spot and it was difficult to hear what was said before/after that commercial), but still a bit annoying. and also there's been times i came back from the pause screen, (which shows an ad shortly after), and then when i try to play again, i can hear the show, but the ad stays on the screen. the sliding around bar though is the most annoying when trying to go back/forward a few seconds, (it makes me think the people that fix this problem aren't using the app since it's been this way for over a year). just wanted to say all that again and update on a few more issues since i just watched 15+ seasons, (if you total out all the below deck series), of a show and not trying to keep bringing it up, just hoping it gets fixed/changed soon so it's not taking me an hour and 15 mins-an hour and 25+ minutes to watch usually what is under a 45 minute show.

“There should do then," K muttered looking at his dull-eyed counterpart. "Get up, sit on the table," he commanded. He watched Lin stand up. Observing as his bare form, save for the fur, shifted over to the table. The movements didn't leave much to be desired, no swagger or off step, Lin seemed unaware of his intentions. As the other moved to sit on the table, Dr. K let his eyes wander. If he was to do anything with Lin, he'd have to be in the right mood . So, despite the lingering resentment, he let his eyes train on other parts of his subject. They drew down the slope of his back to the base of Lin's tail, watching as the appendage wagged for a moment, only moving to seemingly help him keep balance. He watched as the other padded to the table, watching the soft flesh of his backside, which looked supple enough to grab. Lin hopped up on the table with little effort. He sat there, his legs naturally spread sufficiently to allow the Doctor a good view of his sheath and balls nestled in a fluff of fur. K pressed his ears back for a heartbeat. It felt as if a shred of his morality was causing him to hesitate, barring him from preceding indifferently. Though he knew it was just as before, save for this time, he was meant to couple with Lin instead of killing him. It's only been a while. He told himself, reaching over to grope at Lin, his earlier hesitation subsiding. He let his pads caress the soft flesh of his sheath, thumbing over its entrance before drawing his hand down to the other's balls. They fit into his padded palm easily, their weight pressing into his hand, like two plums prime for picking. He massaged them gingerly at first, shifting the two orbs with his fingers and giving them a little pressure from time to time. All the while, his molten gaze trained on Lin's face gauging the reaction of his subject before proceeding. At first, Lin stared down at him blankly, vacant eyes watching as Dr. K groped at him. However, as the actions persisted, the transfurred human's stoicism seemed to melt away as a red flush shone through the white fur. Soon the pink nub of a head began to peek from Lin's sheath, followed by a whine. K let his thumb massage at the hardening member through the sheath, watching it grow out of its home until it was entirely out of the sheath.

I looked online (Google) on how to watch the Super Bowl on this past Sunday, and what kept coming up was that it could be watched for free on Peacock. I went to the App Store and downloaded the Peacock emblem like 15min before the kickoff. It took a bit for it download and I have a fast phone with WiFi connection. That struck me as odd but didn’t think much of it. I ended up missing the kick off because I started doing something else meanwhile the app downloaded. I went back to it every few minutes but kept getting the spinning wheels of death. I ended up not seeing the kickoff but I did go to the app 30min later and opened it. First thing that came up was the Super Bowl and watch it here in big letters popped up. I tap the icon and got a message that said I needed to upgrade to a premium package in order to watch the Super Bowl. Now remember, this whole time I was really excited to see this for nothing except for a free subscription. Surely we all know that a subscription to anything comes with consequences due to the lack of privacy set by the creators. Immediately I closed the page and the app and went a local pub and watched the game. Normally when this happens I close the page and the app then delete the app from my phone, period. That’s it, I’m done with those that wasted my time. But this time I didn’t delete, in fact after my team won the Super Bowl, I went home and opened it again because I had heard that there was a lot of free content within its walls. I opened it up and took a look around and started watching to find that after the first episode of one particular show they wanted you to subscribe to a premium subscription in order to keep watching more episodes. After everything I experienced I was enraged with this bird the Peacock but couldn’t bring myself to not subscribing. It seemed to be a fair price and with as much content that is there, it’s the only channel I’ve been watching since I bought it. Surely I was baited and switched, but I guess I’m ok with it, for now. A little birdie told me once that if you don’t keep the content coming then your goose is cooked. For anyone reading this to this point trying to decide if it’s something you want, I say go for it, I’m happy so far after two days. I will update this when it’s time. Thanks Peacock!

It’s a different streaming app it has a nice choice of “live” channels and they have a very diverse content that they have provided/ created considering that most of the content is free. (Unless it has a white feather in the top right corner that content you will need a membership to access).

There is problems with this service...
First it will show you tv shows without a feather on it but the rest of the season after you watched the first episode for free you will need to upgrade to a plan to access the rest of the show and seasons. It could just be the tv show that I selected but they should be more transparent with what shows are free and the ones that have free episodes but you need to pay to unlock the rest of the season/seasons.

Next problem and this might be a personal issue it doesn’t have automatic play on the next episodes so if you are casting on a tv you will have to go into the app to play the next episode.

Another problem is the app especially if you are using it to casting to a tv... you can’t watch a full episode of a tv show or movie without the app or service crashing and the only way to get your content back playing or casting is to completely delete the app and reinstall it and when you have it reinstalled and restart your content it will buffer and play your content with the loading screen on playing your content in the background with out you seeing it and then the only way to see it again is to do what I stated above again.

