So at what point can I just choose to pay the cable company but NOT have some dude come into my house with a bunch of crappy boxes I don't want?
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Single Sign-On Now Available in tvOS 10.1 and iOS 10.2
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If you consider SlingTV, Sony PS Vue, or the new DirecTV streaming service "the cable company", you can do that today.
I get your sentiment, but let's be honest: As of the end of June, the [Dish] had 13.593 million pay-TV subscribers (including those with Sling TV).
Also - no apps support SSO yet anyway - that's why this is a quiet launch, those other providers will probably hop the wagon soon enough, maybe their internal testing wasn't where they wanted it so Apple quietly launched without them.
SSO will be great when everyone gets on board but it's going to take some time - remember when iPad apps didn't exist, or when the App Store didn't exist, or when you couldn't login to ESPN because your provider pissed off Disney(that's probably just me)?
I do that now.
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Maybe a Chicken and Egg thing. The purpose of a beta release is mainly for developers to provide support. I think this is a good thing. Apple needs to provide this and then the Apps need to support it and then the Cable TV Providers need to support it. And it might help if Apple Customers were part of the ones demanding their Cable TV Providers support it. There are Cable TV Providers that still do not support some Apps now for App Authentication. Apple needed to do its part for this to move forward. Like the Apple TV 4. I really think they wanted to release it with a TV Subscription but had to postpone it because of problems with getting that part done. I think at some point they gave up and just released the Apple TV 4 which I am happy they did.
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I get your point but I think a couple Apps already support it. They start with the word Watch ..... They started to show this some time ago and now they are listed in the Beta. I think more will start to pop up soon now that Apple has finally released their part.
Why am I not surprised some snarky comment is top? MR is awful these days. Used to be a nice place for discussion but now it's nothing but petty whining everywhere you look.
Long time member here and it's a shame to see it happen to this site.
Currently, SlingTV as a service authenticator is extremely limited. PSVue is much better at this -- I'm currently nearing the end of my trial membership, app and network website authentication as well as being able to skip commercials for DVR'd content are making me wish I hadn't let my Sling subscription auto-renew this month...
The fact that SlingTV is listed as a SSO provider is the first indication I've seen that Sling may finally be launching more comprehensive app authentication in tandem with SSO
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I really don't understand the point of this. I have SlingTV so I go into the app and sign in. Done. Why do I need to sign in at the System preferences level? SlingTV log in doesn't really offer anything else that I know of.
Additionally, what if you have multiple logins. What does Single sign on do for that?
Additionally, what if you have multiple logins. What does Single sign on do for that?
That may be true. For me, I use the Apple TV in part so that I don't have to rent another box to get content to my non-main TVs that only get occasional TV watching. But if Comcast drags their feet, this may be something that makes me switch.
There are already a few channels that I pay for on Comcast that won't authorize on my Apple TV and that has frustrated me as well.
Cord cutting for me is still way in the future, but if my provided doesn't make it easy to watch my content on other devices that should be capable of watching it, I'll find another provider.
This is still beta and I'm sure more will be added before it's released to the public in December. I hope PlayStation Vue will be on there. I ditched cox because of their expensive service. I would switch to google fiber if we had it in Oklahoma. So I'm stuck with cox for internet.
The description kind of hints like you'll be able to watch movies for free if your cable tier allows it...maybe?!
Theres a StarTrek Joke in there somewhere
Technically, it'll make them the last Frontier
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Sorry you're stuck with Cox. How do they compare with Comcast?
no Comcast????? Are they not the #1 provider in the nation for cable? I hope it comes soon.
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That alone is an American Horror Story! And all to real......it happens all the time, with HBO go/now being the worst at forgetting credentials.....
Ahhhh....I will call your HBO Go/Now bet and raise you an NBC Sports.
Yeah... precisely what Single Sign-On is supposed to ELIMINATE... no fine print matters when you're left out, it's business as usual, and it sucks. You need to re-authenticate each and every app once per month.
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No? It's to put web-based services on your TV... all of which require subscriptions to something...
It was pretty clear in the title of the article
"Single Sign-On Now Available in tvOS 10.1 and iOS 10.2"
It can't be helped if some people are incapable of reading more than 7 words..
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It's hardly Apples fault for its customers expecting too much. Apple clearly stated doing the announcement of Single sign on it would have limited support.
"Unveiling last week the latest iteration of its Apple TV app, which includes the feature, satellite operators DirecTV and Dish Network were the only major pay-TV operators listed as supporting Single On."
the fact that these other networks like Sling are available is a bonus. People need to have realistic expectations.
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You do realize this is a two way street right? It requires Apple to have the feature available and for the provider to support it. In fact it likely is a 3 party situation where not only does the provider need to support it but also each individual TV network. Remember, networks like History have never allowed AT&T U-Verse customers to access its content through apps.
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Not sure how it compares to Comcast. I know cox doesn't have hard data caps. Internet is faster than AT&T. I just had to drop cable with them because of price. I like PlayStation Vue because I get about 77 channels for $35 a month. And it also has a DVR feature. Will "record" shows you favorite and keep it for 30 days. And it always records stuff even if it's a rerun. I guess it just saves it all to their server or something so don't have to worry about running out of hard drive space for your shows.
Well I think with the upcoming "TV" app and standalone apps that can be updated on their own and regularly (as well as support Universal search, Siri, and live tune-in) - Sling as a standalone authentication background seems a very fair option than just getting cable which we're trying to get away from.
I am sorry...I am not following you.
I was addressing the question by another poster that stated "I have SlingTV so I go into the app and sign in. Done. Why do I need to sign in at the System preferences level?"
I was simply saying that if ALL that person uses is SlingTV, then having SSO is probably not going to mean too much, if anything, to him.
10.1 and 10.2 is beta only. So the title in clearly inaccurate.
But you totally schooled me from that high horse of yours.
Since Sling is considered a cable provider in this context, by logging in with your Sling credentials, you'll also be able to use any of the individual Apps for cable networks, that qualify.
Generally speaking these individual network Apps and the SSO feature are for people already paying for cable (yuck) through a provider. But subscribers to Sling are being granted the same ability it seems. Which is nice, because it means as someone with NO cable subscription (me), but with a Sling subscription (me), I can authenticate with Sling and use those Apps if I want...whereas otherwise I could not.
Of course, it all depends on what channels you have through Sling, If those channels have AppleTV Apps, and if those channels accept Sling for authentication.
10.1 and 10.2 is beta only. So the title in clearly inaccurate.
But you totally schooled me from that high horse of yours.
Only if you have no clue what version of tvOS you are currently running. Yes the title stipulated two beta versions of tvOS and not the current consumer version... I fail to see how that is click bait.
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Why? If it means i can NOW access individual tv networks from my apple TV / Phone this means everything to me.
