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.

[nst]

sadly this has no bearing on the NowTV app.  New AppleTV hardware or not.

[Anonymous User]

I never said it did. I was just giving a heads up to the person who has just bought what will soon be the old model.

[Anonymous User]

The problem is, every thing gets upgraded and replaced almost annually. Not sure there will be a lot of difference. I do not notice much difference between my 2 difference models of apple tv's. I have had every generation so far. While cloud storage has replaced the need for TB HDD's, most people do not have 4kTV in every room of the house. 

Our problem is with NowTV not living up to the premium price the subscription costs compared to the substandard AppleTV app. If I relied sorely on the AppleTV app and not the inbuilt one on my 4kTV, I would not be using NowTV.

[nst]

The AppleTV box is a favourite of mine.  I have a lot of Apple kit and am one of those who are more likely to upgrade 'just because' theres a newer shinier model.

However that said, I am intrigued with what a new AppleTV box can bring.  Yes, the current hardware, even the 4K model is a few years old now without any updates - but as someone who does not use it as a games console and play games on it... I just use it for streaming services - I don't see what an upgraded chip will do for the TV watching experience.

I still find my 4K appleTV to be lightning fast and the best streaming box experience I have encountered.  When I have to go back to the NowTV box to watch NowTV content in 1080p and 5.1 with the boost add-on.. I pull my hair out each and every time as its so slow, and clunky... and this is a Current Gen piece of hardware much newer than the several year old 4K AppleTV box I have.

[Anonymous User]

I'm hoping for AV1 codec support, in particular for Youtube 4K.

[nst]

I find myself wondering the exact same thing.

Deadline for questionnaire almost 3 weeks ago.

Still on Build 1.

I must admit im a bit surprised at the pace and communication.  I think Ill email the trials manager and ask what the situation is and whether we can be expecting another build to test.

[Anonymous User]

Let us know what they say, I think we’re all a bit confused as to why it hasn’t had a second build yet, surely we’ve all reported the same issues and problems

[MrZippy]

Well let’s hope we did, I found a new bug last night. There indeed are a lot.

[nst]

Will do.  Ive just sent a quick email to them - wouldn't have thought id get a reply until sometime in the week.

Its curious.  Also hard to discuss in generic terms in public here!

I must admit to being surprised at the elapsed time - its been nearly 8 weeks with build 1 and nearly 4 weeks since the first survey.

I really cant comment in ignorance as they might be having problems, covid related staffing issues etc.

The way I see it, im sure they have a handle on all the bugs, and maybe thats it for the betas - maybe we wont get a build 2 - perhaps build 2 is the release version.

If not, and we get another beta to test... I would strap yourselves in for the long haul because it seems like a very slow turnaround and if we have to get through 2/3/4 beta builds then the final version may not be released for months yet.

On the plus side to non-beta testers again keeping things generic..... the new version is night-and-day better than the old one so if you are an appleTV fan and hoping for a 1 box solution to include NowTV it will come.

[MrZippy]

I agree it’s a night and day difference, but will only be any good if it works correctly. And trust me it has many reproducible issues at the moment, as the Irish app looks the same it must be awful to be a beta tester without knowing for them!

Beta testers note, number one priority here should be identifying and fixing bugs, adding 1080p/5.1 should be a trivial change as generally the Apple TV decodes the content, so is just a case of offering a different stream. Whereas bugs are baked into the code. 

[nst]

Again im being careful what im saying here, but I just dont see that this is the same version thats been released elsewhere - it just cant be.

Im fascinated as to why it isnt...because surely thats stable and less buggy - to all intents and purposes it looks like we have a brand new ground-up build in the UK which doesnt share much with the Irish and Italian ones (why, Ive no idea).

I trust you are right about the boost stuff.  Im heartened to know that its been specifically mentioned and therefore enough of the beta testers have made an issue of it to be noted.

And yes, there are many bugs that need fixing in beta 1 - shouldnt be a surprise to anyone though as thats what betas are for.. especially version 1's.

[Anonymous User]

I was told from the response from the trials manager Email that the second build was delayed as they wanted to go in a new direction, maybe they are adding the boost function etc as a matter of priority and with all the staffing issues around Covid it’s just taking a little longer.

[MrZippy]

@nstthis app appears identical to the Irish app, which you can view on the Irish App Store. I also made an Irish account and downloaded, although couldn’t test playback functionality as wouldn’t accept a U.K. Nowtv account for login.

  
Also you can’t believe the Irish app is buggy, yet the current U.K. app is buggy and not been updated since launch!  Seems quite believable to me!  I’d say wasn’t released in the U.K. when they realised all the issues. 

[waldopepper]

I am also perplexed why each territory has a different app, obviously we have no idea how it works behind the scenes but why on earth don't they have one app, that serves different content according to the region. Imagine if every country had to have a different version of the Netflix app and they were all slightly different and bugs had to be fixed in each one individually!

