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

Original story (published on April 19, 2022) follows:

HBO is one of the biggest names in the entertainment industry. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the company has a video-on-demand service named HBO Max.

Soon after its launch, the streaming service gained massive popularity with HBO and HBO Max having more than 73.8 million subscribers at the end of 2021.

HBO-Max

However, issues such as low or poor quality video on the Xbox app and the ‘Can’t play title’ glitch have troubled users in the last few months.

That said, HBO Max subscribers are now saying (1,2,3,4,5) that the play button is either not working or has completely disappeared. Many are frustrated and wondering if they will be able to watch their favorite shows or movies.

Generic troubleshooting steps such as clearing cache and reinstalling the app seem to be making no difference. Below are a few reports from HBO Max subscribers complaining about the play button not working.

HBO-Max-Play-button-not-working-disappeared
Source

@hbomax so the play button on my app does not show up when I select a movie or show to watch. Then if I wait a few minutes, to make popcorn for example, the play button appears as it should. Did the entire world decide to start watching #TheBatman at the same time?
(Source)

Yeah I even restarted the fire stick, no play button. Batman is working cause it’s the premiere movie on the front top of the home page. Only one with a play button. They seem to only want us to watch Batman. Love Twitter. At least I’m not crazy & no need to call my provider.
(Source)

It is interesting to note that many of those affected are trying to watch The Batman. As it turns out, HBO Max Help has commented on the matter and are trying to collect more information about the problem.

Hi there, we can help take a closer look at this issue with the play button on the TV app! Please DM us your HBO Max account email and model TV or TV device to get started. Thanks in advance, ^LD
(Source)

We hope the developers soon find out the root cause of the issue and fix it as soon as possible since the website and app are unusable right now.

As always, we will be keeping tabs on the matter and update this article as and when we come across more information so make sure you stay tuned to PiunikaWeb.

Update 1 (April 20)

10:37 am (IST): It appears that this issue is probably resolved as some users say (1, 2) that the Play button is now working for them. Also, we haven’t come across any fresh reports over the same.

Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated HBO Section so be sure to follow them as well.

PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.

Anurag Chawake
1373 Posts

My fascination with technology and computers goes back to the days of Windows XP. Since then, I have been tinkering with OS, mobile phones, and other things. When I am not working on anything, you will find me enjoying video games on some Discord server.

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