HBO Added to 'Apple TV Channels' in Latest iOS 12.3 and tvOS 12.3 Betas

[nutmac]

https://www.macworld.com/article/33...like-hbo-now-showtime-and-cbs-all-access.html

Here's an article detailing known "channels" pricing vs native app pricing. After reading this, there's not much incentive to buy any channels through the tv app. In fact, it kinda reminds me of apple news+. Can you view the whole hbo library within the tv app? Because you won't have access to hbo's native apps. As in news+, apple will recommend what to watch. Perhaps you can search for what you want? How lame is that?

What am I missing here? Do most of you want one app that tries to integrate all these streaming services? It would seem to me that it LIMITS the experience of each service in terms of what you get with their native app..and it COSTS THE SAME or more considering there's no annual pricing for channels. It ends up being a mess...like the News app.

Your News+ argument doesn't really apply as you get the full contents with Apple TV Channels. If you prefer third party app's UI and/or website, that's another reason entirely.

There are several compelling advantages to using Apple TV Channels.

• Video from Apple TV Channels is streamed from Apple. Bitrates are generally higher and at least during this beta testing period, much more reliable.
• You get Family Sharing, or 6 simultaneous streams.
• You can download the show for offline viewing.
• Centralized subscription management is a huge plus as I subscribe when the season starts and unsubscribe when I finish the season.
• TV app is generally better than most third party apps.

Having said all that, there are still works to be done.

For one, iOS TV app is dreadful. It's slow, way too crowded (similar to News+ app), cannot be customized, and video playback UI is poorly designed (not even rewind/forward buttons and scrubbing is very difficult to execute).

And finally, Apple should offer yearly subscription pricing option for those that prefer it.

 

[prasand]

https://www.macworld.com/article/33...like-hbo-now-showtime-and-cbs-all-access.html

Here's an article detailing known "channels" pricing vs native app pricing.

Makes sense that the pricing would be the same. Only a company that thinks a subscription through the TV app would increase their penetration would be willing to offer the subscription for less through the TV app.

---

Anyway, today I was surprised to see that Netflix isn’t holding out anymore. Netflix media is being aggregated on the TV app. I saw a few suggestions that were exclusively playing on Netflix and the TV app opened it in Netflix.

I don’t know if that is a recent addition (developer beta update) or if it’s been that way for awhile. But now it seems all of the major apps are in fact indexed / aggregated by the TV app. It has finally become a true central discovery app (aside Plex of course).

 

[zman8]

For the new TV app -- does the integration work with services sign-up for outside of Apple?

ie - if I have an HBO subscription through Verizon Fios, can I download HBO episodes through the TV app?

Not sure if I’m willing to pay for HBO twice

 

[prasand]

Update:

So, although Netflix content can be searched for through the TV app, Netflix original titles cannot be subscribed to through the TV app (aka added to “Up Next”). Not sure if this is a limitation of the beta or a limitation imposed by Netflix. It could be either, the reason being: shows not exclusive to Netflix, Apple has other sources where a user can play the video through and thus they can add that title to the “Up Next” even if Netflix currently has a TV app limitation or bug preventing their exclusive titles from being added.

Ultimately, at the moment Netflix titles show up in the trending section, they get suggested to users, they can be searched, but the episode progress cannot by seen through the TV app. It leads me to believe that Netflix was recently added to the TV app and there are bugs being worked out. The reason I think this is the case, is because individual episodes for Netflix series are listed in the TV app. If users can select a specific episode through the TV app, how would they know they are selecting the right episode? That would be a poor Netflix user experience if they cannot see their progress before selecting an episode. In that case, they might as well not list episodes at all, and just make the series discoverable, where selecting that series in the TV app would launch the respective TV episode listing and relative progress in the Netflix app itself. The fact that Netflix is bothering to list the episodes, leads me to believe they will fully support the TV app experience (minus the directly playing in the TV app, and subscribing to Netflix through the TV app, considering they removed subscribing to Netflix through the App Store).

if I have an HBO subscription through Verizon Fios, can I download HBO episodes through the TV app?

No.

If you have a subscription through Fios, then you would use the HBO Go app. A subscription through the TV app is for HBO Now, which is HBO’s separate subscription service and has nothing to do with Fios. HBO Go is integrated with the TV app, but would not allow the premium features such as downloading an episode, which can only be done with subscriptions that are specifically subscribed to through the TV app. Not even a direct HBO Now subscription would give you those features, your app experience (features) are limited to the app you are subscribed through. Apple has no say over the user experience of another platform’s subscribers. Apple can only customize the experience for those that are exclusively subscribers through the TV app.

Similarly a Fios subscription of Showtime requires using the Showtime Anytime app, you cannot use the regular Showtime app because that is like HBO Now and requires a non-cable direct subscription to Showtime. The premium channel services chose to handle things that way, Apple has no say in the matter; it’s been like that for years.

For the free channels (channels included with your basic cable subscription), they typically do not have two apps and do not require signing up with them directly, you’d just download their respective app and authenticate your device using your Fios login. From that point the app will integrate with Apple’s TV app. However it still will not allow you to download episodes, because again those are subscriptions that originate outside of the TV app, which Apple has no say in other platform’s user experience.

 

[Rybo]

Not sure if this is a bug, but I cannot get Game Of Thrones to play FROM the TV app. Other shows play fine directly in the app, but GoT still makes me launch HBO Now.

Anyone else?

It’s because you are subscribed to HBO Now through another source than being directly subscribed through the TV App. If you for example have HBO in Hulu, but don’t use the HBO Go or Now app, it’ll redirect to Hulu. But if you typically watch through the HBO Now app, then it’ll redirect there.

The only way to play directly in the TV app, is if you subscribe to the service through the TV app.

I think there's currently a scenario in the tvOS 12.3 beta where even if you subscribe to HBO through the TV app, it will still initially attempt to play HBO content in a separate app (HBO Now, HBO Go, Prime Video, etc.). If you were previously watching an HBO show in the separate app, the TV app will continue to try to launch that separate app. To switch the TV app to default to a different app (including the TV app itself), you need to go into the show's detail page and then scroll down, until you get to a section that is titled something like "Ways to Watch" or "How to Watch" or something like that. In there you can choose the appropriate app to open the show in, and once you're in the appropriate app and start playing the show, the TV app should then default to that app in the future.

 

[GreginNJ]

It'd be nice to have PBS Masterpiece channel too (like on Amazon Prime Video).

Speaking of PBS: a regular PBS Passport subscription is still a better value for the money, though.

I've never heard of the PBS Masterpiece Channel until just now.

 

[RebelTrust]

Anyone subscribed to HBO through Apple TV channels notice that it doesn't have all of HBO's movies that are otherwise available through NOW/GO? I was checking out a movie last night through the TV app and it showed that I wasn't able to play it through the HBO channel. I opened the HBO NOW app and confirmed that it is available there. I contacted HBO and all they said was "HBO on the Apple TV app and HBO NOW should have the same shows and movies available to stream." Wonder if this is an issue on Apple's or HBO's side. Hopefully this gets resolved soon. Anyone else notice this issue?