Zenither describes itself as a “TV Anywhere platform”. On reading that brief app description, you might be a bit confused what Zenither is supposed to be. Is it TV? Like, a mini-TV in your pocket?
Well, yes, that’s pretty much right.
Zenither acts as a way to stream, direct to your mobile device or desktop, any of the television or movies they have on offer. Zenither does this using a simple, functional UI that is extremely reminiscent of the old, classic TV guides you’d find on the TV in your basement.
It’s a well-known truth that the age of boxset TV – of watching television in your living room and reading the TV guide – is dying. More people than ever now only watch TV using their devices, lying huddled in the fetal position under their covers with whatever Netflix or Hulu has on offer.
This is a big problem for networks, as it is much harder to be profitable when only making content for streaming services. If networks suffer, that just means there are fewer good programs potentially being made by those networks.
Thankfully, Zenither exists to make the whole system a lot easier.[sc name=”quote” text=”Thankfully, Zenither exists to make the whole system a lot easier.”]
Zenither works by partnering with networks and displaying their shows with an easy to use interface. Viewers can subscribe to certain channels to be kept up to date with their favorite type of broadcasts, as well as interact with one another through a chat system.
This means that networks will not only be able to monitor viewers’ viewing habits thanks to in-built analytical software provided by Zenither, but they will be able to observe the communications that their viewers are having while watching their content.
This allows for an entirely new type of interactivity between the consumers and the producers – unprecedented insight into people’s thoughts freely shared while chatting. This can only lead to better shows more tailored to people’s desires.
Zenither is still in an early beta state and has a lot of new features still to come, such as the ability to track future releases you might be interested in, making it easier than ever to keep up on your favorite shows.[sc name=”quote” text=”such as the ability to track future releases you might be interested in, making it easier than ever to keep up on your favorite shows.”]
To watch any program, you simply navigate to its channel, following on the selected timeslot until you reach the right time, then the app opens the stream for you. It even provides the intros and special sections of older movies as separate files so you don’t have to navigate through them irritatingly.
The only drawback of Zenither is that, once again, it still is in early beta, meaning there’s a lot of features still a bit unpolished – slow stream loading times and a slight dearth in the number of total channels available are the main ones.
However, Zenither only has the potential to get better with more time and design invested into the app, as well as more networks affliating themselves with Zenither.
Thanks to Zenither, it’s going to be easier than ever to be a couch potato, which can only be a good thing.
[review pros=”Convenient way to be a couch potato. Intelligent, sleek and efficient design reminiscent of old TV guides.” cons=”A lot features are still yet to come.” score=8]
[appbox googleplay com.sciodev.zenither]
