HBO Max Is Officially Making a Major Change to Streaming

Published Jul 28, 2026, 12:05 PM EDT

Adam Blevins began working in the entertainment industry in 2022 as a Staff Writer for Agents of Fandom, where he progressed to Senior Editor and interviewed talent from Marvel Studios, House of the Dragon, and Planet of the Apes. He joined Collider as a News Author in April 2024, was promoted to a Senior position in December 2024, and has written over 3,000 articles for the site, including exclusives relating to Avengers: Doomsday, The Penguin, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and more. He primarily writes about the latest box office numbers and the hottest movies and TV shows on streaming, while also covering superhero and sci-fi news. He has completed a set visit for The Chosen and even has several months of experience writing Gaming Features at ScreenRant. You can find him on X, LinkedIn, and Muckrack.

HBO has had a massive year so far in 2026, and it can all be traced back to much earlier in the year, when the streamer debuted two of its biggest shows of all time in a span of only a few weeks. The first big HBO show of 2026 to hit the screen was the highly anticipated second season of The Pitt, starring Noah Wyle. HBO then followed The Pitt Season 2 with the debut season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the Game of Thrones show that takes place before the events of the original series but after House of the Dragon, which is also back for Season 3. HBO is widely known for having one of the most user-friendly interfaces on the streaming marketplace, but that isn’t stopping the studio from doubling down and ensuring that it keeps this title.

This week, HBO announced a new initiative for HBO Max, launching two new mobile features to support enhanced content discovery. These new features include a Vertical Video Feed known as “HBO Max Shorts,” and an Experimental Conversation Search Tool, which is powered by AI. HBO Max Shorts is designed to help users discover something to watch by choosing from a feed of trailers, clips, and bonus content. The new feature is being first tested with iOS, and it’s expected to roll out across more devices later this year. Meanwhile, a new language tool under the “Ask HBO Max” tab is now available for adult users on Android Mobile, which uses natural language understanding to recommend relevant videos, movies, and TV shows depending on whether the user is in the mood for comedies, family dramas, epic thrillers, or the best movie for a friend group movie night.

Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.

You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.

You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world’s beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.

You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what’s right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.

You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.

You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.

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