CuriosityStream Reviews

by Levik71

The thought is there. But in practice CuriosityStream is a complete failure. The interface is glitchy and buggy. The fact that i cant toggle make CuriosityStream stop streaming after one episode or continue playing is rather annoying. But by FAR the worst thing about this. Is the fact that for the life of me I cant figure out why the closed captioning feature cant be disabled. I am a visual person and when i see some dumb(and typically incorrect) subtitle on the bottom of my screen it drives me insane. Have tried to find a resolution for this to no avail. Have already canceled my subscription and will not come back until they fix that.

by Fxmart

This is a terribly designed app. The search function is useless, search results have no apparent relation with the terms searched. CuriosityStream does not keep track of the show currently being watched, it simply goes back to the home screen if you switch to another app. When you come back, you have to search again for the show (good luck with that!) and start it from the beginning. You have to manually search for the point where you left. CuriosityStream keeps a list of “shows for you”, but the items in this list change randomly, with no apparent reason. It is not possible to select which shows are on the list. Please update it as soon as possible, as it is CuriosityStream is barely functional.

by Gee8mao

CANCELING SUBSCRIPTION: So, the content is good, but the iPhone app likes to freeze the video fairly regularly upon starting, while the audio continues. I haven’t noticed this on my iPads or Apple TVs. But what kills it for me, and why I’m canceling, is because someone thought that it was soooo intelligent and sooo smart to get ADT to sponsor the programming "without commercial interruptions".

Cute. But in a totally cynical and sarcastic way. Because, now, we’re forced to watch an unskippable ADT commercial before a episode will play.

Technically, "without commercial interruptions", but with a commercial. Technically, a perverse technicality.

Okay, let’s recap here. ONE; I’m PAYING to watch documentaries, not ads from horrible companies. TWO; anyone who has ever dealt with ADT will tell you that they’re a horrible, horrible company, with absolutely ZERO ethics. Their sole mission is to swindle folks with their bait-and-switch schemes. So, to financially align yourself with such a company is unconscionable: you’re quite literally profiting from money that ADT has swindled from the backs of hard-working Americans, Curiousity Stream!

SHAME ON YOU!

by TheL0r4x

Interesting wwII content by not terribly diverse. Largely taken from national broadcasters of secondary nations which gives interesting perspective. Unfortunately this perspective gives equal or more weight to very marginal and indeed corrupt positions. Examples being Algerian terrorists bombing ice parlour and listening to her anti-western rants favouring killing children, or PLO blaming of “west ignoring Zionism” as cause for Munich attack and murder of 11 Jews, or trying to marginalized church’s role in maintaining European civilization during dark ages by propagating lie about anti-Copernicus position etc. Only based on content I’ve watched so far of course but largely typical lefty equivalence poison.

by Grievousfan91

I recently subscribed for a whole year of this service, and it is the best value in streaming I’ve found. The content is of high quality and right up my alley. Both new programs and ones I haven’t seen in years that cater to my interests in science and history. My only issue concerns screen mirroring to my tv. I use a lightning to HDMI adapter to mirror my iPhone XR and CuriosityStream regularly will cause the picture either fade to black, freeze, or simple cut out. I never lose audio, but the image seems to always to act up on me.

by Skupinicecream

There are a lot of things I like about this service including the MiniPlayer and overall content but there is a serious problem with the stream quality dropping randomly. I’m not paying for the highest 4K streaming quality so I am not expecting perfection, but when I say the quality drops, I mean it drops to giant squares of color that render the image completely unidentifiable. Instead of 1080p HD which i am paying for, I am get what looks like 144p on screen every couple minutes. Again, this is not all the time, but it’s enough to be really annoying- especially because it even happens on my high powered computer when plugged into internet via Ethernet cable...

by Lizzieb0301

There is nothing I like better than a good documentary. And for the first month I was extremely happy with CuriosityStream . However, for the past week all I have been able to watch is the first minute or two of the episodes. I sent an email to customer support and never heard back. The other problem I had was that saving videos ate up a huge amount of memory on my iPad. When I went to delete them, I found videos on my iPad that I had no idea about

by Curious Gwen

The documentaries I’ve watched so far have been super informative and engaging but I’m noticing some big gaps in the catalogue. When you look at the history documentaries, there are very few documentaries about non-European history.

I’m really curious about the history of Latin America or Native Americans, for example, but when I search for a particular country or for “Native American” or “Latin America,” I’m more like to get documentaries about, Europe, American national parks, pollinators, or the American frontier. This is also partly due to flaws with their search algorithm, which seems to be hit or miss, but there really are very few documentaries about non European/American history.

The nature documentary catalogue seems to be much more comprehensive, and again the documentaries I’ve watched so far I’ve really enjoyed.

But these gaps in the catalogue are concerning. If the gaps were filled, immediate 5 stars for me, as this brings back the childhood joy of watching the Discovery Channel or the Science Channel.

by Gembrigade

I’ve been subscribed to this app for over a year now and it’s fantastic! However, it seems with the latest update that there are some glitches to be worked out.
Specifically
When watching a series sometimes it just cuts and acts like I finished the episode even if I’m only 1/4th the way through it and asks if I want to rewatch the series.

