Hulu is giving users much better control over recommendations and watch history

Hulu will launch an update of its mobile application during the next week. The update will provide subscribers with more precise control over how the broadcast service presents recommendations and suggested programs. Users can tell Hulu to stop suggesting content they have no interest in looking at. "You can tell us when our recommendations in your home experience do not reach the limit," Richard Irving, vice president of products at Hulu, said in a blog post. "By selecting this action, you will eliminate the series, film or sports league from the recommendation you receive."

If you want to go a step further, you can now remove items from your watch history. , as well. When that happens, the Hulu recommendation engine will essentially forget that you, or "someone who uses your profile," have ever seen the program or movie in question. Netflix already has this feature (which somehow I never realized), so it's nice to see Hulu implement it. You can remove programs when they appear in "keep watching" in the Home tab, or directly from the Display History section.

Hulu also adds a portrait player, so you do not always have to see the service in the landscape. The application now supports HDMI output for iOS devices and offers an "enhanced" Chromecast experience.

There are also several improvements for Hulu's live TV customers. In its mobile applications, Hulu presents a new icon in the main navigation bar that takes it immediately to live TV on the last channel it had. The simple and more traditional programming guide that is already available in Hulu TV applications is now also coming to smartphones. The company also says it will launch the renewed desktop web experience for all live TV subscribers next week; the rest of the Hulu subscribers will get it during the summer.