Judy Dixon
In May 2020, the parent company of HBO (Home Box Office), AT&T's WarnerMedia, launched HBO Max, a new subscription-based streaming service. Initially only available in the United States, it has expanded to much of the rest of the world in slightly varying forms. This stand-alone service allows subscribers to stream everything that HBO offers, as well as HBO Max originals and other series such as Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Looney Tunes, Sesame Street, Doctor Who, Rick and Morty, and more. By the end of 2021, HBO Max had 73.8 million subscribers.
HBO as been around since cable television became widely available. It was founded in 1972 as a paid service offering hit movies, sports events, and concerts. By 1980, HBO was available in all 50 states with 3 million subscribers.
There have been other services with names that start with HBO. Both launched in 2015, HBO Go came with the standard subscription to HBO via cable companies. HBO Now, initially only available on Apple devices, was a stand-alone streaming service that gave people access to most of the same content as HBO Go, but it didn't rely on a cable TV subscription. Both services were officially ended in late 2020 and have been replaced by HBO Max.
Signing up for HBO Max
HBO Max has two available subscription options. Accessing the service with ads costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year and does not include access to Warner Brothers movie premiers the same day as they are shown in theaters. The ad-free version of the service is $14.99 per month or $149.99 per year and does include same-day Warner Brothers movie premiers. The ad-free service also allows subscribers to download their favorites to watch on the go and to stream in 4K UHD, when available. HBO Max offers an option to watch episodes of the latest and most popular series. Free trials of the service are available through some of their distribution points. You can subscribe by visiting the HBO Max website and selecting Sign Up Now. On Apple devices, you can subscribe directly through Apple. Bundled subscriptions are also available for AT&T subscribers as well as from other cable services.
Supported Platforms
HBO Max is available on a wide array of platforms. Apps are available for Amazon, Apple, Google, and Roku devices. HBO Max is also available from AT&T, Cox, DIRECTV, Hulu, Optimum, Spectrum, Verizon Fios, Xfinity, and YouTube TV, and for the following connected devices: Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, LG Smart TVs, Roku, Samsung TV, and VIZIO SmartCast TV. You can also access HBO Max via a web browser from computers running Chrome OS, macOS, or Windows, and PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One game consoles.
Beginning in December 2020 Wonder Woman 1984 was the first movie on HBO Max to be offered with Dolby Atmos. Since then, a select list of movies and shows is available with higher-quality audio and/or video features.
Getting Help with HBO Max
The HBO Max Help Center has informative articles on topicssuch as signing up for the service, getting started, supported devices, browsing and searching, and changing languages. If the available information doesn't solve your problem you can Contact HBO online or call them at 855-442-6629.
Audio Description on HBO Max
HBO Max began providing audio description for some of their content in March 2021. In a settlement with the American Council of the Blind, Warner Media Direct, LLC agreed to offer 1,500 hours of described new and existing content on their HBO Max service by the end of March 2021 and that number will increase to 3,000 hours by March 2022, and at least 6,000 hours by the end of March 2023. Initially their offerings included popular movies such as Dunkirk, popular series such as Sex in the City, and major Warner Brothers "same day as theater" releases. Other notable titles available with audio description include all of the Harry Potter movies as well as classics including Casablanca, Fatal Attraction, the Great Gatsby, In the Heat of the Night, Wonder Woman, Jurassic Park, and King Kong; and series such as Friends, Chernobyl, Game of Thrones, and The Sopranos. The HBO Max Help Center maintains a page with details about HBO Max accessibility features. Audio description is only available in English. This page also states that audio description is not available on all supported devices, but the company is continuing to work toward this.
To find titles with audio description, HBO Max maintains a page at HBO Max Audio Described Titles. The American Council of the Blind's Audio Description Project lists HBO Max titles in its Master AD list and maintains an HBO Max page that lists all audio-described titles available on the service. Titles can be viewed by Movies Only, Series Only, By Year, By Genre, By Rating, and Recent Additions.
