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.

[Hooba]

I think NoTV an appleTV is now a busted flush.

I could put up with the ancient interface, lack of watch lists etc - but at the point they launched the Boost I immediately went out and bought a NowTV stick.

I've now taken NowTV through BT TV. So for that I get full HD, 5.1, 50FPS on all Sports channels, not just the Premier League, F1, Main Event.

So the bar just gets higher and higher - I'm not going to be using AppleTV until such time as they update the App, plus make all the Sports available as 50FPS on all Sports channels.

How long is that going to take? I suspect that NowTV not updating the AppleTV app is a deliberate move to push as many customers as possible to either their own hardware, or to their new partnership with BT.

Seriously though - the NowTV streaming sticks, with a Boost, give fantastic picture and sound, and they are pretty much giving the things away.

[Anonymous User]

@Hooba I'd like to jump in with a caveat here regarding the now TV sky sports channels in the BT TV EPG.

The NowTV sky sports hd channels via BT TV EPG are broadcast in 1080i50, the same quality as the BT Sport HD channels. To be clear this is 1920*1080 50 interlaced FIELDS per second. An interlaced field is a half horizontal frame e.g. lines 1,3,5,7 etc then the next interlaced field is lines 2,4,6,8 etc. This is not at as good as 1080p50 which is 1920*1080 50 progressive (full frame) frames per second.

Therefore technically the 'best way' to watch NowTV Boost for Main Event, Premier League and Formula 1 is the 1080p50 streams via the NowTV app.

However I will concede that the 1080i50 of all the other NowTV sky sports channels is a good improvement over the 1080p25 via the NowTV app.

Hope this helps 🙂

[nst]

The picture and sound on the NowTV sticks is superb... cant deny that.

And the sticks are dirt cheap... cant deny that.

The interface, and remote are HORRIBLE... slow... clunky... terrible (and this is their current gen flagship box!)

But also, the AppleTV is a supported device according to their website.... so some poor unsuspecting prospective customer might well pay for a movie pass etc with the full intention of watching it on their AppleTV (why should they go out and buy another device when they already have a "supported" one?).... only to find that its basically unusable rubbish right now.

Dont get me wrong.. when I signed up to NowTV in November I almost immediately HAD to go and buy the NowTV box as I was unwilling to put up with any less that 1080p and Dolby 5.1 sound.... however I resent having to do so and im itching to throw the thing in the bin at the first opportunity once the AppleTV app is finally bought in line with the SAME one thats ALREADY available in Ireland and Italy (note im no longer asking for the AppleTV app to be updated as thats already happened! - we just aren't allowed to use it yet)

[Anonymous User]

Here is the reply I got from nowtv help on twitter the third time I've sent a dm to them.

We are working on an update for this, thanks for your patience.

Just as I expected but they are working on it so I have to except there. The bottom line is people who have an apple 4k box are not gonna go out and buy an inferior piece of hardware despite it costing £20. As I've said before u pay for what you get and I've no issue with people doing that. But I like all my apps in one place and on one box. 

And I fully echo wat nst has just said.

[Hooba]

@Anonymous User  Ha ! That's brilliant - I hadn't clocked that the best way to watch Main Event, Premier League and Formula 1 is the 1080p50 streams via the NowTV app (on my BT TV box), even when I can access them through the BT TV EPG. Crazy times. But thanks for the heads up.

I can already see my mrs shaking her head when I launch the app to do so ... !

[Anonymous User]

@HoobaTo be fair what I said is based purely on the technical informt that is available for the different streams/ways of accessing the content.

I will leave it up to yourself who has access to NowTV 1080i50 through the BTTV EPG and 1080p50 through the NowTV app, both via the BT TV box, to determine which broadcast gives the truly better quality.

If you get the chance to test and try doing comparisons, I'm sure others as well as myself would be interested in hearing your conclusions.

[Breaking_Bad]

Heard back from NOW TV customer services and they have said they have no plans to update the app. 

[MrZippy]

It’s safe to say any customer service department is unlikely to know the business plan of the company they work for. Unless it’s an official stance, then I’m sure they’d all have the same comment.

Don’t forget they’ve paid for and released the iOS version as a universal iOS / tvOS app, the tvOS side just hasn’t been released in the U.K. territory.

So they have updated the app, so their comment is incorrect. 

[Breaking_Bad]

I am aware of this. 

I was among the first to complain years ago. 

I just wanted to share NOW TV’s most recent stupid reply. Not because it is factual or accurate but because it is ridiculous. 

[Anonymous User]

Yes what a pathetic statement from nowtv. As many have said on here the app will be updated just taking an eternity. 

[nst]

How UTTERLY ridiculous.

That response should be fed back to NowTV - people in a position to engage with the public need to be check their facts before responding to a genuine enquiry to be sure they are giving the correct information.

We have seen this a lot.  Makes them look even more amateurish than they already do.  Classic case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

Despite the distinct lack of genuine information forthcoming from NowTV on the subject.. we as consumers have been able to ascertain the facts that the app HAS been updated and IS released in Ireland and Italy.  We know this for a fact.  To say the app isnt going to be updated has huge ramifications - for example they will lose any fee paying customers who rely solely on their appleTV and who have been patiently waiting for years for this.  Any such information might be enough to push some off the edge of the cliff now and if the say there is no app to come people will cancel their subscriptions.

