[Update: July 27] HBO Max app not working or black screen issue on Android TV after recent update comes to light

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on December 22, 2021) follows:

HBO Max has grown to become one of the largest video streaming services with over 69.4 million users in just 4 years. So, if there comes any bug in the service, those millions are affected.

With that being said, HBO Max users come across several bugs and issues on a frequent basis. Recently, many have reported that Insecure season 5 episode 3 is not playing.

And now, a section of users is reporting (1, 2, 3) an issue where the HBO Max app isn’t loading or showing a black screen on Android TV. And all this is happening after they upgraded the app to the latest version.

Here are some reports for reference:

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the app and updated the tv’s software but it just goes to a black screen when I open the app. I see other people are having problems with it working on Chrome and I wonder if that’s something similar (Source)

So hbo max won’t open on my Android tv anymore. It worked fine for months then suddenly stopped. It works fine on my PC or phone. I tried reinstalling it and clearing cache, but nothing. I also formatted the tv back to factory settings and reinstalled hbo max. Still the same black screen. This is the only app this is happening on. Anyone else run into this problem? (Source)

Users say that the app starts as usual with a screen showing HBO Max, but after some time, it crashes and loads into a black screen.

Those affected have tried some basic workarounds such as clearing cache/data and re-installing the app, but nothing seems to work.

This is frustrating since users are unable to use the HBO Max app on Android TV. It becomes even more frustrating when you pay for a service that you don’t get.

Unfortunately, neither HBO Max nor Google has come out to officially acknowledge this issue. However, HBO Max’s support team has been responding to the reports, asking for details on the issue, or providing some basic workarounds.

Thanks for the reply! Does this TV use Android TV software? In the meantime, let’s try removing the app and then restarting your TV. After it’s back on, reinstall HBO Max and see if your experience improves any. Please let us know! ^LB (Source)

That said, we shall keep tabs on this development and inform you as and when anything new comes to our notice. And whenever anything pops up, we will update the space down below, so stay tuned.

For what it’s worth, we have a dedicated HBO Max bug tracker where we mention all those issues that users have been facing with the service along with official acknowledgment and their solutions if any.

IST 10:06 am: According to one of the affected users, a new HBO Max update has rolled out and this seems to fix the issue completely. As such, others might want to update to the latest version of the app.

A new update is available to fix this issue. I’ve downloaded it and everything is working again.
Source

IST 06:30 pm: According to recent reports, the HBO Max black screen issue is still happening. It is also not limited to Android TV as there are similar reports from Chromebooks and Opera browser users (1, 2, 3, 4).

Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated HBO section, so make sure to follow them as well.

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