cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Anonymous User
Not applicable

Boost - Apple TV 4k

Can someone confirm that Boost IS now available for the NowTV app on the 4K Apple TV?

 

As far as I can tell it seems to be 1080P with NO 5.1 sound. Is this right?

 

Is 5.1 sound coming to the Boost on 4K Apple TV?

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION
nst
Elite

There is already a very comprehensive thread on the subject:

 

https://community.nowtv.com/t5/Set-top-boxes-Smart-TVs/Update-Now-TV-app-for-apple-TV/td-p/366659/pa...

 

TD;DR...

 

NO.  Astonishingly NowTV think that's its OK to launch Boost on AppleTV and leave off 5.1 sound (and charge the full boost sub fee).

 

As we all know AppleTV is vastly capable of 5.1 so why NowTV seemed incapable of providing a 5.1 sound stream on their content within the app is mind blowingly incomprehensible.

 

Are they planning to?  Well they say they are.  When?  Goodness only knows.  Its been more than a month since launch and no sign of an update - the app itself was in public beta for 8 months and they knew full well about boost from the start and they promised boost support for launch but not this half baked option.

 

Some people seem quite content to accept the boost service without 5.1 as maybe they don't have 5.1 sound systems... and that's fine for them.

I watch a lot of movies, and TV shows that are supposed to have a 5.1 soundtrack and I have a decent 5.1 sound system, so its not acceptable for me to get the service without what I feel is a vital component of an HD service.  Picture goes hand in hand with sound.

 

 

View solution in original post

19 REPLIES 19
nst
Elite

There is already a very comprehensive thread on the subject:

 

https://community.nowtv.com/t5/Set-top-boxes-Smart-TVs/Update-Now-TV-app-for-apple-TV/td-p/366659/pa...

 

TD;DR...

 

NO.  Astonishingly NowTV think that's its OK to launch Boost on AppleTV and leave off 5.1 sound (and charge the full boost sub fee).

 

As we all know AppleTV is vastly capable of 5.1 so why NowTV seemed incapable of providing a 5.1 sound stream on their content within the app is mind blowingly incomprehensible.

 

Are they planning to?  Well they say they are.  When?  Goodness only knows.  Its been more than a month since launch and no sign of an update - the app itself was in public beta for 8 months and they knew full well about boost from the start and they promised boost support for launch but not this half baked option.

 

Some people seem quite content to accept the boost service without 5.1 as maybe they don't have 5.1 sound systems... and that's fine for them.

I watch a lot of movies, and TV shows that are supposed to have a 5.1 soundtrack and I have a decent 5.1 sound system, so its not acceptable for me to get the service without what I feel is a vital component of an HD service.  Picture goes hand in hand with sound.

 

 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Thanks for the reply - totally agree, I have a great Sonos surround system and this is unacceptable.

nst
Elite

Sonos here too.

 

Also covered in other threads but those of us in a similar position to yourself... who patiently waited for the AppleTV app to be released (for many years!)... and for whom 5.1 is an essential part of the boost service they pay for... have ended up abandoning the AppleTV app as its not fit for (our) purpose at the moment.

I was using my inbuilt LG WebOS app but have switched to the Firestick one for now.  Grudgingly.

 

I want all my streaming services under one 'appleTV' roof - there's no reason why this can't happen but NowTV's frankly bizarre decision to release a boost service without 5.1 simply means I cannot use it.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Any change or update on 5.1 availability ?

nst
Elite

Sadly not... no.

 

This remains the most baffling thing to me.

 

There seems to be no technical reason whatsoever why they can't get 5.1 on the AppleTV.  Literally ALL the other apps on the platform manage it as a bare minimum and many go further to provide 4K and Dolby Atmos audio.

 

I just dont accept that Now have technical issues here - if so then they look utterly incompetent.

 

Also, I think its pretty unacceptable to allow Boost subscribers to pay the extra on the platform when they are not getting all the features.

 

Whose bright idea was it to provide HD without 5.1 - great movie watching experience eh.  Its not as if Now's main sales feature is a movie channel....

