Newsletter
Shortly after Disney wrote a check to Comcast for their stake in Hulu, Disney has now rolled out a new beta update to the Disney Plus app, which brings Hulu to Disney Plus. Hulu on Disney Plus is in beta and available to bundle subscribers only. The new experience will launch in the Spring, and Disney says this is an “exciting next step for Disney and its streaming endeavors.”
Starting today, those that subscribe to both Disney Plus and Hulu through the same email address will see a new Hulu tile on the home screen. It will appear next to Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic tiles. Making it fit fluidly inside the app.
Once you click on the Hulu tile, you’ll be taken to the Hulu Hub. This is where you will find thousands of movies and series from Hulu’s library, available in the Disney Plus app.
Hulu and Disney Plus will continue to be available as standalone apps, as well as Hulu + Live TV only being available through the Hulu app. The full Hulu SVOD content library will remain in Hulu.
It’s a beta, so expect some bugs
As mentioned already, this is currently in beta, so expect some bugs with Hulu on Disney Plus. There are reports that there is no Continue Watching synchronization between the two apps right now. So if you start watching a show on Hulu and then open Disney Plus to continue watching, it won’t be synced up.
There is also currently no sidebar for easy navigation within the Hulu section of Disney Plus. Hopefully, that is something that Disney plans to launch soon. As there are many titles available on Hulu, a good navigation bar is going to be crucial.
As mentioned already, this Hulu Hub is not a replacement for the Hulu app. This is further explained by the fact that the entire Hulu library is not available on Disney Plus. The big question here is, how many Hulu titles will be available on Disney Plus versus those only available on Hulu’s app? I would venture to guess that the content Disney owns is available on Hulu, while licensed content is not.