Also, as I have said before.. the app on the AppleTV is simply not fit for purpose and should not be left to fester.

You know what.. something occurred to me.. perhaps they are confused with the AppleTV app on the older gen boxes (which is basically what was ported to the new AppleTV 4 years ago) rather than the one that exists for the current gen AppleTV 4K box etc.... I can certainly understand if the old app on the old box will be left unaltered.

Anyway, fact is we know a new app exists for the current gen AppleTV HD and 4K box... so all we want to know is why the app isnt available in the UK and when it will be.

Simple?  You'd have thought so wouldn't you.

Sorry to ramble but something else just worried me... I am assuming that this mythical new app will support the Boost function... bearing in mind boost isnt available on all platforms... if it finally appears and it doesnt support boost then I wont be able to use it anyway!...  Does anyone in here know anyone in Ireland that uses the app?  I know on the NowTV website the boost function is specifically NOT mentioned as working on the AppleTV but then this is where its confusing - i suspect that the website is aimed at the UK market and not Ireland...

[MrZippy]

Good point, I forgot about the 3rd generation Apple TV and I used to have two!   That could be the cause of some confusion, and I still think that maybe our question isn’t being passed to the correct person for a valid response and maybe this is why. 

I just checked the Ireland site out on my mobile, can’t see boost mentioned, searching finds it but link is page not found. I also looked at list of supported devices from their FAQ, that is also page not found. Looks like no one tested the links on their Irish website. 

[Anonymous User]

I think it’s safe to say it won’t be happening soon as like someone mentioned this thread has been going on for years and we’re still no closer to having an updated app, shame because it could be a fantastic platform

[MrZippy]

It might have been going on for years, but an updated app exists now. It didn’t before. The change log doesn’t indicate when it went universal, but I suspect it was quite recently. 

[MrZippy]

I just install the iOS version of their app to see if I could use to track My TV as it were. Which of course isn’t in the tvOS app. 

Anyway I’m watching Cobra, next episode to watch is episode 5. The iOS app says next episode is 2 and I’ve only watched episode 1. 

Hmm... Looks like the whole service is half baked to me, even the updated app doesn’t reflect correctly what I’m watching. 

My current offer voucher ends in two weeks, NowTV sent me an offer saying next 6 months will be £3.99 a month.  I would take this up, but not with the NowTV tvOS app as it is. 

Looks like Disney+ will be getting my money, not Sky TV!

[nst]

@MrZippy if this helps... ive ditched a full blown SkyQ record service for NowTV.

I needed a facility to be able to track when the next available episode is ready to watch.

As you'll know from AppleTV the TV app is very useful for this and incorporates the BBC, ITV, C4, C5 and Amazon shows.  Annoyingly it doesn't work with Netflix.

I think its far too much to expect full integration from the mythical NowTV TVOS app (when it appears)...though that would be amazing.

However if its of any consolation the NowTV watch next function works *most* of the time but not all... I dont know why it doesnt sometimes, but the the TV TVOS app is also a bit unreliable... but not so much as to be unusable.  I think its mainly down to metadata supplied from the channels.  For example im watching SciFi's Blood and Treasure, and it still insists that episode 1 and 2 are the next episodes even though I watched them... first!  But they seem to be labeled as later so keep popping up - you learn to ignore that.  Again its just metadata that is incorrect.

I would encourage you to write to NowTV customer services and tell them that you need the new TVOS app to be able to continue subscribing.

I think that the more people make them aware that we are waiting the better.  They are ignoring the Twitter approaches now!

[Anonymous User]

If there not responding to direct twitter questions or general then a complaint needs to be lodged. They are they as a social media platform to give information To us. I personally had to send two direct messages because the first one didn’t get a response after 36 hours. Complete joke the management from top to bottom not communication with there staff as was clearly pointed out when someone was told by nowtv customer services that there was no plans for the nowtv Apple app, when there clearly is and was told off Twitter. So if nowtv management don’t communicate with staff is it little wonder we are ignored. If anyone has a LinkedIn account and has the option of direct messaging a person may I suggest the nowtv ceo Maria Storti. 

[Anonymous User]

I responded to another thread on this earlier, as I’m baffled by the fact Now TV haven’t released the new app yet, having tested it a year ago and it being near perfect. Now I see in this thread that it is available on Ireland - I may just create an Irish Apple ID and download it 

as an aside, I notice BT are now offering NowTV bundles with their broadband, there will be a fair few people who will want to use it on an Apple TV that will be very disappointed when they see the ATV3 version of the app 

[Anonymous User]

So was the app you tested actually any good

[dr_necessitor]

@Anonymous User  I was a long term beta tester of that app. It was on a par with the NOW TV app on Roku, but lacked integration with other providers’ content at the highest level. Very useable though and a vast improvement in the “current” public version.

[Anonymous User]

Shame we won’t get to see it for a while