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I know the feature is in beta. But I still don't know why they released a beta feature with so few providers. The whole purpose of the beta feature is to test the service. I am not going to sign up for sling for example, to test single sign on. I would rather wait till they get more services listed.
 
I'm not a naysayer or doomsdayer, but at this point it really feels like Apple is really starting on a downward trend. It's not because it took so long to release single sign on - we're used to waiting until they get things just right before letting them into the wild.

It's that they waited so long and THEN released it in a way that a grand total or 37 1/2 people can use it while everybody else just wonders why it doesn't 'just work' for them. The problem isn't the delay or the result, but the fact that in a Jobs Apple world you wait until something is absolutely ready to go before it sees the light of day. You don't release a single sign on (man, how convenient) without having Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, and all the other major cable providers on board so that 99% of your users can use the feature and be happy....as opposed to 3% of your users.

It's just sloppy work and poorly thought out planning and it seems to be a trend as of late (a computer company that doesn't update its computers, setting a release date on airbuds and then missing that deadline potentially by months....we don't know because they won't say anything, releasing a phone that you have to send with a warning that it's gonna look beat to hell just from using it the way it should be used). It's like they just stopped thinking about how to be amazing.
 
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I know the feature is in beta. But I still don't know why they released a beta feature with so few providers. The whole purpose of the beta feature is to test the service. I am not going to sign up for sling for example, to test single sign on. I would rather wait till they get more services listed.
Could it be that these are the providers that were ready for it? Maybe the others are still working on their side? I don't know entirely how it works to even know if the provider has to do anything.
 
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Reauthenicating is a pain, especially if you have many ATVs.

Especially if you have many ATVs and your significant other isn't a techie, and you use two-factor authentication, and you aren't home, and she turns the TV on to watch American Horror Story two minutes before it starts and the app has "forgotten" your login credentials.

Wait, is that just me...?
 
Especially if you have many ATVs and your significant other isn't a techie, and you use two-factor authentication, and you aren't home, and she turns the TV on to watch American Horror Story two minutes before it starts and the app has "forgotten" your login credentials.

Wait, is that just me...?

Yes, and add little kids to that list too.
 
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I have to agree that this puzzles me. Announced as part of new apple tv update, but was never part of betas. Keep announcing that it's coming "later this year", then they do a stealth update, and it doesn't work with the 3 largest tv providers. smh.
 
Bummer that this doesn't work with TWC/Charter. Not surprised though...
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I know the feature is in beta. But I still don't know why they released a beta feature with so few providers. The whole purpose of the beta feature is to test the service. I am not going to sign up for sling for example, to test single sign on. I would rather wait till they get more services listed.

Isn't this the whole point of a beta? These companies are ready for it. Now let's test it to see if it works with them...thus the term "beta testing." I'm assuming that when enough companies are ready for it, and it's been thoroughly tested, they will roll it out to the masses.
 
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Well now...that will be tested by all of 6 people.

Very cool to see that Sling TV counts as a provider though.
 
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Single Sign On is not that big of a deal to me. Let's say I have around 10 TV apps that I use on my iPad, all of which reference the same cable subscription. Signing in to each one ONCE is not a major headache, especially since the list of apps does not change much over time.

The real inconvenience is when an individual app occasionally deletes/forgets the credentials and asks me to sign in again, as if I've never used the app before (CNBC does this around once/month). If Single Sign On prevents this from happening, then it's a Godsend. Otherwise I don't care.

This is EXACTLY how I feel about the situation. The re-authentication can be extremely frustrating when wanting to watch a live event on one of the apps. There's been numerous times I open an app only to realize realize I'm going to be late to watching the program/event because I need to re-authenticate for some unknown reason.
 
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Not when all of those devices have 100% dependency on the cable company's cord. In other words, if you literally cut the cord, all those devices become door stops. Cable will get theirs no matter what. We should quit deluding ourselves that all of us can "beat" the cable company when they are also the only broadband provider for most of us. They will get theirs either way.

I suspect cord cutting means we will eventually be paying net more for net less. In other words, save the $100/month for "200 channels I never watch" by being a trendy "cord cutter." When the masses move on this concept, Cable will want to make up for the revenue losses. Tiered pricing for "higher bandwidth users like video streamers" gets implemented. Now our $50-$80 broadband bill rises to $80-$120 for broadband only. Then we also subscribe to Netflix, Hulu and various individual apps for maybe $30-$50 more. Where our cable+broadband combo used to cost $60-$100, now our cord-cut "cable" plus broadband costs $130-$170 and we have access to much less programming... though conceptually, only the stuff we want to watch (until of course, some other stuff is running on apps or channels not in our subscription pool... then we just pay more for it or do without).