But considered this is a newer platform to steam on I expect bugs like this to happen but with reading all the other reviews I see that others have the same problem. (re: installing and uninstalled the app)

On the upside I will say that roughly $5 for a basic membership that includes all their content that includes the content that has the feather on it and the “live” tv section ..but there is a downside you will still have ads unless you upgrade to the next tier. It isn’t that bad it’s on same pricing for a basic Hulu package and if you think about this service it’s basically Hulu but the NBCs version but then again Hulu has a better selection of live tv channels than this service has I would say the “live” section is nbc, cnbc and a bunch of niche TV channels that most of the content you have access to not live its just played to you in a live format.

When I first heard about Peacock, I got very excited. A place where you can watch shows like 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, and The Office and movies like Jurassic Park, The Matrix and Do the Right Thing sounds like a great streaming service. I got the app and my excitement turned into confusion.
Yeah there were bugs but, my main problem with app was how the content was being handled. There are three tiers on Peacock. There’s the free tier(Peacock Free), in which you get 13,000 hours of content for free but with ads, the premium tier(Peacock Premium), in which you get all 20,000 for a fee $4.99 a month(with a free 7-day trial), and the premium plus tier(Peacock Premium Plus), which is basically Peacock Premium minus the ads(however, you’ll still see ads on some of the content).
For example, I tried to watch Parks and Recreation and Everybody Hates Chris, both were apart of the free tier. I also tried to watch Superstore and Two and a Half Men and both were apart of the Peacock Premium tier. With Superstore, I kind of understood since it was an ongoing series I figured that it would be apart of that tier. Two and a Half Men, however, made no sense at all. Why would that show be on the Peacock Premium tier I don’t know. I think they can fix how the content is being handled and the tiers.
One way to fix it is to keep the all the tiers, but with a few changes. For instance, the free tier can contain all of the classic shows and movies and live sporting events(with ads because how else can Peacock make money if it’s free), the premium tier could be just contain shows that are currently on the air, the most recent movies, and Peacock original series and movies and would cost $4.99 and would be ad-free and with a free trial period, the premium plus tier would bundle both Peacock Free and Peacock Plus together and cost $9.99 and would be ad-free with a free trial period.
Another way to fix it is to basically make Peacock into a cheaper version of Hulu by getting rid of the free tier entirely because it’s wildly misleading and keep the other two tiers. The premium option would cost $4.99 a month with all of the content on Peacock(with ads and a free trial period) and the premiere plus option would cost $9.99 a month with all of the content minus ads.
Those are the two ways to fix Peacock. Also sorry that this review is so long but I had to get all of my thoughts out.

TLDR: Peacock is ok imo. Honestly I don’t see much reason to subscribe for more than a couple of months since there’s not much to watch on here. There’s some glitches and problems buts it’s not the worst streaming app to navigate through.

There’s a few great things to watch with this app. Some new movies that get placed quickly on here as well. But overall i would say that there’s really not too much to go through. If you watch fast enough, you could probably go through the best stuff in a couple of months.

App ui definitely isn't the worst. Much better experience than using Hulu or Youtube TV. But there’s definitely still glitches and problems.
For example, streaming at home with my wifi gives me a pretty smooth experience, but if I'm on cellular data, everything takes ages to load. Fast forward or rewinding is a bad idea because it takes forever to load, so you have to think twice before doing it. If i did the same thing on Hulu, Netflix, etc. it wouldn’t take anywhere near as long.

PIP can be glitchy. It can just stop for no reason and i have to go back into the app to restart it. If you’re watching a series, the next episode won’t start automatically most of the time. You’ll have to go back into the app to restart it.

Whenever you start watching something or come back to the app from using PIP or from unlocking your phone, the app asks the same question every time. “Do you want to watch from the beginning or resume from where you left off?” I know it’s a small thing but it’s annoying to see this pop up multiple times in one watch session.
Also, if you lock your phone and then unlock it, for some reason the app has to load the show you’re watching all over again. Others apps have it loaded and ready to go but here you have to wait. If you’re not on wifi it’s a huge pain.

For some reason, the app likes to skip entire episodes sometimes or skip through part of my current one. Example, I’m watching a show. I finish an episode and decide to stop watching for now. Later on when i want to watch again, sometimes it will skip to the next episode or it will sometimes just skip to minute 20 in my continue watching section, even though I haven’t started a new episode.

Switching between the devices you watch on can cause small problems too. I’m watching on iphone then I decide to watch on my tv or ps4. Each time I switch devices some of my settings, like language and subtitles, reset to the default (english with no subtitles).

As much as I would like to enjoy the content on Peacock, the poor design and function of the app makes it a frustrating and far from enjoyable experience.

The app seems like it went through very little (if any) actual end user testing and was rushed together.

I usually watch while casting to a Chromecast.

