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Apple Releases iOS 12.3 With New TV App and Channels Feature
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TV app sucks so much. If Apple would just get rid of the channels garbage and their silly recommendations. It borders on crapware.
Isn’t that the whole point of the TV app? If you want an app that plays your local content isn’t Plex or Infuse a better option?
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9to5Mac’s Benjamin Mayo has a pretty brutal takedown of the iOS app on his Twitter feed. Makes you wonder who at Apple actually uses the iOS app and signed off on it.
https://twitter.com/bzamayo
With my iPad connected hitting the 'check for updates' button started bringing up a 'contacting server' message for less than the blink of an eye. Finally it came up with the new update message. It eventually showed 12.3 for the SE too. That was close!I'm staying on High Sierra on this [mainly used] MacBook, so won't have to redo iTunes itself today. Not today.
My MacBook Pro is the mid-2012 model. Granted, I've made some upgrades to it since originally buying it in 2012 (upped the RAM to 16GB, installed a solid state hard drive), but it's getting a bit long in the tooth. I'm running Mojave and may just stick with it, unless I decide to upgrade to a newer model.
The patch added another feature which I did not see mentioned anywhere - you can now designate a debit or credit card as an express transit card, meaning you can now use Apple Pay for public transport without having to authenticate using Touch ID. Going to be very useful for me.
They did make some changes that do apply for people outside the US such as the changes in wallet (which I already described in a previous post) or, for those who have an Apple Watch, the new Pride watch faces. Everyone can use the bug fixes too.
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I did mention that and the changes in the Wallet UI for both iPhone and Apple Watch in one of my previous comments here, but you're right it's not in the release notes nor was it mentioned in any of the articles about iOS 12.3 posted on tech websites.
The point everyone made was that when your turn your phone in landscape, it displays the video in landscape. What more would you want? The complaint from the writer was that if you had locked portrait orientation on your iPhone, you had to push a button to unlock it. Duh!
Apple can't force it to play in landscape if you have portrait orientation locked.
I just found out about this too but doesn't appear to work in London; not sure if that's because it requires some sort of update or authorisation from TfL who run the network? But it'll really speed things up! Hope it works here soon.
I agree. The TV app on tvOS allows you to stream versus download. iOS and iTunes on macOS and Windows should as well.
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It's the same with Roku Channels as well as Amazon Channels.
Basically, the channel gets money, and Apple, Roku, and Amazon deal with support, bandwidth, and customer support.
Volume indicator! I thought that would be changed! https://www.reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/ar5em5/so_i_wrote_an_email_to_craig_federighi_suggesting/
It wouldn't. According to this article on Apple's support pages Express Transit mode is only available a few cities in mainland China, Japan and the US. At other places, including the UK, it still requires authentication. Apparently express transit mode needs to be specifically supported.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207958
OK so my bad, it doesn’t actually play in the TV app (and it might not be free content either). You get a screen with TV app UI that shows episodes and when you tap on one it gives you options to either open in the content provider’s app or buy (I’m assuming via iTunes). I’m not sure why it doesn’t have the app logo in the right hand corner like Sex and the City. Also with SATC it took me directly to the HBO Go app. It didn’t show me a list of episodes with the TV app UI and ask me if I wanted to watch via HBO Go or purchase.
I’m sorry but I think it’s all quite confusing. It feels a bit rushed or like nobody high up in the company spent time actually using it before it was announced.
I don't know what to tell you. I've been using the TV app for years, so all this update did for me is improve my experience, aside from being disappointed by the move to tiles for digitally owned content which is a look I don't particularly care for, and the disappearance of a 4K/HDR movie count in one's library.
I may go back to this post tomorrow, as there's more I'd like to say on it, but I won't get the opportunity to spend some time with the Apple TV until then.
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I think 9to5Mac reported that the Volume Indicator would be changed in iOS 13 last week or the week before. I don't have a problem with the current one, and can think of many other refinements that are more needed, but whatever floats their boat.
The concept spoken about in your link looks good though: https://www.reddit.com/r/iphone/com...ew_volume_ui_for_ios/?st=JS70MLXZ&sh=43fe43bc
It’s crappy UX though. If I sign up for HBO I should be able to watch it wherever HBO is available. It’s like when DirecTV used to limit live streaming outside the home. I’m paying for this. It should be available wherever I am. I shouldn’t have to be on the same network as my receiver. They’ve fixed it for the most part except some channels (like ABC and NBC) still aren’t available. So stupid.
