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Apple TV Fell to Fourth Most Popular Streaming Media Device in U.S. in 2014

velocityg4 said:
While I do like the Roku the most. They really need to make a qwerty remote. Content searches are painfully slow selecting one letter at a time on screen. Now that I have Tivo it doesn't really matter. The Tivo has a qwerty remote and works with Amazon Prime, Spotify, Hulu and Netflix. If only I had unlimited data. 300GB can go fast with a household streaming HD content.
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They have to a degree. You can use the app to control the Roku. It has a keyboard built in.
 
kuwxman said:
They have to a degree. You can use the app to control the Roku. It has a keyboard built in.
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Even without it - the fact that it has search is already a step above Apple TV (a long complaint of mine) - I have several hundred movies. Why do I still need to scroll up and down through the titles instead of being able to search?
 
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My 3rd generation AppleTV does everything I need. Streams, mirrors, using Beamer I can send any movie including MKV formats to my TV through AppleTV, anything I want from natively from iPad or iPhone. You have all that Youtube and Vevo access for free. Plus everything you have from AppStore and iTunes - you also have it. I am curious what will be added to AppleTV. Would love to have no-card cable content access, maybe local TV. Its mostly content so I guess that the tiny box does its work well.
 
The only reason I don't get a Roku is because it doesn't work with Apple stuff (e.g. AirPlay). Also looks kinda cheap but isn't any less expensive. Otherwise, I'd rather have it just because it can do Amazon Instant Video.

The Apple TV isn't bad. What's so amazing about a Roku? Does it just offer more video sources? I wouldn't know because I hardly watch anything. All I want is for the Apple TV to have Amazon Instant Video and the App Store.
 
Getting the "HDCP playback" (or whatever it is) error message nearly every time I want to use my ATV (have to restart ATV to make it function properly) has caused me to consider another player. I would probably go with ROKU if I decided to switch.
 
If it's going to be a gaming center I expect it to have Dual A9 processors and M9 Co-Processors.

They'll have two tiers. Standard and Pro. The pro will sell for $299 and the Standard will be something like $129.
 
For heaven's sake, Apple did not even update the second generation ATV with a new youtube channel. It would have taken a good programmer a few weeks at most to implement the new version of the youtube app for apple tv.
 
Sloppy.Joe said:
Still a hobby...?
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I have a feeling Apple will strip away the hobby moniker when they announce the new Apple TV's. Apps, an exclusive video subscription service, and a rich new user experience - the next Apple TV will be the one that they always wanted to build. It all starts with a new platform for content that rewards consumers, creators and distributors in varying different but exciting ways.
 
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Use my Apple TV 3 on a daily basis all all of my shows and movies are converted for iTunes so that they play on all of our devices (myself, wife and 2 sons all have iPhones and iPads).

The main thing the Apple TV lacks now is Apple Music integration, once that comes I'm sorted.
 
arkmannj said:
I'm a through and through apple fan (like most people on this site)
and I own all of the AppleTV versions from the original through 3rd Gen.
but all are collecting dust right now. We picked up a Roku 3 and that gets used almost exclusively.

I have high hopes for AppleTV 4 :)

Correction: I do use Apple TV 1 (Silver) to play with. replaced the WiFi with a new video card, etc...
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What is so great about roku?
 
For me since I buy all my movies and tv shows through iTunes, there's no way I could use anything but an Apple TV. Nothing else pulls up my iTunes stuff
 
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Many of you seem to forget AirPlay. Something that none of the others do. Also Apple's continued development of this system does show commitment to the ATV platform.
 
I moved house just over a year ago and my 3rd gen apple TV has been gathering dust. The only time it gets powered on is to stream apple events. For everything else I use Plex, Netflix and Amazon Instant Video on my Xbox One.
 
If we don't see a new Apple TV box this year then I think it's a count out for Apple. As many have noted previously the UI needs attention and the sources of content need to grow - this news about it falling down the popular list doesn't surprise anyone but maybe it will surprise Apple.
 
Personally I feel kind of bad for people who are so locked into the iTunes ecosystem that they're forced to use the ATV. The Fire TV Stick is cheaper, smaller and does more. It's easy to travel with (even supports wifi portals), has installable apps including Kodi, MediaBrowser, etc.
 
R3k said:
Many of you seem to forget AirPlay. Something that none of the others do. Also Apple's continued development of this system does show commitment to the ATV platform.
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Actually, some of the others do support Airplay. And of course they also support the other similar technologies (casting, Fling, Miracast).
 
A more interesting statistic would be where the ATV stands in Europe. My own view is I doubt it would even register on a list of connected devices.

Apple has shown little interest in developing the platform outside of the U.S. and as a consequence have completely missed the boat.
 
ignatius345 said:
I find it pretty smooth to load media into iTunes on my Mac Mini and stream it right over to the ATV. It ties up a computer to be used as a media server (probably not ideal if you don't have a desktop Mac sitting around), but it works great. I do have to transcode occasionally, but pretty much all the files I get my hands on are iTunes-ready these days anyway. Also the app IVI does an amazing job of tagging it all so it shows up perfectly in the ATV interface.
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I have the same experience. I had spent several months ripping over 600 DVD movies and adding to iTunes for streaming, has worked well for us. I also you my EyeTV to build a collection of TV shows to watch. I have in the last year started switching all of my movies over to HD movies, I buy them through iTunes when I catch a good sale.

I have a Roku and have played around with Plex some but both of these have been frustrating experiences. Now with Apple Music, Netflix and building a strong HD collection of movies through iTunes we are very happy with our setup.
 
centauratlas said:
Apple needs to update this ASAP. It is nice to have a seamless ecosystem and the App Store for Apple TV will be a big deal.

(Ditto a 17 inch MBP :) )
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Just looked at Roku and we are tired of waiting. We have several TVs that we wanted to connect and now is the time for Apple or we are also going the Roku route. Apple is big enough that they need to get rid of this "We can only do one thing at a time" mentality. It is almost like there are only a very few people at Apple than can actually make decisions/do things.
 
Chromecast for me because it's the easiest to Stream stuff to from all my devices. I can just download Chromecast for chrome and drag and drop my .MKV videos in there no problem.
 
Johnny Vegas said:
Roku is heads and shoulders above all competition. Only the most hardcore Apple apologists could argue that the ATV is in the same ballpark.
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The only real advantage Roku has if Apple TV gets an App Store etc is that it allows private channels that support piracy
 
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