RTÉ Player 12+

Something happened to a recording of a programme so I was forced to resort to Player. I remembered almost immediately why I detest the app.
I don’t get 30 minutes straight to sit down and watch programmes. Sometimes I’m grabbing 5 minutes with a coffee. Being forced to spend 2 of those minutes watching ads is frustrating. It’s difficult to search for content and when you shut down the app, the programme disappears. Inability to fast forward or rewind is frustrating too.
To think that my TV licence costs me more than my streaming services but the latter are exponentially better is, wait for it, frustrating.

Possibly the worst media player available, RTÉ moved from a sometimes glitchy player to a branded skin over the previous (hugely complained about) TV3/Virgin player. However the performance is significantly worse than that virgin iteration of the app. Huge battery drain, ads audio plays in background while show is streaming, app has no effective tracking of how much of an episode you have watched or where you might be in a series, it frequently clears the list of programmes you have marked as favourite, often crashes, has poor rewind/fast forward capabilities. All core functionality, I cannot understand how the developer’s services are retained after consistent failure to deliver a viable product to meet what should have been basic contract provisions. It’s a shame, I don’t agree with general RTÉ bashing about content, there is quite a lot of good and important programming, I just wish I could watch it

Difficult to know where to start with this. The RTÉ player has no redeeming features. You cannot download content to watch later, content is infested with ads, it’s slow, it’s glitchy, and it drains battery life. There are people being paid well into 6 figures to oversee operational issues including the Player at the Irish state broadcaster, who in any other company would be sacked for wasting money and mismanagement. It is a disgrace that they are insulated by the public sector and not held to account for shoddy work. This player platform could be such an asset but instead it is representative of all the problems that exist with traditional linear-first broadcasters. Don’t waste your time. Download Channel 4’s player instead. It is simply excellent and it is free.