In the iOS and Android apps, there is a Browse Menu button in the top left corner. Double tapping the button reveals a list of categories. At the very bottom, after the alphabetical list of genres, is Audio Description. Once opened, the audio description category is divided into nine subsections: series, movies, Originals, action, comedy, documentaries, drama, kids and family, and fantasy and sci-fi. Each month, HBO Max removes dozens of titles. In the apps, these titles are listed in a category called "Catch These Hits Before they Leave This Month." On the ACB website, the audio-described titles slated for removal are tagged with "pull date" followed by their date of removal. Even if you download a title that is on the removal list, once its pull date arrives, you will find that the downloaded title has expired and cannot be played.
HBO Max on an iPhone
The main screen of the HBO Max app has three tabs: Home, Search, and My Profile. After logging in or when you first open the HBO Max app, you're on the Home tab with the Browse Menu button in the upper left corner. It will take you to a list of program genres. At the very bottom of the list is Audio Description. On the main portion of the Home tab is where you'll find featured series and movies, as well as your Continue Watching list, For You (recommendations), and My List. For You is a row on the Home screen with show and movie recommendations based on what you've watched in the past. You can start watching something from this row or you can add a show or movie recommendation to My List to watch later.
The Search tab has links to Explore Collections, and Popular Searches. At the very bottom of the page it asks: What are you looking for? with a search field to enter your own search text.
The My Profile tab has three tabs at the top of the screen. They are: My Lists, where you have added items of interest to you; Downloads, containing items you have downloaded for viewing offline; and Continue Watching, containing items that you have started to watch but haven't finished.
To enable audio description for a title, do the following:
1. While content is playing, double tap to bring up the player controls. 2. Flick to Audio and Subtitles and double tap it. 3. The list of audio languages is on the left and subtitle languages is on the right. If the title is described, English—Audio Description will be listed as one of the available audio languages. Double tap it. 4. Double tap the Close Audio and Subtitles Options button in the upper right corner. 5. The program now resumes playing.
Once you have selected audio description for a title, it will be on for each title that contains it.
HBO Max on an Apple TV
The main tabs on the Apple TV app are Home, Movies, Series, Browse, and Hubs. There is a Search button above the tabs list, and a Profile button above that where you can select/create the profile of another family member. The Home tab is similar to that found on the iPhone. Movies and Series list Just Added, Most Popular, and many genres. Browse lists genres with Audio Description at the very bottom. Hubs lists movies and series organized by brand such as HBO, Max Originals, DC, Classics curated by TCM, Adult Swim, and Cartoon Network.
You can turn on audio description by doing the following:
1. While content is playing, flick down once on the remote control. 2. Flick right to the Audio tab and click the remote to select it. 3. Flick down and you will hear "Full dynamic range." Flick left once to get to the list of languages. 4. Flick up and down to hear the list of languages. If the title is described, English—Audio Description will be listed as one of the available audio languages. Click the remote on it. 5. The program now resumes playing.
Once you have enabled audio description for a title, it will be on for all subsequent titles that include it.
HBO Max on an Android Phone
The Android version of the HBO Max app is very similar to the one on the iPhone. It has the same three tabs at the bottom of the screen—Home, Search and My Profile—with similar content. The process for turning on audio description is exactly the same as it is for the iPhone.
HBO Max on an Amazon Fire TV Stick and Fire TV
Audio description is now available on the Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. The app is similar to the one found on the Apple TV. It has five tabs arranged vertically: Home, Movies, Series, Browse, and Hubs. The Audio Description category is below the list of genres in the Browse tab. It is divided into the same nine subsections as in the iPhone app, but, in this case, the screen content changes as you arrow to each subsection.
The HBO Max app on these devices has some accessibility problems. Many menu items speak inconsistently or not at all making it very difficult to enable audio description independently. But the audio description setting persists across titles, so once it is turned on for one title, it will play wherever it is available in the app.
HBO Max on a Roku Device
The HBO Max app on Roku devices has major accessibility problems. Many buttons speak inconsistently or do not speak at all. At the moment, audio description is not available for HBO Max on Roku devices.
Conclusion
While HBO Max is a relatively new service, it brings with it much of the older content accrued by HBO over many years. The service is supported on virtually all platforms and has a wide variety of content. Their apps are accessible on the most popular Apple and Android devices, but Amazon and others still have major accessibility limitations. They have continued to add audio described titles on a regular basis and have stated their intension to improve the accessibility across all of their supported platforms.
This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.
