Yes, I actually pay for Discovery Plus

Out of all of the streaming companies I take advantage of — Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, and Funimation — Discovery Plus is the one which I take advantage of probably the most. And I don’t even get it free of charge by some sort of promotion — I really pay for it.

At simply $4.99 per 30 days (or $6.99 with out adverts), it’s one of many least expensive streaming choices on the market, and for me, these 5 bucks go a great distance. Discovery Plus is a melting pot of all of the unscripted actuality exhibits from Discovery itself, HGTV, Meals Community, TLC, Animal Planet, Examine Discovery, The Historical past Channel, and a handful of different networks that I haven’t even heard of earlier than, like “Quest.” 

Meaning it has among the most weird, disturbing, cringe-worthy, and downright disgusting TV exhibits that I’ve ever seen. I imply, that’s sort of anticipated for a streaming service that encompasses all of the content material from TLC, however combining all that bizarre actuality TV with tacky true-crime exhibits and Shark Week creates a hub filled with junk — and I like it. 

For the file, I’m not a kind of weirdos who like to look at individuals pop pimples: my style in TV is rather more refined. 90 Day Fiancé is my drug of alternative. It paperwork the lives of Individuals who discover love overseas and have simply 90 days to spend collectively within the US earlier than they have to make the choice to marry their lover or have them go away the nation (all in accordance with US visa legal guidelines).

The present (and its numerous spinoffs) was the only motive why I subscribed to Discovery Plus within the first place. I already watched 90 Day Fiancé on Hulu (together with among the Examine Discovery exhibits the service had), however when it moved over to Discovery Plus, I had no alternative however to tack on a Discovery Plus subscription simply to feed my habit. 

This led me down the rabbit gap of all the opposite exhibits on Discovery Plus, together with Sister Wives, Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry, Hoarders, Intervention, Amish Mafia, and an entire host of different exhibits that — let’s be sincere — in all probability shouldn’t exist (i.e., Dr. Pimple Popper). And whereas Discovery Plus has all of the absurd content material that I take pleasure in watching, it nonetheless has some obvious flaws which can be exhausting to disregard.

For one, the UI is completely terrible when in comparison with different companies like Netflix. I can’t click on right into a sequence’ full checklist of episodes from the present in my “Proceed Watching” checklist, which suggests if I missed an episode or wish to return and flick through totally different seasons, I’ve to search for the present first and solely then can I entry its checklist of episodes. The UI, together with the playback bar, can also be extremely laggy, which may make scrubbing by episodes (and navigating by the app basically) an enormous ache. 

I’ve even used to come across a bug the place no matter I’m watching would freeze utterly after an advert, forcing me to restart your complete app and boot up what I’m watching once more, which might generally simply trigger the cycle to repeat itself another time. (I haven’t skilled this shortly, so fingers crossed that it’s mounted).

Discovery Plus’ father or mother firm, Warner Bros. Discovery, says it has plans to make some UI enhancements when it brings a few of Discovery Plus’ content material to HBO Max to type “Max.” Nevertheless, it made no point out of fixing this on Discovery Plus, which is able to stay as a standalone app for a similar value, whereas Max will price $9.99 per 30 days with adverts, $14.99 per 30 days with out, or $19.99 with no adverts and 4K content material. So mainly, the Max app could possibly be nice, or it could possibly be the very best of two of the buggiest worlds.

These potential UI enhancements gained’t be sufficient to persuade me to drop Discovery Plus — even when HBO Max has The Final of Us and Succession. I’m too low-cost to pay the additional cash when my mother and father have already got an HBO Max account that they will by no means keep in mind the password to (asking them to vary it’s A Complete Factor™). If they might really give me the proper password to their account, then sure: I might ditch Discovery Plus after its content material arrives on Max.

For now, although, I’m pleased with Discovery Plus. It’s my go-to once I eat dinner, go to mattress, and even on the weekends when I’ve nothing else higher to do. I’ve entry to almost each common streaming service at my fingertips, and but, I’d solely select Discovery Plus as soon as my 90 days are up.