Update Now TV app for apple TV

[Anonymous User]

Will the Now TV app for Apple TV ever get an update?

The current version is complete rubbish and makes me regret ever getting a Now TV pass.

Unless there is an update my Now TV experience will be very short indeed.

[Anonymous User]

I fully echo those words. The Apple 4k box is a great device and like others have mentioned I’m having to watch the hd boost on a nowtv black box which is very sluggish. I also have firetv 4k device but of course you can’t get nowtv on there. Simply put I just want one device to watch all streaming content on and can only hope the development team get a move on. As I said in a previous post a user on avforums spoke to someone the other day from sky and it is believed the app will be rolled out January 2020 how credible this is I don’t know. 

[dr_necessitor]

For me, that device should be my Apple tv 4k.but in fact I’m having to use the Roku Streaming Stick+ because I refuse to revert back to using the old v1.0 app on the Apple tv 4k. I’m told that another Beta of an improved version of the new Apple tv app is “coming soon”.

[nst]

Agreed.

As I said earlier, the AppleTV is hardly to be considered a 'marginal' device and is far more ubiquitous than almost any smart TV's built in app.  Its hardware is fast and capable and although my 4K appleTV is now 2 years old, it still performs way faster than my brand new NowTV box (which I grudgingly bought)

I dont understand why its so far down the priority list.

Personally speaking I want my AppleTV 4K to be the only set top box i have, and its frustrating as it SHOULD be - its just the woefully neglected NowTV app thats letting it down.

Again, Im surprised that NowTV have allowed this situation to happen, and that they should be making sure that practically EVERYONE has the option of opting for the Boost add-on.  Think of all those extra £3 per month they are denying themselves whilst they have left some platforms behind. Very strange business decision to be fair.

[nst]

One further thought (and im not biased as I have an appleTV!).

Personally, I would not rely on any Smart TV built in app.  There must be so many old TVs out there, who's Operating Systems haven't been updated in years, and the app ecosystem left in the dark ages.

If you have a (modern) set top box / stick, then you should feel a bit more comfortable that your apps will get a bit more TLC from the developers.  Also, should your device eventually become outdated its easily replaceable without having to change your entire TV.

If I were NowTV, I would not supply any apps for Smart TVs natively, and concentrate on other consumer devices.

Of course my list would start with an AppleTV, but I guess thats not the most common out there - but certainly apart from their own Box and stick, they should also support Roku, FireTV, Xbox/PS4.

There are other more obscure makes and manufacturers of streaming devices but I see no reason why they should not concentrate their efforts on the more popular ones.

They are clearly spreading themselves too thinly, and allowing some to be neglected badly (Apple TV!).

Surely its time to drop support for Native apps on smart TVs.

[Anonymous User]

Quite right I much prefer the device over a built in app, everyday I’d choose that. Is there no way of finding out who’s in charge of nowtv development. We’re just sat here day to day thinking when the app will be updated, surely someone can give us an update. As I said I heard on avforums that a guy said it would be jan 2020 but how credible that is I don’t know.

[nst]

I think thats the crux of the problem.

Visibility, communication, and updates.  Nothing from Sky/Now TV.

There must be a reason why the AppleTV platform in particular is so badly neglected.  I would suggest in this day and age an app that has gone without an update in 4 years is a rarity (unless the app or company had gone out of business).  

I would suggest that the appleTV is actually one of the more popular 3rd party solutions apart from games consoles but personally I find the idea of watching NowTV through the PS4 rather clunky using a game controller to access controls.  Why its not on the FireTV stick is a mystery - thats probably the best value for money device out there at the moment.

Although I have a perfectly working PS4 I chose to purchase the NowTV box as a stop-gap as its a better experience than the console - however I will never use any other apps on the NowTV box as they are all faster and better served on my AppleTV.

Everyone expecting / hoping for answers seems to be a bit too optimistic as they clearly aren't getting any.  Maybe we should be pestering NowTV more publicly via twitter and Facebook to ask them whats going on.

The thing with developing for AppleTV is that it is on Apple's TVOS platform which shares a great many similarities to their iOS platform, and I dont understand when they can regularly update and improve the iOS app, they dont include the TVOS app also - i imagine the same developers can work on both with very little differences between the two.

The apps themselves even now aren't really up to par with other offerings - for example im disappointed to see that if we have a show in our watchlist, that when a new episode becomes available it isn't highlighted somewhere.... at least not reliably or something I have noticed.  All it needs is a little badge on the show to indicate theres something new available - would make a world of difference.

Anyway, I digress.  

There are whisperings of an update imminently (just give us the irish version??!!) - however im surprised that they seem happy to lose an important market for all the Christmas Movies that they use as a draw to NowTV, and also all those people who would be willing to pay the extra £3 a month for the Boost add-on simply cannot yet.  Surely you need to maximise your earning potential??

