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DirecTV Now Gains Apple TV App Integration [Updated]

MacRumors said:



AT&T today announced that its DirecTV Now service has been updated with support for Apple's TV app.

With TV app integration, DirecTV Now users can take advantage of cross-device episode and movie tracking with the Up Next feature along with tailored content recommendations available on the DirecTV Now service using the Watch Now feature on the Apple TV.

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The integration also means that Siri voice searches can be used to find TV shows and movies on DirecTV Now, which is useful for finding specific content. Siri searches work with the entire DirecTV on-demand library.

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Siri also supports live tune-in with DirecTV Now so you can access specific live channels with a command like "Siri, tune in to [your favorite channel]" to open up the DirecTV Now app and turn on the channel.

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The final feature included in the integration is single sign-on, which allows DirecTV customers to sign in once with their username and login to access available content across any supported third-party app.

Apple TV users with a DirecTV Now subscription will see a prompt to integrate their data with the TV app after playing a DVR show for the first time. AT&T says that the updates enabling TV app support will be pushed out to DirecTV customers automatically.

Article Link: DirecTV Now Gains Apple TV App Integration
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[doublepost=1552006374][/doublepost]Spectrum TV app has this feature also. I can say “Watch CBS on Spectrum” and it opens the app and goes to CBS. Of course you can change channels that way, too.
 
Meh.

So, I had DTV Now briefly last year, mostly to get the Apple TV that was cheaper than retail with a 3 month subscription. I canceled at the end of the subscription, because while the Apple TV was (and still is) fun to play with, the TV subscription was useless.

I might do it again if I need another Apple TV and they run that deal again. Otherwise, not interested.
 
jamesrick80 said:
People think they are not paying more but all these separate streaming services add up....here I am with Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, Google Music, YouTube premium, and Directv Now....it’s a mess plus on top of that you pay for your internet.
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That's true.....but as another poster mentioned, the consumer isn't tied to a contract & can cancel / resign up at your will. You can sign up for 1 month, binge whatever show(s) you like & then cancel (Then sign up again next year or whenever the series returns)

Also, many times people share accounts / access. Youtube TV provides 6 personal accounts per subscription. Sites like Amazon Prime come with peoples Amazon Prime account.

So while, technically all the sites CAN add up.....it can still save people money (vs. traditional cable). There are ways to still get content without paying full price.
 
For people who haven't gotten single sign-on to work yet. What I did was go into Settings in the DirecTVNow app and sign out of my account, then when into Settings in the Apple TV->Accounts->TV Provider and signed out there as well. Then signed in again, in the Apple TV TV Provider menu, and then all the apps, including DirecTVNow app showed me as signed out. When I clicked DirecTVNow in the available apps, it AUTOMATICALLY logged me into the app. I exited out of the app, went back into Apple TV Settings and Accounts/TV Provider and clicked on one of the apps, Food Network, clicked on Live TV, and it automatically activated the app using DirecTVNow. Single sign on is now working for me.
 
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I have a grandfathered unlimited plan that gives me DTV Now’s lowest package for $15 a month and free HBO. My wife and I don’t watch too much TV, so it has been great for us. The only thing that sucks is that our local area channels are still not available as deals have not been cut with AT&T for the service. This update has made it better in my opinion.
 
chrismac2 said:
For people who haven't gotten single sign-on to work yet. What I did was go into Settings in the DirecTVNow app and sign out of my account, then when into Settings in the Apple TV->Accounts->TV Provider and signed out there as well. Then signed in again, in the Apple TV TV Provider menu, and then all the apps, including DirecTVNow app showed me as signed out. When I clicked DirecTVNow in the available apps, it AUTOMATICALLY logged me into the app. I exited out of the app, went back into Apple TV Settings and Accounts/TV Provider and clicked on one of the apps, Food Network, clicked on Live TV, and it automatically activated the app using DirecTVNow. Single sign on is now working for me.
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Can you use Siri to tune to a specific DTN channel? And thanks for the post.
 
WannaGoMac said:
I'm amazed anyone can stomach watching USA TV with the huge number of commercial interruptions. Even with recording and watching later so you can "skip the commercials" the commericals ruin the shows' flow. In other countries the commercials are done between the shows and not actually during the show which is far more acceptable.
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Of course it’s more acceptable when commercials are all played between shows nobody’s watching them then..
 
I gave DTV Now a try to get the free Apple TV 4K. I dumped it before my free trial was over because during playback of a recorded program, the picture was fine, but the sound kept cutting out for a syllable or two every couple minutes. It was incredibly annoying. Anybody else have this problem? Hulu Live works better, but costs a lot more, unfortunately.
 
"Apple TV users with a DirecTV Now subscription will see a prompt to integrate their data with the TV app after playing a DVR show for the first time. AT&T says that the updates enabling TV app support will be pushed out to DirecTV customers automatically."

I have played a DVR show on both my Apple TV and my iPhone but did not get a prompt to integrate my data to the TV App yet. As it says right there in AT&T's statement, the update will be pushed out to DTVN users automatically, which means as I said before, they are rolling this out slowly across the server. Probably tomorrow we will start to see people getting the prompt.

:apple:
 
No luck for me with siri or apple tv integration. Single sign on is working perfectly fine though.

Also, with this integration i see no point in having all the channel apps anymore. Or am i wrong?
 