And it seems a lot laggier than it did a year ago.

by Sally Aa

I love the diversity of the content on CuriosityStream and sometimes I spend all my weekend watching!
However, I have CuriosityStream on my Apple TV, and it works fine as long as CuriosityStream itself autoplay episodes/programs.. etc.
However, if I browse and select a show then starts playing, CuriosityStream shuts down in the 1st minute. This happens with all the contents.
I tried everything to fix it, the only thing that works is to reset CuriosityStream and reopen it. When I do, then my selected show would be in the list of “shows for you” and if I open it from there, it works fine. Otherwise, i just can’t select a show and play it!
I hope developers can fix this soon.
For the subscription fee, the least I would expect, is a smooth experience!

I have to thank you for the content though, wonderful selection and most are very new!
Keep up the good work!
Thank you

by Tpeasetiger

I love CuriosityStream so far, but right when I began using it I had a few first impressions of possible improvements.

It doesn’t seem as if videos are able to enter into wide screen when I rotate my device. I have to manually press the full screen button. I would like it if CuriosityStream included the full screen when rotating device option.

Also, when entering and exiting full screen mode the video begins playing again. This isn’t such a big deal, but I would like it if CuriosityStream remembered when I paused the video I was watching instead of starting it again whenever I exit or enter full screen.

Other than those few minor details, the price for this streaming service is incredible, and the content looks amazing as well. I can’t wait to make more use of it!

by Lady Sue 420

And it was the the first time I saw it that I had a a lot more more and I had a little bit The The first thing that is a great day far you and I love it and it looks so nice and beautiful I hope it works well for for me a lot better and more fun than a good one for the last week of my birthday and it

by Woiufpovzcn

For documentary lovers CuriosityStream has some cool content, I don’t care that I can probably find it elsewhere, I like that it’s all here in one place. The user experience used to be poor, but it’s consistently improved with every update and is really good now. I originally got CuriosityStream because I like to fall asleep listening to documentaries, but for this purpose I ended up with a $5 monthly PBS subscription, they have the most soothing documentary voices to fall asleep to! (With Curiosity Stream it’s hit or miss finding something without loud parts that will wake you up, with PBS you’re guaranteed a good snooze!)

by MrBumpie

I’m a documentary junkie ! This definitely scratches my itch for knowledge! A great value too ! This is like having PBS’s Nova, the Science Channel, Nat Geo and the Discovery channels rolled in to one, just a click away ! They say variety is the spice of life, CuriosityStream is a full on spice cabinet!
One feature I especially enjoy is how mainstream media usually just touches on an event, where CuriosityStream goes in depth on the story. An example is the recent discovery of a black hole. A two minute cover on mainstream media After watching a story on this app l now understand it better. The bonus is seeing the people behind its discovery. It’s like they are having a conversation with me in my living room ! Education with no test questions, just for pure educational knowledge!
Kudos to the developers and those associated with the development of this amazing app! A sincere thank you to the men and women behind the development and production of CuriosityStream !

by Eman1619

CuriosityStream is so, so. Sometimes has trouble loading and doesn’t have the robust interface that other big name services have. Best way to describe it is hollow or fragile.

That being said its worth every bit of trouble and patience. This is the best and most comprehensive quality documentary streaming service I’ve ever seen. Use it daily and worth every penny!

by Mcedno

World class documentaries that are so beautiful to watch, vivid colors, landscapes, oceans, mountains, different science, history, tech and other content. I have been wanting to have something like this for years and just by a friend’s referral I found out about this service. You can’t go wrong. Buy the subscription, it will bring you tremendous value and honestly I can’t believe how fair the pricing is. Enjoy!

by Jgv1958

Lots of titles and more and more are being added everyday, however there is many bugs and glotches in CuriosityStream that deter from the experience. for example when streaming to chromecast when i move to pause the program it always restarts it when CuriosityStream gets opened. many more bugs, hiring developers to fix these bugs would help the experience greatly.

by JRP-birds!

The content is great and there’s plenty of it. Price is great! Best of all, no commercials and no rehashing of what has already been covered. CuriosityStream is very glitchy.

It’s how the History Channel and Discovery Channel used to be before they went to “reality” type programs.

CuriosityStream is glitchy. Can’t stop a program and come back to it later and start from where you left off. App will crash for no reason. No way to tell if you have already watched an episode in a series so you’ll have to keep track of where you left off.

by Pkjcggyv

The content is impressive, well worth the subscription.
On other streaming services, I have found documentaries lacking. It’s usually one or two good ones hidden in a pile of overly dramatic, patronizing docutainment narrated by hosts whose last job was narrating commercials for selling trucks or “rad” 80’s children's toys. It’s those or reality tv style crud.

This service is way better. Everything I’ve watched so far seems facts driven instead of shock/gross-out/train-wreck driven.

