Hands on: Sky Anytime+ review

As you move the cursor along the menu strip, the other options are Movies, Entertainment, Lifestyle Documentaries and Kids. If you keep moving right the options move to Sports, News, Box office and All, followed by Channels.

There are three different formats for the space below, the full length icons that you see in many of the categories, a double row of genre icons that split things out a little more and, in the case of 'All' and the all sections of the sub categories, a list.

These menus seem pretty straightforward and are certainly intuitive – we can't envision anyone not understanding how to find the programmes in their current format from the screens provided.

Icons in anytime+

Icons in anytime+

But we have arrived at another problem of VOD that will become a recurring theme – namely that the sheer weight of programmes makes it difficult to find what you want.

An obvious solution to this is search and Sky have duly given a blue button search option that brings you to a search box that is familiar to anyone who has used the existing search function.

And just like that original search function, it is not ideal – due in the main to the normal Sky remote and having to text in words. As we move further and further down the world of any content, any time, we will surely see the rise of more appropriate hardware to change our channels.

Sky's search is inelegant – but it does at least work; and you'll pretty soon be whizzing through looking for that series that you meant to buy the box set for but never actually got around to.

Patrick Goss

Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content.  After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.