Current issues:
-The app does not cleanly start streaming. Click to cast and then you are prompted to start over the episode over from the beginning, which it sometimes does anyway.
-Goodbye binge watching. In order to watch a new episode while casting, you need to go back into the app and start each episode one at a time. I’m paying for the highest (ad-free) tier. I don’t understand why I can’t watch more than one episode in succession.
-The user interface is poorly designed. It’s very difficult to get back to where you were the last time. I usually have to search for the show. The option is there to continue from the main screen, but it again only does one episode and then can’t figure out how to advance, so I have to search to get to the next episode. I have not found a way to get back to the full season/episode list when starting from recently viewed.
-I have lost count of the number of times the first episode of the season has started playing when I was trying to scroll down to a different one. Why does it not store the last position? It constantly resets to the top for no reason after going toward the bottom. And even then it registers a scrolling motion as a click and starts playing the first episode anyway when trying to drag down. I’ve learned to wait several seconds before trying because it eventually seems to figure it out.
-Want to go to a specific point in an episode? Better get ready to tap the 10-second advance a hundred times. Dragging to a specific time often doesn’t work either, especially right after opening a show. Even worse because of the random jumps to other episodes from the interface mentioned above.
-Recent “bug fixes” have included adding Rotten Tomatoes percentages for the show. Who cares? Make it do the basics of functioning properly before wasting time on these changes.

Recommendation to the dev team:
Do some testing with a diverse audience of actual end users and resolve the issues. I’d even volunteer for a public beta program.

But honestly this feels like it’s still in beta state. Hard to believe how poor the app is given how long this has been out now. Netflix, HBO, etc. have all figured out how to make an app. I’ll use Netflix 100% of the time for any content that is available there also. If you’re going to make it exclusively on Peacock, make it not a miserable and frustrating experience, especially for paying subscribers. Thanks.

UPDATE 2 JUL 21: In fairness, I’m changing my original review due to what appears to be a positive response by the app developers and whichever group is in charge of programming. They appear to have heard the criticism and corrected a few of the things for users that I and many others highlighted as below expectations. The NBCSN replays are now available starting from stage 5 of TDF. The organization of content (at least the TDF content) seems better and potential spoilers placed further down. Extended highlights and recaps are now updated to 2021. And a few other minor changes on both FireTv and iOS app. Be nice if the app updates and version history states what updates were made instead of “bug fixes and improvements” which seems rather lazy but is sadly consistent with the industry standard.

Original review:

Ignoring the poor rollout for Fire TV users, let’s talk about just the app on iOS devices. The purpose of my using the peacock app is solely for Tour de France NBCSN coverage. Otherwise the rest is available on Hulu. Upon initial sign up, there was mention of a free trial, but after sign up it immediately charged me through my iTunes account and no free trial. Once signed in, have to search sports and then find TDF events. Since I live in a part of the world where watching live isn’t an option due to time of day, I’m committed to watch the replay. The NBCSN version for stage one is gone. Where did it go? I’m aware there is the regular broadcast but some of us prefer the Ligget/Role commentary on NBCSN as well. I added all the NBCSN stages from 1-21 to my watchlist. Now from left to right in watchlist they are listed from 21-2. It would be nice if they were in sequential order or I could just add the TDF hub to my watchlist instead of adding them backwards. If I have to open “sports” first to get to the TDF hub, Highlights of stages and recaps need to be better segregated to avoid spoilers. Instead I see top sports stories which has the spoilers right there. There doesn’t appear to be any way to remove things from the “continue watching” section. If there is, it isn’t very intuitive. If it involves going to a browser version of peacock that’s the wrong answer. The peacock premium I subscribed to boasts downloadable capabilities. There is no link on any of the TDF replay to download to view offline. Under the ‘channels’ and browse tabs at the bottom of the screen, you no longer see options to access your account at the top. It’s only available while the “trending” tab is selected. From account->settings>help it says “for more help visit our help center online” but provides no link or URL and trying to submit help request after logging into the browser version of peacock results in a “there was a problem” message.

Update 08/14:
Newest version still isn’t working correctly. Watch a commercial during a show, than want to rewind 10 seconds & it takes you ALL the way back to before last commercial “mark” & plays it again. The kicker, it becomes the 60 second commercial when originally it was the 20 second one. Trying to skip forward & back while watching ANY CONTENT is impossible; as it doesn’t work at all. Please fix as quite annoying... Pause during a commercial with 15 seconds left & go to another app, say iMessage to reply; than back to Peacock...SURPRISE, your 15 second left commercial is NOW 60 seconds AGAIN‍♂️

OMG, this app is buggy. Like a roach motel. Sure hope they are fixing. Can’t even contact them to let them know.
So, here I go on this platform.
The progress bar is MESSED up beyond belief, & doesn’t keep track of your place AT ALL. Think at 15:00 mins & click a 10 sec fast forward, it starts video at beginning; but the progress bar now says 15:10, seriously!
Second, audio is out of sync by 1-3 seconds, & gets worse depending on time of day & length of video you are watching.
Next, the UI is a mess. Finding something, adding to a “watchlist” & then finding said list...a joke! Really needs updating. Heck, even if don’t wanna copy every streaming service app out there (Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc...); DO IT ANYWAY. Even Disney+ & Apple+ apps weren’t this bad at launch, & they quickly (I mean quickly fixed the negatives). Hulu’s free commercial & limited commercial content isn’t this loaded with commercials, & I get wanting a “free” version; that’s awesome...but during a movie, having commercials, uncool, & 6-10 for a 26-44 min episode, yeah.
So, UI, GUI is lacking & extremely difficult to navigate, & I challenge any engineer at Peacocktv to spend an hour using the app.
Lastly, no web support for viewing in iPad! Even Disney+ allows an iPad to watch a vid using app, or the web browser; but anyway...where’s the ROKU support. Kinda a big deal as it’s a HUGE market, imo.
Well, hoping this is read by tech support & they update the iPadOS App, iOS App, Android App...basically; update the App, it’s not too great (read the reviews, not only one who is saying this).
Hope will update my review to a much better score L8R on, but right now, it’s a 1/5 on my scale, only cuz I can view vids; as bad as they are; if that wasn’t possible, you’d be getting a zero out of 5. For reference, Netflix scores a 4/5 on my scale (Disney+, & Amazon are a 3-3.5 depending on app version your on, but they are definitely better than this; & unfortunately Hulu went from 4/5 like Netflix, to a 3 with latest update...got clunky). So, just some comparison scores for you all.
Do appreciate the app & what trying to do, know it’s a “baby”; but, rather you waited with BETTER UI, than launch what you had, imo.

