Actually that is better for some people because you can load up iTunes gift cards at 20% off most of the time. Where do you get HBO Now for 20% off?
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HBO Added to 'Apple TV Channels' in Latest iOS 12.3 and tvOS 12.3 Betas
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Actually that is better for some people because you can load up iTunes gift cards at 20% off most of the time. Where do you get HBO Now for 20% off?
let me explain:
imagine you watch 100 different channels. in a future world, where every channel will be an app, you would have 100 different apps only for TV.
now imagine this apps: some good but some poorly developed and maintained. this and the mess of 100 different apps in every device you have, only for watching tv...
now imagine this scenario:
you have ONE app, one native appp well developed by Apple. and inside all your subscriptions, like normal channels in a tv.
it is a much cleaner and simpler idea and concept.
i hope this becomes a huge success. i love apple's simpler way of doing things.
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Because everybody complained about the cable bundle but is now going back to bundles. All the Apple TV app is, is a TV guide with a slightly better UI.
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Huh? How does where you subscribe have anything to do with bitrate. As far as I know you don’t have unique or separate subscription for the Apple TV HBO “channel”.
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My guess is Apple looks at it as a convenience thing. But it is interesting that they chose the base their TV service on taking a cut of other content providers subscriptions. I wouldn’t be totally surprised if their original content is free for Apple device users. Or if not free very cheap.
You could already subscribe to HBO Now with it billed through the app store, so I don't know how this is much of a change.
I currently subscribe to HBO/Showtime through Amazon. There are a few reasons for this:
-Single app contains all of the shows (hbo/showtime/prime)
-Better quality (audio and video are better through Amazon than HBO Now/Go; higher bitrate)
-Live stations (for example, I can actually watch HBO East, Family, etc. live)
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The Prime app has a higher bitrate than the HBO Now/GO apps. You can only watch HBO through the Prime app if you subscribe through Amazon.
I am not sure if the ATV TV app with work this way. IIRC, it just redirects you to the actual HBO Now app. Amazon is unique in this way. If the ATV app works the same way as Amazon, I am sure it will be better quality than using the apps provided by HBO/Showtime/Starz/etc.
This is how distribution works, every company in the chain gets a cut of the money paid, you won't find any middle-men working for free
Paying Apple may have some benefits, like family-sharing for instance, but HBO wouldn't be offering the content via Apple if it didn't make commercial sense to them.Since the channels operate from inside the Apple TV app, I would assume Apple is serving the content rather than just tapping into a stream provided by HBO - so they'll be able to control the quality of the stream to fit their network and customers.
Hbo Go quality is AWFUL. I didn’t realize how bad it was until the last episode of GoT which was very dark. All I saw was pixelation in a lot of scenes, it was making me mad. I’m half thinking about dropping hbo from my DTV Now sub unless I can figure out a better solution.
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You were watching hbo IN the tv app? Doesn’t it just direct you to the hbo app?
You are probably right. While there are still several good shows (e.g., Westworld, Silicon Valley, Veep), $14.99/month is substantial enough that I wouldn't keep it as recurring subscription. Especially when it isn't even UHD.
Speaking of $14.99/month, I think Netflix is also ridiculously priced ($12.99/month for HD, $15.99/month for UHD). Netflix, stop trying to produce as many originals as possible. Produce fewer high quality shows and lower the price.
I hope Disney+ ($6.99/month and even offered as discounted $69.99/year) will put downward pricing pressure for the industry.
My God! Is there something we actually got first in Canada? I've been able to watch HBO stuff through the TV app for a while (even though I generally use another app for it). Probably something to do with TV licensing up here, which usually slows things down.
I like the TV app, and would like a way to customize the tabs. I have completely NO interest in the Sports section. The Watch Now used to show my recently watched shows but that seems to have been changed. And until they fix Netflix to be included in this mix… the TV app is not complete.
Agreed.
I am not happy with Apple's design language for Books, Music, News, and TV apps, where each page is stuffed with numerous sections. They are essentially web pages, like App Store before it.
Allow users to rearrange and hide sections across all of these apps.
I personally like the up next feature it allows me to stop and start video from any device without having to search for the apps.
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That’s how much hbo now cost it’s also the usual non promotion price most cable providers chargeAll I read is yet another way to spend $15/month
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It looked better on hbo go then it did the direct tv now app
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Yes the content releases at the same time
The TV app isn’t going to be particularly useful to me until all of my steaming services are in there. Netflix clearly the glaring omission.
If you remove HBO Now or Go from the list of connected apps in the TV App and subscribe in the TV App HBO East and West Live channels show up. And everything plays in the TV App
To clarify your statement. They did not increase the price to customers currently subscribed to the $4.99/month plan. The new price is only for new subscribers of HBO. It would have been nice to allow current customers that are not subscribed to be able to still get the old price but if you were not already subscribed you can not get the old price.
But from what I understand, this isn't the way it works at all. For instance, it still sends you over to the Hulu app from Apple's TV hub. So you can find everything centrally, but it won't replace all the horrible apps with various UI garbage, such as that found in Amazon Prime Video.
So, you are saying that the only way for the streams to be served within the TV App is to subscribe to the service via iTunes? That makes sense. Using HBO as example. I pay $4.99 per month to DTV Now and I normally watch via HBO Go. With the new plans HBO is included as part of the plan so in either of these two cases it would be silly to switch to Apple for $14.99 per month.
Please clarify. You are now "paying" for HBO via iTunes? How were you subscribed before? So you have a partial month of overlapping payments? Just want to make sure I am not missing something.