 

Sarcasm aside they did, finally, and unexpectedly integrate with the AppleTV TV app - and this is a huge deal and makes the service that much more useable.  That being said I still have to switch to the Fire Stick in order to actually watch in the content in the quality that im paying for... and to that end the AppleTV app is useless to me.

 

I had hope that this was a short lived glitch...and they were true to their word that it was being worked on and to be fixed shortly.. but that was what were were told back in December and no sign of it being 'fixed' yet.

 

Maybe someone should give them Netflix's IT department number... or Disney+'s... or Amazon Prime's.... because they could supply a 5.1 audio stream with their eyes closed.... but for some reason this eludes the Now development team.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

I feel that with many of these and similar decisions, they are business decisions. NOW TV is no doubt seriously eating into the long standing revenue streams and I am sure there are some decision mkaers who will never want NOW anywhere near the quality of SkyQ. Alas, Sky cannot stem the tide like everybody else and need to adapt by delivering better than the rest, including IPTV type competitors. With things like 5.1 and now not working on Apple TV 4k v2 (or no UHD/recording) out of the box.....its not looking good for the future.

gavs82008
Legend 5
Legend 5

@Anonymous User 

Comcast the owners of Sky and NOW, are pushing more on the streaming services. Considering they launched Peacock in the US using the same technology as NOW and already has 5.1 along with 1080p as default in their subscription at no extra cost. 

More recently an article stated that NOW will be bringing us HDR and 4K as part of Boost. They even acknowledged the insane factor of Apple TV not having 5.1 which is going to be addressed by the end of the year. 

Whilst I agree that the service isn’t as good as Disney or Netflix or Amazon. My hope is over the next year we will see a lot more changes to NOW to improve on it,

FYI that I do not work for NOW, just a NOW customer trying to help
Anonymous User
Not applicable

I just wanted to chime in.

 

I always wondered if it was something to do with the Apple TV SDK, Yes I completely understand Netflix/Disney+/Prime Video all have managed to get multichannel audio for the TV shows/movies, I’m also wondering if it’s the way it’s all implemented?

 

I’ve got a funny feeling however that Comcast are going to turn  sky and now on their heads by the end of the year going into 2022.


especially when you consider the strides they’ve been making with Peacock, I mean they even have a better UI then NOW.

 

I think 4K/HDR is definitely in the roadmap long-term, just not for the short term and maybe Atmos shortly after.

 

I’m actually super excited to see how the platform is going to mature across multiple devices within the next year or two, I mean did anybody really see Apple TV app integration coming for NOW? I sure didn’t.

 

I really think they should start trading on the sky name as well, I mean let’s just drop the TV on NOW TV, Whoopie do.

 

I'd like to see something a little more streamlined, like sky now, sky streaming, Sky lite just to name a few.

 

maybe also I will get the six device limit lifted as well, one day, maybe?

 

are you also definitely think that sky/NOW should consider iTunes going through all Apple devices and not just the Apple TV, just my opinion is here.

 

Feel free to agree/disagree tell me I’m talking out of my A, It’s all good.

 

take care everyone

 

nst
Elite

@Anonymous User 

This is all well and good.. and I share your hopes that Now will change with the times and make their offering to compete more in terms of quality with all the other services.

 

Remember a couple of things.  Firstly they are playing catchup - literally - as the others are already there with 4K, Atmos, etc... and they cant even get 5.1 working yet... and any timeframes are so far in the future.

 

Secondly... what you say is fine but Now have a habit of not supporting all platforms equally and I can certainly see that if and when they choose to introduce an attractive new feature then a large percentage of their customer base will be left frustrated as their platform of choice has to wait to be updated - and in Now's case this can take years.

 

@Anonymous User 

 

'recording'.....  So many talk about it... but if you want to record TV shows then get SkyQ or another PVR service.

In the context of a streaming platform such as NowTV, Disney+ etc etc etc why would you want to 'record' their content when its always available.

I know... some have things on for 'limited' times such as 4 weeks or so but thats the way it goes with streaming (or the non Netflix / Disney / Amazon ones anyway).