05Oct20: My primary purpose for this app was to watch English Premier League football. I tried with my iPhone with the latest iOS and via HDMI to my TV. The video wouldn’t play. Then I tried with my iPad Pro gen 2 and video and audio both played. But it shrunk my 47” TV to 36”. Why is it that Amazon Prime and Netflix can manage to project their content to my TV via HDMI full screen but NBC/Peacock can’t?

I would have rated the app 4 stars but when playing the games there is no mechanism to pause or rewind. When replaying older games there isn’t any way to pause, rewind or fast forward.
There isn’t any scrubber slider. There isn’t any 10 second rewind or forward control. No pause control.
My iPad just now showed me a Reminder. Turning that off closed the Peacock app. When I reopened, the app took me to where I first started watching the game, not to where I had been. No way to get back except watch for the entire length of time.

I don’t know whether to blame the Peacock app, but since the EPL content comes from NBC as does the Peacock app, NBC has missed the mark by a wide margin.

And what’s up with all the commercials? I don’t mind so much during a TV show, but please, during movies?

Addendum: Last night I had started watching the Everton-BHA match. I quit at its 35 minute mark. When I resumed today, it started at the 35 minute mark. I watched the half and half time, then was interrupted by the iPad’s Reminder app. When I resumed watching I was again at the 35 minute mark. I watched all the way to the 88th minute. I shut down the game and the app, did something in another app. Tried resuming watching but rather than opening at the 88th minute, I was again brought to the 35th minute.
So, no matter at what time one stops, when resuming one is brought back to the time at which one first stopped?

Not having a pause button for these EPL replay matches is a significant problem. What if one needs to answer the doorbell? What if one needs to go to the bathroom? What if one’s dryer buzzes and one needs to get the clothing out?

I’m afraid I’m having to downgrade my score from 3 stars to 2.

06Oct20: I’ve just raised my rating from 2 to 4 stars. I had complained yesterday about the lack of controls for Premier League replays. Today when I started watching the replay of Arsenal - Sheffield, there were controls!

There is now a pause button. There are 10 second rewind and forward buttons. There is a scrubbing slider which can be dragged forward and back. One can’t see to where it is being dragged, but heck, at least it works.

I also complained yesterday about being brought back to where one was when first closing a replay. Today when I wanted to resume watching I was offered the choice of starting over or continuing from where I had stopped. And it truly brought me back to the point at which I had. I tried it a couple different times just to assure that it wasn’t a fluke.

Now, if only it would play full screen on my TV when transmitting from my iPad Pro gen 2 through the HDMI cord, I’d give this 5 stars.

It’s terrible in many ways but the Olympic coverage, presentation, and functionality is horrendous. It’s almost criminal how poorly this app is handling the Olympics. I’m paying for Premium Plus and it has virtually nothing it claims to have. Don’t get me wrong, it lists it here, and there’s a thumbnail, and you think you’re going to get to watch it, but when you click it, it takes you to their other app, NBC Sports, and none of it is available unless you already have a cable provider with an upgraded package that includes NBC Olympics. So I’ll tell you right now, if you don’t have cable, don’t buy this app for the Olympics. And if you do have cable, you don’t need this app, because it takes you back to your cable anyway. The minuscule amount of coverage they do have here is spoiled by them listing thumbnail highlight videos of all the winners of every sport right there next to the few replays you’re able to get. So you can’t watch a replay without already knowing all the winners. They do have numerous 1 minute videos of highlights, my guess is that’s to make it look like they have a ton of content. But even those are terrible. After someone wins something, or does something spectacular, they immediately cut it off and you can’t even watch the elation and celebration after. Man, that’s like the best part. Oh, and there are no full Track and Field events. Even though they advertise everywhere you can live stream Track and Field from this app, you can’t. Not one full event live streamed. And not one single replay. Not one. Just lots of short highlight reels they put together. You can livestream some fragmented coverage - if you can find that on the app, it took me a week before I found it. Nowhere does it say “Live” so it’s almost impossible to find, which goes to abysmal user interface and user experience. (If you’ve looking for it, it’s not on the main screen, you have to use the toggle at the bottom and go to “channels” where it then has one channel among a bunch of other channels that are not related to the Olympics.) So this one live channel is called Tokyo Tonight and skips around to a bunch of different events and you can’t pause or rewind that coverage so you miss tons if you aren’t glued to the screen. And of course with that kind of coverage, you can’t pick which events you want to watch. You have to watch whatever they choose to cover, and they constantly throw random commentators talking to each other at a desk, not even at the event. And obviously, you can’t fast forward through anything. And even if you pay for Premium Plus you have to watch incessant ads throughout the coverage. This app is just egregiously bad. I think I’ll stop supporting any kind of content coming out of NBC altogether after this. It’s that bad. I’m certainly canceling this app immediately at the very least. I’ve never cancelled an app this quickly in my life. I’m not sure I’ve ever even written an app review. But I had to tell you guys how terrible this app is. I’m shocked to see it have 4.5 stars. I’m more than certain those are bought reviews. Sort by most recent reviews to see what’s really going on. And believe those one star reviews. Accurate.