Step a little more forward in time and read threads full of people whining for some kind of "value package" where all programming is available in a single app for a relatively low price, perhaps with some kind of on-screen guide that simply shows everything available to watch right now and maybe some DVR-like functionality... just like the "good old days": "I remember when I could get 500 channels for about $70/month. I rarely watched many of them but they sometimes had something interesting on. Now I pay $150/month for what is equivalent to about 10 channels in the old system. I used to think al-a-carte would cost so much less but it's actually much more expensive. Those greedy cable companies stuck it to us again. The Government should do something about this. Apple should do something about this. etc.";)

It's worth the extra cost to me if I don't have to pay $10/month rental for each POS cable box and another $10/month for "HD technology fee."
 
Bummer that this doesn't work with TWC/Charter. Not surprised though...
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Isn't this the whole point of a beta? These companies are ready for it. Now let's test it to see if it works with them...thus the term "beta testing." I'm assuming that when enough companies are ready for it, and it's been thoroughly tested, they will roll it out to the masses.
Its Ok. Some people think "beta testing" actually means "releasing the product early just for you because you're special."
 
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It’s called single sign on because a single person who uses the apple TV has one of those 4 providers and now access. /s

But seriously, there is not even mass coverage of the US with the providers they have listed.
 
Okay so obviously this is still in process with the major providers. But here's a question...let's just say, oh, hypothetically, you had a basic plan with FIOS and signed into all your apps with that account, BUT you were sharing HBOGo with your dad, through his Comcast account. How might that work out with Single signon, I wonder? I mean, this is totally hypothetical, of course....
 
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Man, MacRumors Forum members are impatient as hell. If it works half as well as they promise, I'm willing to wait a year or two for all the cable providers to get on board.

Apple creates a unifying sign-on system that no other set-top box manufacturer has ever done before. Waaah why doesn't it cover all the providers on day 0?

Apple creates a laptop with the fastest and most advanced multi-purpose and multi-function i/o ports ever. Waaah why aren't all my accessories compatible immediately?

Apple creates a car infotainment UI that is leaps and bounds better than anything any car maker has ever done before. Waaah why isn't it immediately available in my old pos car?

Apple creates an augmented reality headset that weighs just 2 ounces and doesn't make you look like an idiot. Waaah why isn't it available in rose gold?

(obv that last one is fake, but MR forum members would have that reaction.)
 
Sling TV just got more valuable IMO. Maybe I just didn't realize it before, but it never occurred to me that they count as a cable provider in this context. I'm guessing its already possible today to authenticate with Sling in various cable apps?
 
I mean the list will get bigger....right? Excited for the concept, but wish that it would have rolled out with the major providers. That seems like it would be the point of releasing this...right?o_O
 
Like everyone here, I am very anxious for single sign-on, and hope that there is strong integration between my provider and all of the apps.

However, I am only cautiously optimistic as there are a bunch of "moving parts". Not only does Apple have to support at the tvOS level, but each provider has to be brought on, and each individual app has to support SSO. In other words, I fear this could take a while to be 100% useful. But it is definitely a step in the right direction.

Also, keep in mind that the constant re-authentication happens on all streaming devices, not just AppleTV. And to my knowledge, the others (Roku, Amazon, and Android TV) do not have SSO pending.

In my perfect world, SSO (and hopefully iCloud syncing) will:

1) Allow me to sign in 1x and allow every app I install to use those credentials (I believe this to be what Apple is promising). But in addition, I hope it will:

2) Allow me to override that SSO credentials on an app-by-app basis.

3) Store credentials in iCloud so that other AppleTVs that use my iCloud login pick up my login credentials and settings.

4) Extend sign-in credentials to a full iCloud storage of AppleTV settings so that in a household with multiple AppleTVs getting a consistent setup is just a matter of signing into the same iCloud account. I have 3 ATVs and while signing into apps is by far the most frustrating aspect of using them, having apps auto populate on each, go into the same folder on each, get setup the same, etc. would be great.
 
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