Apple launched iOS 10.2 and tvOS 10.1 on Monday, both of which include access to Apple’s new “TV” app. It’s a confusing name, given that we now have “Apple TV” the app and “Apple TV” the set-top box, but I digress. It’s a pile of garbage, and it shows exactly how messed up the streaming video market is right now. First things first: Apple TV (the app) is a glorified portal to Hulu, HBO Now and content Apple sells (or you’ve purchased) in iTunes. You can also add CBS, Starz, Showtime, The CW, Tribeca Shortlist, MUBI, CW Seed, Crunchyroll and CuriosityStream, but really you’re just using “Apple TV” to search through the content and then play it in any one of those applications. Also, while it supports HBO’s free-standing HBO Now service, it does not support HBO Go. That’s mind boggling, especially since HBO Go is an add-on option for folks who pay for streaming TV services like Sling TV or AT&T DirecTV Now.

Apple TV (the app) only pulls content from one of the aforementioned streaming TV services, Sling TV, which, again, makes no sense to me. The only folks who are going to be compelled enough to open the app in the first place are folks who are cord-cutters, the ones who are signing up for PlayStation Vue, Sling TV and DirecTV Now. Anyone else is probably just going to open up their cable provider’s app for on-demand watching. It also highlights a bunch of content you probably don’t have access to, even if you pay for it through other means. Like The Simpsons? Awesome. Tap it, it’ll take you to iTunes where you can buy it or to the app store to download another app, “FXNow” before you can start streaming it. For some shows, there’s the option to download “FOX Now” or “FXNow,” which just adds to the confusion. You’ll need to do this for all content that lives in separate applications, unless you use single sign-on, which itself is an atrocity. More on that later.