Update 6/22: Just updated the app and saw they added the outward flick gesture to fill the screen, way to go Team Peacock!

Really appreciate that you listened to our feedback and added it.

Okay, one down, and one to go as we still desperately need PiP!

I added one star back, one more to go.

—————-

Prior review:
While I like some of the content, it’s truly difficult to enjoy on any iPad for any length of time in the app’s current state. Devs, I mean this very constructively as I’ll explain.

Could you please add these two missing playback features ASAP? Without these features, I find that I am watching Peacock less these days, as it’s definitely a less enjoyable experience on my iPad. That said, I would gladly watch more (and increase my rating here) if you’d “fix” these glaring gaps in the app by adding these critical features:

1) Fill-to-screen option, especially for 4:3 Standard Definition content.

Currently, there is no feature to expand the content, so all the 4:3 content plays with significant black bars around all four sides, which also turns a 10+ inch screen into a tiny 6-inch display for these shows. It completely detracts from our enjoyment while watching, seriously.

Personally, I prefer the standard Apple outward two-finger flick to make the content expand-to-fill the screen gesture. I’ve seen other apps add a tiny little square “fullscreen” icon in the corner, which is nearly impossible to tap on it accurately on the first or second try. That’s why I like the flick gesture far better because it works virtually anywhere onscreen. It also certainly wouldn’t hurt to add *bothmethods to the app to give us a far better UX.

2) Picture-in-Picture (PiP)!

Seriously, it’s 2021, not 2011. iOS/iPadOS has supported PiP since at least iOS 12 from several years ago. We are a multitasking mobile device user society. Having to start, pause, start, pause, start, pause throughout a show/movie (and hoping it resumes from the same point) just completely wrecks it for us. I see that others here are requesting this ASAP.

Again, constructively, you have to seriously amp up your user experience (UX) game if you’re trying to compete in streaming. Yes, having good content is important, but a poor User Experience wipes that out. I can see from numerous other user reviews/comments here that this is a serious deficiency.

You can sell adding both of these features to your management this way: When we actually ENJOY the EXPERIENCE of watching Peacock on our tablet (instead of having to squint and curse at it), we actually watch more content, which directly translates into increased ad and/or subscription revenue ($$$) for your business unit.

See, it’s a win-win for all. I like Peacock and some of the shows, but I’d watch more if you’d please improve the app per above for us iPad users. Even Pluto TV, with all of its ups and downs, is one of my main go-to services on my iPad precisely because it added BOTH these features quite a while ago, so it’s far more enjoyable to both watch SD content and multitask than Peacock.

Just saying I think you’re missing out on adding more viewers/subscribers, and that doesn’t make any business sense.

Where do I start. Perhaps with a congratulations at creating the worst streaming app I’ve ever bought? You’ve certainly earned that. Now I’ll make it clear that I am a very fair person. I have low expectations, and am easy to please. ESPN+, which some complained about, received nothing but praise from me from the start. You all have some work to do to get close to that.

Many people have complained about you splitting the games up. While I’d prefer you’d leave the big games on NBCSC like they always were before, I’m okay with shelling out a bit of extra money to watch them, especially if it means I have access to every game.

Unfortunately, I do not really have access to every game, at least not in an adequate way, or even as adequately as the inadequate way in which you promise. Let me tell you my story from this weekend:

After finishing up with some work around noon, I tuned in to Leicester vs West Brom on NBCSN. That went normally for me, as has always been the case for 7 years. Aware that the Spurs vs Everton game was on Peacock Premium, I had signed up for the service the evening prior. I log in, and look for the replay of the match, only to find that it is not there. I discover that your policy states that the game will be up after 6p Pacific. This is a disappointment, as in the past, this match would have been on NBC or NBCSN, and thus available on DVR at any time via my main streaming package. I do not know where I could have found this information prior to signing up, but I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume I missed it and that you included that information somewhere in a publicly accessible manner. I manage to avoid spoilers for hours until 6pm, when I log back in to look for the replay. Unfortunately, your lack of friendly interface or intelligent search function lead to me being unable to seamlessly find your replays. Eventually, I did find the replay, but only after coming across spoilers of the result.

Fast forward to the next day. Aware that the replay of Brighton vs Chelsea wouldn’t be available until 6pm PT, I waited and again, avoided spoilers up to that point. However, when I checked at around 6:30pm, and this time managed to get to the difficult to find “replays” section without spoilers, lo and behold, the replay was still not available. Thinking I had done something wrong, I scoured the page, and once again, I had the game spoiled. I was understandably irate at the time, but I avoided expressing it for a few hours, so that I wouldn’t complain about anything that was unrelated to the service itself.