FINALLY. I really don’t think DirecTV NOW is quite as good as it should be, but since I signed up on day 1 with their awesome early promo package pricing, I don’t think I’ll ever cancel. I’m glad to see them continuing to push and develop the platform.
 
reiggin said:
Same. I dumped DirecTV Now for Youtube TV simply because of the interface. Youtube TV's interface is lightyears better than DTV Now.
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Maybe I am smarter than others. I have no problems with the DTVN Apple app interface.
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macmyworld said:
DirectTV now is brutal. Buffers, skips, low frame rate, etc. Dumped it after a week. (I have 1GB fiber so bandwidth was not an issue on my side)
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Nope. Never have any issues.
 
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I really wish they’d update the app to use auto chroma matching. I hate that everything I watch is presented in HDR, despite none of it being presented that way via their service. All the other apps manage this, why not DTVN?
 
reiggin said:
Same. I dumped DirecTV Now for Youtube TV simply because of the interface. Youtube TV's interface is lightyears better than DTV Now.
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Too bad YouTubeTV is missing several channels my family really enjoy watching.
 
Too late. I dumped DTV Now a few months ago for Philo. It has most of what we watch, and it’s only $20 per month.
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jsalda said:
Cue the DirecTV/Cable hater comments, but I gotta say, I'm kinda longing for the old days. Today's TV landscape seems to be getting even more fragmented and expensive with every studio and their nephew starting their own streaming service.
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Except this is about DirecTV NOW, not DirecTV. Two entirely different services.
 
I've tested most of the major live TV streaming services over the past 6-12 months, and I currently subscribe to Hulu with Live TV.

DirecTV Now was fairly good but still had some issues streaming and the cloud DVR was still not available then. They have the best and most complete lineup of TV channels with four packages to choose from. But they recently raised their rate by $5/month. They were a bit too pricey for me, and the DVR was not stabile enough to sign up for them as of a few months ago. I had DirecTV satellite service a few years ago, and this company is as skuzzy and terrible as they come. So I would likely not want to deal with them anyway.

PlayStation Vue was the best over all experience and they had a good TV guide, but they lacked too many "must have" TV channels. I sadly had to pass on them until they add more channels that I can not want to live without.

Sling TV was pretty light on TV channels even when combining both Blue and Orange packages and even getting expensive add-on packages. Their pricing is too similar to a cable/satellite company, probably because a garbage satellite provider owns them. This was a major pass for me. By the time you add the add-on packages the price is ridiculously expensive, plus I still could not get all of my "must have" channels.

Hulu with Live TV was ultimately my choice to replace my cable TV service. They do a decent job of streaming, though they still have a few issues, especially when using Roku devices. They had all of my "must have" channels plus I get the regular Hulu on demand service as well. Their cloud DVR is bizarre though. It works, but rather than just record one copy of new shows it also records them every time they are re-streamed until the next new episode appears about one week later. This fills up the DVR space rapidly, so I have to delete the duplicates very often. My Roku Ultra has major issues with Hulu Live TV, but not the on demand stuff, but my Fire TVs are very good with it. My older Apple TV was too old to use for any of the tests and I don't desire to spend that much to buy the new model. The TV guide only shows 2 hours and you cannot scroll to different times, so it is rather clunky to use. But I get all my channels at a good price, even though they just increased the rate by $7/month, and I get a decent streaming service with Live TV, plus I get the on demand from the classic Hulu app, and all for less than using DirecTV Now.

The problem with using a relatively new player like the Apple TV 4K in the streaming field is that the streaming providers have to write new apps for them. Apple TV 4K no doubts has the best specs of all the major steaming devices, but the newish apps will likely be buggy for quite a while until the streaming service providers figure out how to get their apps working correctly. And those new apps on new devices often have fewer features than the apps that were created for long existing devices from Roku and Fire TV.
 
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w5jck said:
I've tested most of the major live TV streaming services over the past 6-12 months, and I currently subscribe to Hulu with Live TV.
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Nice summary. Thanks for taking the time to put it together.

One data point I will add relates to folks who want to use one subscription at two locations, such as having a weekend getaway cabin or such as if someone travels for work a lot and wants to carry a Roku or similar device with them vs watching tv on their phone/computer.

DirecTVNow and YouTubeTV support this model. They don't care where your streams go to -- however, they do switch to the local stations/RSNs for the location you are in.

Hulu with Live TV and PlayStation Vue do not. Hulu disallows usage of a set-top-box (or whatever we're calling these devices) such as Roku or ATV4K if you're not at your "home" location. Although you can change your "home", the extremely limited # of times is not workable for most folks in the above scenarios. PSVue I believe allow using a device away from home, but only one TV device stream can be active at a time as I understand it. (which may be problematic even at home if two people want to watch different stuff in different rooms?) I could be wrong, as I haven't tried PSVue myself after seeing they disallow multi-home usage.
Edit: added strikeout after @FreeState's clarification below - it is unclear to me just what PSVue's restrictions are right now, will need to test it probably.

I didn't look into Sling TV due to the need for an external antenna for local channels as it's not really workable for my situation.
 
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What’s the big deal with the integration with the TV app?

I subscribed to DTN several months ago and have yet to download the app. I just authenticate the apps I want to use with my credentials.

What am I missing out on not using the app?
 
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