Crave Review

As a person who watches a lot of movies, I tend to use a few different streaming services. So, I thought why not review these different platforms for people considering using them. The most recent streaming service I’ve gotten is Crave. The service itself has some really great movies and shows and it was smart of them to keep some things exclusive to their platform. However, something that Netflix does really well that Crave does not have is the original content. Such as Stranger Things or Black Mirror. Those big name items where all the revenue goes directly to the company. This means they don’t have to pay another network to have their content on their platform. It’s also something that makes Netflix stand out amongst other streaming services like Crave.




The interface is pretty bad on the laptop version, and even worse on the smart TV. They make everything way harder to find than it needs to be. The categories don’t make much sense because generally people don’t look for films based on if they were ‘Directed By Stanley Kubrick’, ‘Leo & Brad’, or ‘Welcome To The Rock’. Yes, those are actual category names.. I find the mobile version easier to navigate however, given the size of a mobile device, it’s not the ideal way to watch movies in general. Although, I do like how easy it is to cast your movie or show to the TV using the cast option.




Otherwise, when you try to find ‘my list’ you have to go through ‘my cravings’ which is a little on the inconvenient side. However, I do like how under ‘my cravings’ it has my continue watching, list, and watch history all in one place. Which is great if you want to quickly access a show you were in the middle of watching or want to re-watch a movie you have already seen. It makes for easier access, whereas Netflix lacks the feature of being able to see what you have already watched before. Something I do like is the feeling of complete separation between shows and movies. It makes it easier to look for things if you already know you want to watch a movie as an alternative to a show. Instead of them being all mixed together.




Their search engine is a little flaky at times. If you know how to spell what you are looking for it will find it but for example the other day we put ‘MIB’ like it says on the poster picture on crave for men in black and it could not find it. If you are one letter off it also tends to not show results either or find things close to what you entered, simply just no results. However, I do like that you can search my actor or genre and not just by the film or show title.




Interface aside, the content was pretty incredible the first time I looked into it. The amount of films I was instantly excited to watch was crazy. Definitely have a lot to watch over the extended break, and more than enough to keep you occupied. There are many big name movies within the first few look throughs, leaving few films I hadn’t heard of before. Something that is a little frustrating is how you have to pay extra for other areas of the service. Which I think is kind of ridiculous given you are already paying for the service. So you can have access to the Crave content but not the movies and shows that are exclusive to Starz or HBO unless you pay extra. (I have Crave + HBO) Honestly, I don’t think it would be worth getting without HBO exclusives.




Therefore, even though it is challenging to navigate and frustrating to search for content on the site. The service itself has some incredible content that is not on other platforms. If they were to fix the interface I think it would make for a more user friendly experience. When compared to streaming services like Netflix and Disney+, it lacks anything special. But in comparison to Amazon and Apple's try at steaming platforms, Crave is definitely a better option. So if you are looking for another service and already have Netflix and Disney+, I would highly recommend this service. Overall, I believe it is worth giving at least a trial run or subscribing to it.




If you have Crave or plan to get Crave and you are looking for suggestions on what to watch - make sure to check out these posts …




https://www.megsmoviereviews.com/2020/03/15-movies-to-watch-on-crave-to-cure.html



https://www.megsmoviereviews.com/2020/03/10-shows-to-watch-on-crave-when-you-are.html