If you are going to engage in the morally questionable act of charging people for a poor service with delays, you should at least have the decency to make it spoiler free. You should at least live up to your own agreements regarding timeliness of replays. You should at least make your live programming user friendly, pausable, rewindable, etc. You should at least make your content easy to find.

You have every opportunity to fix this. There are models. There are suggestions aplenty. You have monetary incentive to do so. You have a moral responsibility to do so. While some people are entirely unreasonable, you have perfectly fair customers like me who will greatly appreciate a commitment to reform of this disaster, and will applaud you for having the integrity to do so. Do not disappoint us, NBC.

You guys can do more content and put more stuff out on here like movies not just new releases but like lotta old movies and keeping the horror genre on here having a whole section of like classic horror movies not just airing them during Halloween and months of Halloween you know like seven likes part of September and October having a whole thing of just horror movies and thrillers you know you’re around so people can watch movies you’re around and on the WW app I don’t know if you guys have control over it have more Contant and make it easier to browse like the WWE network did that you can find like to say a shell or a pay-per-view on your from A-Z in any paper view from the very first one to the very last to the very current one you know all the above doesn’t matter which one and on your guises app as well finding stuff have a more content of classic and current movies and I wanna know why you guys got rid of Sasha banks from the avatar a little logo that’s in the right hand corner why did you get rid of her as as a icon as your icon that you use to identify your profile I was just wondering why you guys got rid of The icon for your profile Sasha banks that is a WWE icon I was just wondering why you guys got rid of it because she’s no longer in WWE and you guys can’t use it I don’t think that’s stupid since she’s coming back or is coming back or allegedly coming back or whatever why don’t you guys put her back onto the icon thing please I’d really appreciate it thank you and overall this is a good app but please have more movie content and and more classic television shows from yesteryears and from today like sit like let’s say 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 00s and the 20010s until the 2020s you know whatever contact you can shove television shows please air a lot of them classic ones you know throughout the years and please make sure you guys can put it in full screen not with the black bars on the side and shrinking it down please make sure you put all content not in wide screen like movies we still see a bar on the top in the bar in the bottom or like in television shows where the bar is shrink it down to look like a smaller square and you can please let me in please please please please take the bars away from like if I’m watching a television old program I don’t want to see bars on the side of a left or right of the screen please it’s can you put a full screen have everything in full screen or have the ability to take a toggle through full screen and that you guys don’t have it on here I can watch other networks other apps that have pretty much the same thing on there and they don’t and then they allow you to to do the full screen or the bars and the sides shrink it down into a smaller square if you guys can fix that just make it full screen so it’s it’s the size of like the iPhone pro max or two you’re like white screen television flatscreen you know it’s the ratio of the tire screen whatever screen you’re watching it on without a phone or television flatscreen please fix that I really really really really really really really appreciate it if you guys can fix that OK and that is all I have to say otherwise your app is pretty good and I like it so thank you for hearing me out and have a wonderful fantastic beautiful blessed day bye-bye………………..
Thank you so so much for hearing me out thank you so so much for hearing me out thank you so so much thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you so so much.…………………..

I paid for this service because I love Parks and Rec and The Office, but have been getting frustrated at the algorithm for showing commercials. If you are in the middle of the commercial break and pause to check something in another app, even if only for a second, it starts the commercial loop over again. Once I even had about 3 seconds left in a minute long commercial break when my phone alarm went off. I turned it off WHILE STILL IN THE APP using the drop down screen and it started the commercials over with 45 more seconds of commercials I had to watch. In addition to this issue, I have also had problems with commercial breaks if I accidentally rewind too far. Several times I’ve hit the “10 seconds back” button a couple times only to realize that puts me behind the commercial break I JUST watched and I have to stare in abject horror as every single one of those commercials I just suffered through start playing all over again. Please consider changing your commercial formula so fans like me don’t have to feel like we are being sneakily forced into watching extra commercials. Thanks! :-) ——> 8/4/22 Edit: while I can now leave the app for (very) short periods of time without the commercials restarting, I still am being forced to rewatch an entire set of commercials if I accidentally hit the skip back button when my content returns. In addition to this, a new problem has arisen. During certain tv shows (Brooklyn 99 is the biggest offender at the moment) the commercial countdown clock will appear while the content is still playing. Usually, the screen will black out leaving only the audio (and sometimes just the captions). Then, when the countdown disappears, the commercials will start playing simultaneously during the show, so I will miss another 60 plus seconds of my show by the time the commercials end. What’s even worse is I can’t even skip back and try to catch what I missed, because due to the aforementioned rewind issue, I’m being forced to watch the SAME DANGED COMMERCIALS yet another time! I’ve even tried exiting the show, restarting the app, turning off and on my entire phone, or skipping ahead in the show to try and reset the playback. When I attempted this last tactic, it simply played from the spot I skipped ahead from, then CUT OFF THE END OF THE SHOW when the scrolling bar on the bottom ran out of room. This left me staring bewildered and confused at my reflection in the black phone screen, questioning the purpose of my reality here in this late-stage capitalist hellscape while simultaneously experiencing a life-altering existential crisis. OVER A CONTENT-STREAMING APP. What is the point? Why do we allow ourselves to suffer needlessly at the hands of our billionaire oligarch overlords in order to watch moderately funny shows produced by said overlords, obviously in an attempt to keep us docile and distracted? We must rise up in protest against being taken for fools and paying for multiple subscriptions to streaming apps we don’t actually need! WHO IS WITH ME?! ……….…but I digress. In actuality, I do enjoy the tv show selection Peacock has, and the only reason I keep it is because I haven’t found somewhere else to watch The Office and Parks and Rec. That being said, my one-star review stands, because despite this app being available for a long time (with plenty of customer feedback), no one has made any effort to correct the issues I’ve presented here, plus the plethora of other problems other customers have surely dealt with and brought to attention of the creators of Peacock. Fight the power y’all!