I do understand some viewers may prefer the more human angle and less facts and data. There are plenty of documentaries on other services that will show you an impossibly specific (made up) family story that could have happened based on a glass pane found in Pompeii to pull at your heart strings and help you care about about glass but I’m glad there is still a service still putting out documentaries that just cover glass because glass is interesting. They are getting harder to find.

by Wordoass1

CS is great, especially at a time when watching any television has become difficult for so many, myself included. But CS could do a better job of avoiding politics in some if its programs. Please don’t give me opinion disguised as fact. I am not curious about your opinions. Otherwise, this channel is like the Discovery Channel was in the beginning. I’ll keep selectively watching.

by Cmm472

CS has some good shows but many of them don’t go into enough detail. There is one show called Dynasties that skips from one topic to the next without much continuity and on the Kennedy family tree you included Caroline and made no mention of JFK Jr. Other programs are short, 10 minute sound bites. The Roku app kept crashing my device. In a series, it doesn’t automatically play the next episode. There’s a like button but no dislike button. I’m not going to continue my subscription, there are too many bugs. Why bother to provide a decent viewing experience, it’s only 3 bucks and nobody watches anyway.

by Jedi J0E

This review is just for the phone app. I enjoy the content on my smart TV without any issues. The phone app is very buggy. Trying to go full screen is buggy. The video often pauses and doesn’t keep up with the audio. This in not a network problem. None of my other video apps have this issue. I also have gigabit internet and the best WiFi router available.
Please fix the bugs! I would like to be able to recommend this but right now I can’t.

by OMAOILRIAN

CuriosityStream is only worth 2 stars. But the content is worth 5! The service is amazing. I just wish the experience on the Apple TV worked. The home screen fails to load. It continues to show your logo spinning. CuriosityStream works on my Nvdia Shield and on my TCL TV WITH built in Roku. I use my Apple TV as my primary streaming device because of the TV App integration, which is spotty at best. Please fix these issues so I can go back to watching your service on my preferred device.

by Chaboomy

I was disappointed to find out the logon for CuriosityStream doesn’t work with Comcast Xfinity’s SSO web services for authentication. What that means is layman’s terms is that while I’m paying for this app on my Xfinity bill, I can’t access that content in CuriosityStream . Showtime and HBO have already figured this out, as I can logon to their apps using my Comcast account credentials. The developers at this app need to figure this out too.

by Rtphokie

After many back-and-forth emails with the same boilerplate questions over and over that focused on bandwidth issues, rather than addressing a flaw in the Apple TV app which was causing programs not to play but the ads before them did, An update to CuriosityStream finally got Curiosity Stream more stable.

My 200+Mbps down 25+Mbps up with 20 ms ping time connection clearly wasn’t the problem, especially since ads ran just fine and this app was the only app behaving this way.

This kind of red herring support isn’t just frustrating and a waste of time, it sends the message to the customer that it couldn’t possibly be us, the problem must be on your end.

Support was unaware of the update too

by Boobootrink

I’m using v2.4 on a iPad. Once a show starts using mirroring on my tv, the limited pause and 15 second forward and backward controls disappear so there is no way to pause, rewind or fast forward. If I stop the show, it can only restart from the beginning. Please fix this. I mean, it’s not like this hasn’t been solved about 1,000 times already by other vendors.

by 683710uniq

Why is it so buggy when flipping from portrait to horizontal? Why can’t it use the accelerometer to do this? Why does it often freeze the video the first time it’s flipped to horizontal?

Why does it recommend things I already watched- and why not indicate that I’ve already seen it, instead of drowning my suggestions with things that belong in my history?

Also Is there a way to sort by content length?

by Wyldoxz

The content is superb. It’s what the History, Science, and Discovery Channels used to be before they were all infected by the reality tv bug and lost sight of their true purpose.

That being said, the inability to disable or otherwise control the auto-play (on iOS and TVOS) is frustrating. It doesn’t even pull something next from your watchlist, which means some random video that one may or may not be interested in is now taking up residence in one’s feed and history. It’s a nuisance.

by Jham102

Like the programs so far, but it could use more 4K content though, especially for the premium price. I’m a pretty big science/historical/animal tv show kinda guy and there’s a lot of stuff I haven’t seen on the premium cable channels. I do think the “dashboard” could use an overhaul, it’s like Netflix, but not as user friendly. This review is based on the Apple TV app, I’ve yet to use it on my iPad or iPhone.

by Haritun

Superb content at a great price.
CuriosityStream could be made better, but that’s not a serious issue. As long as you guys have great content, I don’t care about CuriosityStream bugs and interface.
Love you guys for sharing so many science and tech documentaries. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have learnt so much.

You have got a customer for life.

by Donnarella41

I usually am not easily persuaded to watch TV but since we subscribed to this channel we have watched countless educational shows. I especially loved the episodes about Dogs and also the history of Gettysburg and Abe Lincoln. Those that have young children this station is a MUST!