is there any reason for providers NOT to join other than what I can imagine a decent amount of back end infrastructure?
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DirecTV Now Supports Single Sign-on for Upcoming 'TV' App on iOS and Apple TV
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i'm not sure which discounts specifically you are referring to, but I have a corporate discount on my AT&T wireless service combined with DirecTV and UVerse internet, and all of the various discounts appear to be maintained correctly. Of course as you say, AT&T wireless shouldn't be needed just to use DirecTV with the TV App.
Could have something to do with agreements the providers have with networks. Not 100% sure though.
I would not think Single Sign-on would be a problem but not sure about supporting the TV App. They may want you to stay in their Apps so they can promote things to you.
I am a little surprised the providers aren't releasing their own version of the TV App. Most have an App for the iPad but not for the Apple TV. Of course they are still trying to hang on to the STV Revenue.
Directv is your provider, when other apps need that information, they will see that Directv is your provider and you
would not have login again. Its not confusing, when apps are updated for the single sign function and your provider is listed and you have put your login info into it, no additional login would be required.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Is there any money for Apple in supporting the content we own ourselves? No, so I don't expect this feature (even if it is highly desirable to many of us). Apple already got the money they can get from us for this purpose when we bought the box itself.
Their STB revenue is profitable monthly revenue for up to every TV in a person's home. If you are them, do you want to risk losing some/all of that revenue to people deciding the other TVs can access enough content through
TV?Especially with
TV and all variations of video services, the battle of how consumers want everything for next to nothing while providers want to make as much money as possible and Apple wants their cut too is at complete odds. All seemingly logical questions that benefit us consumers need only be filtered through a single question: does this desired change make more money for the rest of the chain and/or Apple? If not, don't expect whatever it is.
Charter has a new service called Spectrum Stream for 12.99 and Plus for 19.99. However it is severely plagued with pixelation, constant buffering and crashing on the Roku. I don't see it coming to Apple TV until these problems have been worked out. The offering is also quite limited. You are also hit with additional hidden fees to cover Local franchises like CBS, ABC, NBC and FOX.
I'm confused. I thought single sign-on was for apps like CBS, ABC, HBO, SHOW, NBC, TBS, etc., not necessarily just for broadcast networks?
Personally, Apple has done nothing to bring TV out of the 70's and has only jumped onto the bandwagon of continuing to offer products and services with ridiculous pricing schemes and hardware requirements that are stuck in the 20th century. The Apple TV doesn't really improve access to this content because at the end of the day you have to use a 3rd party UI that is usually done poorly, and the Apple TV itself doesn't' really innovate how to access content because Apple is obsessed about presenting content through endless grids of boxes backed by Siri search which is pretty useless on a good day.
Apple is just as much a greedy profit monger as any Big Telco so rather than trying to change the industry they just gave up, pretty quickly BTW, on the idea of cutting the cord and now just want the cord stuck into their product.
So, Cable on Apple TV....pass. I don't mind paying for content but I do mind paying for ****** services. And when it is cheaper for me to simply buy whole seasons of the few shows I want to watch directly from iTunes instead of paying $100+ a month to access it from a crappy cable service, then I really don't understand why Apple can't figure this out better.
Apple is just as much a greedy profit monger as any Big Telco so rather than trying to change the industry they just gave up, pretty quickly BTW, on the idea of cutting the cord and now just want the cord stuck into their product.
So, Cable on Apple TV....pass. I don't mind paying for content but I do mind paying for ****** services. And when it is cheaper for me to simply buy whole seasons of the few shows I want to watch directly from iTunes instead of paying $100+ a month to access it from a crappy cable service, then I really don't understand why Apple can't figure this out better.
First I was excited for this feature till I realized how not even 1% of cable services are supported
Single sign on is for any App that wants to know if you have a cable subscription to that app
Thanks but I was asking about a forum or thread on MacRumors like the ones they do for every beta release.
im thinking of picking up an atv - would you guys say this reliabily replaces a STB? im not interesting in doing any recording
Reliably? That all depends. It won't match it 100% because the provider will always be in power and as such have the advantage with the STB. It also depends on your TV provider and if they support the TV Everywhere initiative to allow you to sign into a TV Stations app with your service provider credentials. For example, I have AT&T and I can sign into the Comedy Central app to watch shows on demand but my friend has Comcast and they do not allow you to do the same. Also, not all channels have an app available and not all apps have a Live TV option.
Another option is to subscribe to a provider that has their own tvOS app to watch tv and has a guide like, SlingTV or PlayStation Vue. Those would be the best alternatives that resemble a STB experience.
Lastly, there is an app called Channels that works with a piece of hardware called HomeRun TV Tuners. If you're provider is cable based like Comcast, you can rent a piece of equipment called a cable card. You can install the cable card into the HomeRun TV Tuner to get access to the channels in your cable package through certified devices/apps on your home's network. Channels is one of those apps and runs on AppleTV. For Windows you can use Windows Media Center or the free HomeRun software from their website to watch TV. You can also use a TV Tuner from HomeRun that does not use a cable card and instead uses an antenna(sold separately) just to watch the local channels available for free over-the-air.
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The article states that apps will still need to be updated to recognize the SSO... so maybe that hasn't happened yet?