OPL was not broadcasted on Feb 16 and 17 without any reason as to why. I feel that Peacock is very unprofessional because the customers are paying the bills and not receiving what they are buying. Peacock should notify the customer if for some reason the program cannot be aired. A short note on the program box would do the job.

I am thinking very seriously about canceling my subscription to Peacock.

Margaret Robinson...[protected]

[protected]@gmail.com

Please respond.

On January 13, 2024, Saturday, Peacock was advertising $29.99 for one year subscription. When trying to take advantage of the offer, finding that it wouldn't appear on the app or online for that purchase, I called Amazon. It looked like it might be a special through them. They said, "no," it was through Peacock. We went ahead and purchased the program for the year, thinking we could fix this on a weekday, when customer service would be available.

January 18, 2024, after contacting Peacock, they said tough! The offer was over and they would not be honoring any specials! Therefore, you, Peacock are in violation for false advertising! I will be filing as many formal complaints as possible in every category I can, as well as posting the entire conversation on social media! Shame on you PEACOCK!

Watching Premier League Football is almost impossible due to the constant stuttering of the stream. I have a wired 1 Gb/s connection to my tv, so there is no issue of bandwidth in my situation. I have removed and reinstalled the peacock app, reset my dns service/connection and the many other suggestions found online, but nothing fixes this. This only happens with live events, as recorded streams play flawlessly.

NFL is the national past time and Peacock has made it inaccessible for people on a budget and those that are not able to navigate signing up for a streaming service. To make it even worse I am watching the Chiefs versus Miami which I am paying for and I am still having to watch commercials. Most of the commercials are promoting gambling. They are also posting sponsors on the screen while I am trying to watch. So incredibly disappointed in CBS and the NFL taking viewership from the American people.

Exceptionally dissatisfied with peacock streaming. While watching the Purdue Maryland basketball game on 2 January 2024 it was a combination of slow downloading, pausing, blurry resolution, and actual freezing of the screen. I had one freeze of the picture where I had to exit the app and then return and finally get the game back up But still with a blurry picture and intermittent stops. This is a recurring problem and I even had my cable company come out to ensure that my connection was not the problem. All my other streaming apps on my smart TV work well. I am very disappointed in the peacock channel.

I’m quite tired of all the pharmaceutical advertisements. Over and over. It’s the same plaque psoriasis & Covid vaccines commercials during the tv shows. And this is coming from a person who has plaque psoriasis.

It’s almost like a slow form of torture. Please STOP. If I pay for the service please stop wasting my time with these ADs

These Ads happen 365/ 24/7 everytime you watch a tv show. And you cannot skip over them.

On November 17, 2023 I ordered Peacock streaming services but the service I ordered were not right. They basically forced me to get premium services when I just wanted the regular 5.99. I couldn’t purchase the 5.99 so I had to get premium. The shows on premium I couldn’t watch. Peacock is a scam. I have receipts as well to back up everything I’m saying. Why would peacock charge me twice. One for 59.99 and one for 11.99 and I cancelled like the next day. Peacock claims I’m not eligible for a refund. Why? am I not eligible to get my money back this is a scam

Peacock is the only paid subscription streaming service that is by far the worst streaming quality.. movies consistently freeze and buffer… and yes my internet service is fast enough.. I have several paid subscriptions and peacock is the only one with such poor quality… also good luck trying to talk to a real live person… I will be canceling them soon

Peacock auto-renewed at three times the original subscription cost. Given how little original content this service offers, and the fact that the app repeatedly freezes, won't play episodes, and has poor streaming quality, I would never have opted to continue my subscription at this cost. Enjoy the $64, Peacock. It's the last payment you'll get from me. More importantly, I'm spreading the word in a workplace of 400+.

To Whom It May Concern,

I am extremely disappointed in your decision to show some of the Big Ten games only on Peacock and not showing them on live TV. This type of exclusion will upset every Big Ten fan in the nation. This is how other national shows have lost viewers by excluding live TV viewers. Let's give Dancing with the Stars a look. They streamed season 31 and lost viewers. Now it's back on live TV for season 32. Please don't make this mistake. Please make all games viewable on live TV.

Thank you for your consideration.

BW

Can I get Peacock in color? Signed up this morning, one of many streaming apps that I have. It is by far the worst quality. Very dark and fuzzy. I will not redo my tv settings everytime I try to watch this app.

It is not my internet provider, very fast. Spectrum 300+

It is not my TV, newer Roku, excellent without adjusting on all other channels.

