Max just made a big change, and your streaming life will probably get easier

(Image credit: Max)

Max is relocating its top navigation menu to the side.
It's also adding two new ways for you to find content to stream.
The design change is starting to roll out slowly now to TVs.

If you’ve opened up the Max app on your TV and noticed the top navigation bar is, well, no longer at the top, you’re not seeing things. It’s part of a redesigned navigation menu that the streaming service is starting to roll out after a successful test in Latin America.

This change is only arriving for TVs – so smart interfaces or a streaming box like the Roku Ultra or Apple TV 4K – not for the web interface or mobile apps.

Where did your easy navigation to HBO go? I mean, we all need our Larry David fix courtesy of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Where did Sports, News, and Series go? Well, not that far, as it now resides in a new menu bar on the left side of the screen. And with it, Max is offering new ways to find curated content.

A look at the new navigation bar for Max.

What’s New is a bit more than the name suggests as well. Yes, it will serve up the latest arrivals on Max, but it will also shine a light on content that will be arriving in short order, but also – and maybe more importantly – the movies, TV shows, and documentaries that will be leaving. This way, you can get one or two more watches of the stuff you’re sad to see go.

Categories is a bit more self-explanatory but will break down content by different themes, genres, and brands. Either way, both new sections are welcomed additions to the preexisting ones, all there to help you find the shows and movies you want to watch faster.

Max’s navigation menu, living on the left, also cleans up the top of the interface, letting you see the top carousel image with little to no distractions. It might also let Max roll out more cinematic top visuals to promote its latest or featured content.

This rollout is not available to every Max subscriber at once, either, so don’t fret if you’re not seeing it yet. It will take some time to reach a subset of users first and eventually expand to the full customer base on connected TV devices around the world and wherever the streaming service is available. In a shared release, Max notes that the design might be “slightly modified across regions to fit local needs.”

It’ll be interesting to see the broader user reaction to Max’s navigation menu redesign, whether it gets tweaked further, and whether other streaming services will implement changes based on these. You might recall that Amazon gave Prime Video a big redesign this summer, and you can see our early hands-on with it here.

But considering we’re talking about Max, check out our favorite content on the platform here.

Jacob Krol is the US Managing Editor, News for TechRadar. He’s been writing about technology since he was 14 when he started his own tech blog. Since then Jacob has worked for a plethora of publications including CNN Underscored, TheStreet, Parade, Men’s Journal, Mashable, CNET, and CNBC among others.

He specializes in covering companies like Apple, Samsung, and Google and going hands-on with mobile devices, smart home gadgets, TVs, and wearables. In his spare time, you can find Jacob listening to Bruce Springsteen, building a Lego set, or binge-watching the latest from Disney, Marvel, or Star Wars.