[Updated] HBO Max 'Can't Play Title' glitch yet to be fixed months after acknowledgement, support asking for more feedback

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….
Original story (published on January 28, 2022) follows:

Owned by AT&T’s WarnerMedia, HBO Max is a popular subscription-based OTT platform that was launched in May of 2020. As of December of 2021, the video streaming service had over 73.8 million registered users.

But as is the case with every streaming service, subscribers do encounter some bugs and issues at times.

In the last few weeks, users have reported an issue where the HBO Max app was not working on Android TV while others complained about the subtitle placement being too high.

And now, HBO Max subscribers are reporting (1,2,3,4,5) another issue where they are getting a ‘Can’t Play Title. We’re having trouble playing this video. Please try again later’ error message preventing them from watching a show.

Others say that the app indicates that they are offline. Generic solutions such as clearing data and cache and reinstalling the app do not seem to make any difference either.

Can’t Play Title
I keep getting this message. I recall getting it before and in both cases I had hooked a monitor to my Mac book. Cannot remember how I got around it last time. The monitor is now disconnected, and HBO MAX was streaming perfectly fine before I hooked up the monitor. I’ve restarted, cleared caches, and everything is updated. Would someone please advise? Thank you.
(Source)

Hello, I turned on HBO Max on our Roku ONN Soundbar yesterday and received the “Can’t Play Title” prompt. App opens fine, you can search movies/shows…but nothing will play. App says it is compatible with version 10.0 or higher on my Soundbar, which it is. I also experienced sound cutting out/stopping along with the video play back freezing prior to this issue? Any thoughts? Thanks! I see others are having issues as well.
(Source)

As it turns out, HBO Max had acknowledged the issue where users are getting the ‘Can’t play title’ error on the Roku ONN Soundbar four months ago.

Hi! This is an issue we’re aware of with the Roku Soundbar. We’ve escalated this to our development team and hoping to have a resolution as quickly as we can. Thank you, HBO Max Support
(Source)

Now, the HBO Max support seems to be asking users for more feedback. We hope the developers find out the root cause of the issue and fix it as soon as possible.

In the meantime, make sure to check out our HBO Max bug tracker to check out similar issues affecting users.

12:10 pm (IST): It’s been over a year since the issue was acknowledged, yet some HBO Max users are still experiencing the problem where the ‘Can’t Play Title’ error keeps appearing when consuming content.

It appears that the problem primarily affects Apple TV users at the moment.

I’m constantly getting Can’t Play Title on Apple TV 4K
Source

06:10 pm (IST): We have come across a potential workaround that seems to fix this issue. It involves broadcasting it from your mobile device to your Roku TV:

I finally found a workaround. I watched it on my iPhone and then broadcast it to my Roku TV so that way at least I could still see it on the big screen and I think so high definition I don’t know or whatever but that was my workaround.
Source

03:35 pm (IST): Another user has suggested a potential workaround that involves adjusting a few settings on your Apple TV:

1. On the Apple TV, go to Settings > Video and Audio > Format
2. Change format to SDR
3. Disable “Match Content”
4. Match Dynamic Range – Set to Off
5. Match Frame Rate – Set to Off
Source

07:06 pm (IST): According to a report from TheVerge, HBO Max is working on a fix for the issue where users are getting ‘Can’t play title’ error on Apple TV 4K.

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

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