It is like watching TV through the Canadian fire smoke.

Rating 2

I have Spectrum and Peacock streaming. Every time we watch a show it’s pauses, freezes and then reverts back to the Peacock app. This has done this 10 times throughout a movie. Very frustrating. We also have other streaming apps and have not had a problem with them. We are paying for this app and it’s awful. I would appreciate an answer/fix. It’s not the router as we have tried to reset it.

You are now charging $12 a month the service has to improve. When starting a game that has already begun you need to have the option to start from the beginning (YouTube TV) like other services. Also, once a game is over the replay should be available within 20 minutes not a day later, this is 2023 and you are Comcast. You are charging a premium price and you need to provide a premium service. A game on the west coast airing at 4:30 in the morning and the replay not available until the next day? How can you possibly think that is good service?

August 5, 2023

I am unhappy that Peacock has inserted American (meaning loud and sometimes explosive) commercials into the Sky News broadcast on its streaming app, replacing the peaceful global weather video that was, up until a couple of months ago, displayed every 30 minutes.

All good things must come to an end, as the saying goes. Did you have to, Peacock?

I'm so disappointed that Peacock is not streaming the NASCAR CUP, it is pure BS. I'm a huge fan of NASCAR, and I don't have the USA network at all. What is the problem that you can't show NASCAR on Peacock? I'm ready to drop Peacock for good this stupid that you have it on USA network and not PEACOCK! So stop ignoring me I know that it's all about the $$$. Greedy [censored] don't care about the fans. It's just ridiculous that the company has come to ignorance over loyalty.

Peacock TV offers a “Premium Plus” option which it claims is ad-free, compared to its lower-priced “Premium” service. This is false. Peacock programs offered through its Premium Plus service do, in fact, include ads. I purchased the Premium Plus service solely to avoid ads on the Tour de France broadcast. When I discovered that ads were included, Peacock refused to allow me to change service and provide a refund of the higher charge, despite having provided nothing of additional value. Peacock’s marketing practice is false and deceptive.

I signed up after seeing a couple of sports our families watch (soccer and rugby) were moving here.

So far I am frustrated and disappointed.

The app is badly put together - the main screen shows channels but you can’t just click on what you want and be taken to that feed, instead you then have to search again.

The search function is terrible - I could see 2 rugby games in “sports” that I wanted to watch, but if I use the search function and typed “rugby” it shows zero results... yet I can then go back into sports and click on the games, which are labelled “rugby”.

The worst part is that they are blocking the ability to stream to Apple TV, so it would force you to watch on the small screen instead of regular tv, and they don’t have an app for Samsung smart tv. They have also blocked casting from computer, so they make it really really hard for you to watch on tv screen even after you have paid / subscribed.

The content itself is often hard to access / move around in, super difficult to skip forward or back, and often possible to start from beginning in something that is already underway.

The support service is a joke- some prepopulated answers from a “bot” that don’t help.

This app looks glossy but should not have been released until it was tested and refined more.
Feels very rushed and clearly broken under the hood.

If you aren’t paying for peacock I wouldn’t start yet. Ads are poorly placed, long and unskippable like YouTube. You get ads about 10% of your watch time with the $5 per month option. ( meaning three 1 minute ad blocks for every episode of the office )

It’s very anti-binge friendly. Meaning, there is no auto play the next episode. And there is no resume option if you don’t finish and episode and come back. If I was an advertiser I would be very unhappy with no auto play... tv runs constantly, much more valuable purchase.

I get the $5 per month option free with my Comcast subscription and stopped trying to use this for now. Uninstalled until they add more user friendly features.

EDIT AFTER DEVELOPER RESPONSE: Watched an episode of the office, terrible cut right in the middle of joke, a minute long ad, when the show came back I forgot what was said prior... after the episode the chromecast froze. Had to turn it off and back on. Tried again, it went to the next episode. 3rd time, the app froze... tried streaming on my smart tv with web os, no auto play.

This app is still too buggy for me. The ads are poorly placed and very repetitive.

Disney, Netflix and Hulu all work fine, never freeze, auto play on all devices. There’s no reason to suffer through the public beta of this app. I’m not going to be a paying software tester.

So many issues! Instead of slowly making their app and doing it right, NBC rushed to put this into production so they could cash in on their shows that we’re doing amazing on Netflix. I got the app when they took Parks and Recreation off Netflix so I could still watch one of my favorite shows. They don’t have an interface with a lot of smart TVs. They want you to pay for some external options (Roku, Amazon Firestick, PS4 or Xbox One). The whole point of getting a smart tv is so I don’t have to have these external devices. Then I find out I can screen mirror from my phone but when I try the screen on the tv goes black...but don’t worry all the ads play just fine. It’s not my phone either because the screen mirroring works flawlessly UNTIL you play a show. You can also qualify for a free premium plan if you have cable...but only with certain carriers. I wouldn’t have a problem with this but last I checked the only options (there were only 2) aren’t even available in my area. It’s not like I don’t subscribe to cable as well but I don’t get a premium option because I’m not in a MAJOR city? It’s not like I live in the sticks but having two options (Cox and Xfinity) is a little ridiculous.

NBC, Next time you want to cash in on the shows you created and leased out please make sure you have a better platform in place before yanking them away.