That said though, if they do for some reason have to do this, why not update the one in the largest market first so the most customers benefit from it!

[nst]

@MrZippy 

I think its fair to say that this simply cannot be the same app that is already released elsewhere.

It s a mystery why it isnt, but with the current level of bugs it just cant be,

Again with the current level of bugs I cant even see how the Irish app could have been a bed for this UK one.

It very much feels like an early beta right now.

Although id say its certainly "functional" of course otherwise we couldn't be testing it... its certainly not working satisfactorily.  But again this is beta 1 - what can we expect.

The comment about the "different direction" is intriguing.  Again i'll bang on about boost.... IT MUST BE INCLUDED in 2020!!  its cannot be left off.  It would be so ridiculous on a technologically superior platform where the current users of an AppleTV already enjoy Netflix, Amazon, and Disney+ in 4K.... to have the NowTV app (a more expensive service than the others) re-launching an app on the platform that is only 720p content including flagship movies etc.... its just is embarrassing.

Id have hoped that Boost was a no-brainer for the development team - I was shocked to see it not supported in the first beta as i just assumed it was taken as read that it would be there.

I know that a lot of the testers gave them a hard time about no Boost - me included.... they certainly have got that message.

If this 'new direction' is necessary to support Boost then fine.... great.  I am feeling like a lot of us are being left in the dark though.  This 'new direction' should be made clear to us in some kind of regular email update so we know what to expect in terms of timeframe.  You wouldn't want to lose the enthusiasm and momentum of the testers.  This will happen.

[MrZippy]

I really see implementing boost as a non issue, it’s a just video stream which not surprisingly the Apple TV supports natively. Whereas the rest is layout and Functionality, therefore why rush to stick in beta 1.

[nst]

I respectfully disagree about the boost - though i know that you aren't necessarily looking to have it or use it and i understand that.   Boost is indeed a paid-for extra that many customers have no interest in at all.

And yes you are right in a few things.  Beta one does not have to have it.... and functionality and usability is far, far more important than picture quality at this stage.

... though as i say i just hope that it will be included before launch.  The more I think about it the more ridiculous it seems to launch a brand new and long anticipated version of what is a flagship UK based streaming platform's app and for it to only support 720p and stereo sound when all the other apps and streaming companies are already on 4K.. and the app has 1080p versions available on other 3rd party platforms already.

Im being nice... I dont expect or demand NowTV to support 4K - i think we will be waiting a long time for that one if ever... but 1080p and 5.1 are just essential otherwise the brand new app on the 3 year old Apple hardware will look completely embarrassing to be honest.

[MrZippy]

I remember when the Apple TV 4 launched the NowTV app was a month late to be released, despite being in promo material. Should have realised then where this was going...

I note the old Apple TV 3 had 720p catchup, believe it was the only device that did at the time, at least outside Roku. I was under the impression Apple mandated at least 720p - but I could be wrong.

[nst]

I remember that too.

In fact, back then, its was an embarrassment.

The newfangled AppleTV 4th Gen was announced with much fanfare by Apple as per normal.  In the USA they had a number of streaming services promised with new (what was to become TVOS) re-written apps - these apps took advantage of the new remote etc.

In the UK, we had far fewer streaming services at the time, and we were promised a much smaller launch catalogue of new Apps - I seem to recall iPlayer was one of them and NowTV was another.

It was most peculiar that a few weeks later... the new AppleTV was available in the shops.  I went and bought mine straight away.. plugged it in... and searched the new and very very empty UK app store for content.  I found iPlayer but no sign of the new promised NowTV app.

As you rightly say, we had a further wait of about 4 weeks after launch to finally get "a" version of the app - but as we all noted at the time it was IDENTICAL to the existing previous gen boxes app - just a straight port with absolutely no new functionality or features to take advantage of the new hardware as we were all lead to believe.  This port took no development effort at all.

I think most of us at the time thought "oh, they must have had problems so quickly pushed out this port of the old app to keep us quiet until they get the actual version out"..... oh how wrong we were and the rest, as they say, is history!

Stuck with a port of a previous gen box's app for 4.5 years and counting.  In fact, if you want to be precise, the version of the app that we currently have on the AppleTV platform significantly pre-dates the current 4 yr old HD box and 3 yr old 4K box by a number of years as its the one that was running on the gen 3 and gen 2 boxes so i shudder to think just how old this app actually is.

Lets hope its finally shuffling off into retirement soon.

It wont be missed.

[Breaking_Bad]

It must be said that the beta app is not the bug infested disaster that some may imply on here. 

I’d also urge patience during the pandemic in regard to the speed of new builds being released. 

[MrZippy]

Well I beg to differ, believe I’ve reported at least 10 bugs. From cosmetic, to functionality and also reproducible crashes.

But I am using daily so it’s no worse for actually watching content than the current app.