I agree with you. I've felt the same for years regarding Amazon, and earlier this year regarding Roku's service. I'm simply saying that it's not Apple's fault.
Amazon (to my knowledge) was the first with channels, and you can only watch these channels via the Amazon app, and Roku added their version of Channels this year as well, and you can only watch this programming via The Roku Channel app. I think Hulu offers the same. Like it or not, that's how the industry handles these things. Hopefully, it'll change in the future, but as of now, this is the way it works.
I find Apple's UI to be simpler, more detailed, and easier to find the content for these channels than Amazon's or Roku's, so I at least give Apple credit for that.
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It seems less like a brutal takedown to me than a collection of bugs (which deserve to be fixed) and design criticisms, the majority of which I agree with, though the one criticizing the lack of text labels when the poster artwork has the titles listed on them seems a little too nitpicky to me.
Reading the comments on the Twitter thread, I see some valid complaints. I quickly notice several that Apple's continued to improve on since the original 12.3 beta, so I expect them to be fixed probably within a month. I see several that focuses on issues regarding the studios, and not Apple, and several that are complaints I share, but have existed for years, and have more to do with Apple's iTunes Store than the TV app.
My biggest complaints about the TV app:
- Most HD movies imported from Movies Anywhere do not show "HD" tags even though iTunes on the desktop and the old Video app on older iOS versions correctly display them. 4K movies display correctly.
- (12.3 Only): Multiple "extended cut" movies show theatrical cover art, or vice versa.
- (12.3 Only): Multiple movies have Spanish, French, etc. cover art instead of the English language ones. They're working on this.
- (12.3 Only): Multiple 20th Century Fox movies have Deadpool on them from an old Fox promo. They're working on this.
- (12.3 Only): Banners replacing cover art look cheap. Not as cheap as the first betas, but still cheap.
- (tvOS only): Long pressing the remote to mark something as watched requires going into the TV app itself versus being able to do it in the main menu.
- (tvOS only): No more 4K/HDR count in your Library.
- (12.3 Only): Some HD titles imported to Apple via Movies Anywhere incorrectly still shows as 4K when doing a search for the title. They are working on this, as the number of titles this happens with is going down.
There's others that I'm forgetting right now, but overall, I like it.
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Which feature? Machine learning recommendations or signing up for and then watching subscriptions within TV app?
Personally, I don’t see much value in those because I already have the subscriptions I want. What I’m wondering is if I’ll be able to watch channels like hbo in the tv app if I already have a subscription, or do I HAVE to sign up for it in the app? If the former, it might be a little convenient being able to bounce around different content without having to bounce around different apps, though this isn’t often for me since I usually know what I want to watch. If the latter, I’m not looking to sign up for more subscriptions or re-sign up at higher prices.
But I will see significant value in this if first I can bring in my existing subscriptions, and second if the streaming quality is significantly better than horrid streaming quality of apps like hbo go.
To get streaming from Apple, within the TV app, you will have to subscribe to the specific channels from Apple within the TV app. You will only have access to these subscriptions via the TV app though, so you will not be able to use the HBO app anymore.
The prices are the same.
Thanks for the info. Disappointing to hear. I got several of my subscriptions for a deal so it would cost me more to re-sign up via Apple.
Of course they can. Have a look at the Netflix and YouTube apps. Netflix opens in landscape even if the phone is locked in portrait, while the YouTube app switches to landscape when hitting the full screen button as well.
Seems like the Apple TV app gets more love than the iOS app. I haven’t used the iOS app in ages. I don’t think I’ve ever used it on my iPhone.
Does anyone know if there’s special features/extras included with HBO through this new Apple TV channels subscription? I can’t find any. Just episodes. Want to watch the Game of Thrones Revealed documentaries.
I use the iOS app to check a specific movie in my library or do a few other things, but I don't watch movies or TV shows on my phone, so I don't use it much either.
The tvOS app is quite nice though, and I use it every day.
Nevermind. My wife discovered you can watch those Game Revealed documentaries on the official Game of Thrones YT page. That works.
Well, I just got off the phone with Apple Support, and apparently, the live TV integration is currently being worked out server-side. He said he was in a chat with the ATV app engineers and they said they were currently working on it. GRAIN OF SALT, etc., etc.
Odd thing was that he said it would still require the provider's app to be installed, even though you'd be able to watch content directly in the ATV app. So, I guess we'll see? (And by "we'll see" I mean, "we'll see when they update the marketing copy" lol).