HBO Max | Learn more about playback options and settings available on HBO Max.

When you're watching something, tap the screen to access the following:

You can use Picture in Picture to watch HBO Max while you use other apps on your phone or tablet. Here's how:

When you're watching something, swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
Start another app. When you do this, the HBO Max window will stay on top.

If Picture-in-Picture isn't working, you may need to turn it on. Here's how:

Android: On your Android device, go to Settings and search for Picture. Then choose Picture-in-picture > HBO Max > Allow picture-in-picture.
iOS: On your iOS device, go to Settings > General > Picture in Picture > Start PiP Automatically.

Note At this time, playback controls (such as pause, fast forward, and rewind) aren't available when watching live channels.

Options at the top of the screen:

When you're watching something, hover your cursor over the screen to access the following:

Options at the top of the screen:

Note At this time, playback controls (such as pause, fast forward, and rewind) aren't available when watching live channels.

Here are the TV playback options:

TV device: Press and hold the D-pad right button or fast-forward button to fast forward. Press and hold the D-pad left button or rewind button to rewind.
Apple TV: Press and hold the left or right side of the touch surface to fast forward or rewind.
PlayStation: Press the R2 button to fast forward and the L2 button to rewind.
Roku: Press the forward or rewind button on your remote.

To increase or decrease the forward or rewind speed, press the same button again (up to 4 times). Press the Play button to resume playback.

When you're done watching an episode, the next episode will automatically play. You can choose Next Episode to start watching straight away, or wait 15 seconds and the episode will automatically play.

If you want to watch the end credits, dismiss the Next Episode prompt. Here's how:

Phone, tablet or computer: Choose the X beside the Next Episode button.
Apple TV: Press the Menu button on your remote.
Other TV device: Press the back button on your remote.

To find out how to turn off autoplay (next episode or previews), go to HBO Max settings.

When you start watching something, you can skip the content that plays before your show or film.

Skip Intro: Skips ahead to the last second of the introduction.
Skip Recap: Skips ahead to the last second of the episode recap.

The Skip button disappears in 10 seconds. To bring back the button, tap or click the screen on your device. Skip Intro and Skip Recap are not available on Chromecast at this time.

Skipping ads

You can't fast-forward or skip ads that are part of an HBO Max with ads subscription plan. For more info, go to HBO Max plans.

When watching a live event, you can choose Go Live to jump to what's happening live. Go Live is only available when you pause, rewind, or start a live event from the beginning.

Video quality: HBO Max automatically adjusts the video quality based on your network bandwidth and connection speed. For help improving your internet connection, go to HBO Max buffers or pauses. Most shows and films are available in high definition (HD). Manual video quality settings aren't currently available.

Aspect ratio: Some HBO Max titles may have black bars or letterboxing along the edges of the video. Black bars are used when the aspect ratio that the title was filmed in doesn't match the aspect ratio of your screen. Black bars are added instead of stretching or clipping the video.

Black bars above and below: This means the title was filmed with an aspect ratio that's wider than your screen.
Black bars on the sides: This can happen if the title was filmed with a squarish aspect ratio (e.g. 4:3), and your screen is widescreen (16:9) or ultrawide (21:9).

You can't manually adjust the aspect ratio in HBO Max to remove the black bars.

Playback speed: The video playback speed can't be adjusted.

Playback options and controls

Which device are you using?

Skipping ads