The merger of Disney Plus and Hulu has been officially announced; the super-streaming app, which was teased at Disney's earnings call in November, will add Hulu tiles to the existing Disney Plus app so that users will leave the app to enjoy the streaming service No longer will you need to

First impressions after a little use are generally favorable The Hulu tile is right there on the home page, making it easy to access Hulu content without scrolling When searching for TV shows or movies, the same Disney Plus search bar I always use pulls up results from both streaming services

This is by no means perfect As I will explain, there are quite a few snags and caveats with this new super streaming app Frankly, between the user experience and the aforementioned caveats, I would not go for Disney Plus if I were looking for Hulu content However, if you are already a Disney Plus user, you probably won't leave the app to watch Hulu content, given the easy access to Hulu content

If many people have the same attitude as I do, this first beta test will probably be a win for Bob Iger & Co After all, the goal here is to reduce the number of people leaving the Disney Plus app and streaming services in general While there are still some issues with this new Disney Plus app, at least in small doses, these two goals will probably be met

Well, first of all - not everyone has access to this new Disney Plus with Hulu streaming app You must have a Disney bundle deal, either a duo or trio plan These bundle plans combine at least two of Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus, with one ad-supported configuration and one premium configuration that omits ads on Disney Plus and Hulu

However, even if you have the Duo or Trio Disney bundle, you may not be able to access the Hulu beta with the Disney Plus app As of this writing, several of Tom's Guide's staff members have not yet accessed it As of this writing, some of Tom's Guide's staff have not yet accessed it; a stable version of the Hulu integration is not expected until March 2024, so don't be surprised if this is a slow rollout

Also, the same email address is required to log in to both Disney Plus and Hulu accounts Disney Plus customer service can help you link your accounts if that is causing you problems

Aside from availability issues, there are a few things to keep in mind when using Hulu with Disney Plus First, due to licensing restrictions, not all Hulu content is available on the Disney Plus Hulu tile While much of the content is available, hit movies like "Modern Family" are not

Second, according to Variety, viewing status is not synced between apps What this means is that if you are watching an episode of "The Bear" on Disney Plus, the Hulu app will not know if you have watched that episode or how much you have watched Synchronization between platforms will be included in the stable version of the super streaming app in March

Still, if you're someone who wishes everything was in one place, Disney Plus just got a major upgrade And for the rest of us, this is still a welcome benefit to bundling our Disney Plus and Hulu subscriptions Given the current Netflix and Max bundles, and perhaps the Apple TV Plus and Paramount Plus bundles coming up, Disney needs to continue to stand out to retain subscribers