January is too late for a lot of people having missed the Christmas window.

[Gizmo]

A New Year brings the opportunity to look back at ones progress compared to this time last year and to look forward to the coming year ahead - and the updating of the NOW TV app on Apple TV should be no exception.

So, as far as the end user is concern:

1. Progress over the last year - NONE

2. Likely progress over the next year - NONE

So, a not so Happy New Year for all those using NOW TV app on Apple TV!

[moroboshi]

I'm rather amazed at the dedication you guys have to Now TV. I'm not really sure why. Why not just watch Netflix, Amazon, and Apple TV+? All have good apps with 4K Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, and plenty to watch on them. And if they're not enough you'll get Disney+ in 3 months time, also in 4K Dolby Vision/Atmos. 

I don't really see the point of Now TV anymore. The era of Sky being relevant is over. They're a dinosaur, and we all know what happened to them. 

[Simonpaddy1]

For me it’s the HBO content. This is still the only real way to view them without a Sky sub. I

would even buy from Apple store but there if they were released weekly after airing, but that seems to be fairly rare for most premium shows these days. 

As soon as there is a better, legal, way to get a hold of this content I am gone. 

[Gizmo]

Yes, it is just for the HBO content. I think of NOW TV as the Tesco of the TV entertinment world. I shop at Lidl and Aldi but only ever shop at Tesco for what I can't get elsewhere.

If I were a WarnerMedia investors, I would be livid at their management's total lack of confidence in their own product in not following Disney's lead. Sky must have paid an absolute fortune for WarnerMedia content to stop their empire from colapsing.

Sky execs are still convinced they will be keeping Disney content - either they are deluded or don't understand their own market.

[Anonymous User]

My current sky sports pass ends on 8th January and seeing that the nowtv app still not updated for Apple and various other devices I have had to cancel. As soon as the app is updated to a proper app I will return. But I will not pay £33.00 a month for a product that can not be updated and hasn’t been for 4 years whilst the Ireland nowtv app has been. 

[Enapace]

For me it is the HBO/Showtime Content and also the original production and also Sky Sports I have BT Sports now sorted for a very good price after my EE phone upgrade nice to get that and NowTV is best way get things like F1 which i love and golf and other half of football i watch from time to time.

[ScottishMike]

It’s my monthly check for any news whatsoever on the app...

Nope, thought not.

I think it’s time to cancel and find the content elsewhere.

[Anonymous User]

I read on avforums that someone said there was something happening mid January regarding the app but how reliable the source is I don’t know. I cancelled my sky sport pass couple Of days ago.

[nst]

😏it must be so very hard for the development team to take the finished app and submit it to the UK app store.....

they must be too exhausted after pressing the button that submitted it to the Irish app store.

[ChiefSpaceGobln]

Having recently upgraded my TV to a 55” Dolby Vision capable set, the gulf between the 4K HDR10/DV content on Netflix, Prime & ATV+ via Apple TV is huge. I’ve also jumped from a UK Disney Life subscription to a US Disney+ one ahead of signing up the UK Disney+ release at the end of March.

All offer watchlist & up next functionality. All offer 4K HRD10/DV content. And in the case of UK Disney+, an expectation of the ABC content that SKy/NowTV formerly had (Grey’s Anatomy etc - a must for my wife) will now be on that service.

I’ll re-up my NowTV Entertainment subscription for The Orville when it starts, but beyond this I’m now starting to struggle with the diminished content I’m interested in on the service and the direct-from-2010 tvOS app functionality and performance (still no 1080 & 5.1 on Apple TV...).

[Gizmo]

The Orville Season 3 is moving from Fox to Hulu so unless Sky/Now TV have confirmed otherwise then it will only be available (if possible in the UK) via a direct-from-Disney "channel".

[ChiefSpaceGobln]

Hadn’t thought about the UK implications of The Orville’s Hulu move. Barring any must see new HBO series, losing The Orville would be the last thing keeping me on NowTV. 

[Anonymous User]

I can only assume that the reason NowTV app hasn't updated it's AppleTV App is that maybe there isn't enough of a customer base who uses AppleTV to watch NowTV justify the expenditure. Because the iPhone App is updated regularly. So it can't be a problem between Apple and Sky.

[Anonymous User]

There is demand for it as the app was released in the Ireland Apple store, and uk has bigger market than Ireland. As I mentioned a few times from the source on a forums a blocked her works in r@d mention 26th January. 

[nickmorc]

Off topic, but the Disney has just annouced a late March launch date. Subs are £5.99 per month. Or £59.99 for 12 months, one off payment.