Pluto TV’s website has had a bit of an upgrade recently, with a few changes implemented to improve the site’s speed and user interface.
The most visible change for returning users is the site’s snappier performance — which can be attributed to a more streamlined implementation of HTML on the back end.
Previously, viewers were able to browse content in the site’s On-Demand section while streaming, but the program they were viewing at the time was reduced to a thumbnail in the corner while the bulk of the screen’s real estate was taken up by a busy menu of tiles as shown here.
Pluto TV has thankfully flipped the script on this one by minimizing whatever you’re streaming to about half of its size and populating the lower portion of the screen with your other options:
This allows your show to still take precedent and not get lost in a jumble of similarly-sized titles. Your eyes will be grateful for the decrease in clutter, and the transition is now buttery smooth.
Viewers can also now mark channels as favorites and compile watch lists while in live mode.
Along with the previously available full-screen viewing mode, Pluto TV’s player allows a new “full window” option which includes custom backgrounds that match the colors of the channel’s logo.
Some of these changes were implemented last month for selected viewers, but it remains unclear if the new features were released in error, or if the service was running a quick beta test of the features.
The improvements will no doubt be welcome creature comforts and they speak to PlutoTV’s importance in ViacomCBS’s stable of content providers.
Pluto TV
Pluto TV is a free live TV streaming service that provides more than 350 channels of live TV and thousands of on demand movies and TV shows.
The free TV service was nearing 50 million active monthly users in early May and appears to be a critical pillar for the company as they continue to look for ways to increase subscriptions to Paramount+ and navigate how to best manage their services to continue growth, carve brand identities between them, and navigate how to do so without competing with themselves.
Pluto TV has been steadily adding content in the form of curated channels featuring classic programming like Jersey Shore and Judge Judy. The free, ad-supported platform has also launched 50 Spanish language channels in May in the form of Pluto TV en Español.