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.

[Simonpaddy1]

https://twitter.com/nowtvhelp/status/1303725856976760833?s=21

No Boost, but talking about “will not” rather than “does not”.

[nst]

@Simonpaddy1 

"no boost" goes against everything we've been told up to now... both the Beta testers and via public twitter.

Quite often we have seen that "the left hand doesnt know what the right hand is doing" especially via that twitter account so id take it with a pinch of salt.

Im still expecting boost at launch.

if they dont... then thats      I N S A N E  !!  AppleTV HD and 4K box without boost support.  All those potential new additional £3 a month customers on the platform lost?  Theres no technical reason to not support boost and they seem to be supporting boost on most platforms that are capable of it now.

As ie said before... if the AppleTV app is released without boost then I simply wont be able to use it. What a shame.  What a waste of time...... lets hope thats not the case 

[Anonymous User]

@nst

I agree with what you say, didn’t we get told they were working on boost for the new app or did I just dream this in hope? I’ve had to take out boost just to be able to watch on three screens now.

Hoping this isn’t true and like you say the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

[Enapace]

I would not listen to the twitter feed at all. This would be the only updated device recently that didn’t get boost if that was true. Yes the Xbox got boost but not 50FPS but it was updated no device has been properly updated recently Hasn’t received boost support it would be completely against everything they have been doing this year boost And sports is a central part of the future of NowTV that has been made very clear. 

[Anonymous User]

I thought Boost was something they were hoping to add at a later date. Only upgrade they promised for launch was integration with the Apple TV app. 

[Breaking_Bad]

@Anonymous User that is correct. 

[p023031]

The most important thing is to get the new unified app out there so that at least it will get looked at regularly.

The lack of updates to this app has clearly been a political one rather than a technical one. My guess is that Sky are worried about Sky Q and their own boxes being made redundant by the superior and outside of their control, Apple TV. Hence the lack of comparable quality content on other platforms. 

I do think Sky’s thinking is changing though. The move away from bundled Sky satellite packages is accelerating. You can see them now trying to reestablish a packaged entertainment offering through NOW with the addition of more channels and heavy advertising of things like Sky docs. So who knows, the market may overtake them to the point they just have to focus on content and subscriptions a la Netflix and move away from hardware altogether. When they realise this, boost will be essential on all platforms. 

Give it another 4 years or so 😉

[nst]

@p023031 

No offence to Sky but they are so far behind the curve and probably always will be.

We are talking about our hopes for, in 2020, NowTV to support the heady heights of 1080p and 5.1 ... this is something that not only have the other UK streaming services been doing for YEARS... but are now well into the next stage supporting Dolby Vision, and 4K and Atmos streams.

Netflix, and Amazon Prime, and Disney+ are all routinely providing 4K atmos content - and we are yearning for NowTV to catch up with a format thats been commonplace for years.  I mean, can you imagine NowTV actually doing 4K movies with Atmos?  

Of course, Sky already do this via Sky Q and of course this also a 'political' issue as im sure that Sky sees NowTV as the 'poor mans' service - therefore we will only get the lower quality table scraps.  The shame of this attitude is that you have to compare NowTV with the other services that are pitched at the same audience... i.e. Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon prime... and in comparison at the price point... NowTV is very much the poor cousin and probably always will be.

At the price... NowTV should long since have been routinely offering 4K / Dolby Vision / Atmos content.... and here we are crossing our fingers and wishing hard for 1080p and 5.1 !

[Hooba]

I’ve not seen any Beta testers who’ve reported that it’s been confirmed that Boost will be included in the first public release. I might have missed it though. 

But Now have certainly said they were working to get Boost up and running as part of the Beta. I’m taking the recent bump to 1080 as a good sign. 

Have also seen from Now that the first public release will have full App Tv integration.

[nst]

@Hooba 

A couple of us (maybe 3) mentioned it a few weeks back when the 'latest' beta was released.

I asked the question to the trials manager, and so did a few others and were told that boost would be included in the public release.

However, as ive said before... my view is that ill believe things when i see them.  At the moment as I say, boost is essential and i find it hard to accept that they will consider a public release without it.

[Anonymous User]

@Hooba

With the Apple event next Tuesday and with the release of TVOS 14 hopefully it won’t be to long before they release it.

I will like you believe it when I see it.

[MrZippy]

I won’t be holding my breath, there is no reason not to release the updated app. They saw fit to release an older buggier version in Ireland. So bugs really can’t be the reason for the delay.

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone emailed the trials manager and asked if that tweet was true about the boost before I email myself?

[MrZippy]

May as well ask the wall at this point for a factual straight answer.

[nst]

I agree.

Although the trials manager seems to be the best bet here - they are quite responsive.

However, Im not sure what to think or believe....

It happens when it happens, and it will be whatever they give us.

I did think that the public release of TVOS / iOS 14 was the most sensible timeframe as that kindof fitted with the 'in a couple of weeks' thing that people were told a couple of weeks ago.  However, the release of iOS14 seems to not have any bearing on the released app as if it was 'ready' for TVOS14 it would still presumably function on TVOS13 as the beta does... so of course could be released anytime before or after the public release of TVOS14.

I think that the twitter account is giving out duff info, and they should know better than to make statements like that without checking.   The Twitter account has said that it would be a coupe of weeks.. and also no boost.  I think both those statements are incorrect so best check with the trails team who presumably have a better idea.

[dr_necessitor]

Further to my previous post re Sports being 1080p & 50fps in the beta app when a Boost pass exists on the account, has anybody who is running the beta app (and who does have a Sports pass but does not currently have a Boost pass) used the developer HUD to check if Sports is 1080p & 50fps?

I have a feeling that Sports is getting 1080p & 50fps via the beta app regardless of Boost pass status. But it needs checking by somebody without a Boost pass to either prove or disprove the hypothesis.

[Duncaw67]

@dr_necessitor 

Sorry can't help you with that at this time, as I have boost for my tv upstairs,but what I can say is the picture is just as good on the beta app on my tv downstairs as it looks 1080p and the motion is really good, just no 5.1 surround sound at this time!!!

[dr_necessitor]

@Duncaw67 

That’s because *IT IS* 1080p (see my post of 19/08 earlier in this thread)!

But I also have an active Boost pass, so what I’m interested to know is whether it’s 1080p or not for somebody without an active Boost pass.

(yeah there’s no 5.1 sound though, so it’s either partially supported Boost or it’s 1080p for everybody?)

[nst]

anyone had any recent updates or comms from trials lately?

Of course that "two weeks" tweet should always have been taken with a pinch of salt... but times ticking by.

[Anonymous User]

Haven’t heard a thing, be interesting to see what happens after apples event this evening, maybe there waiting for that or I could just be clutching at straws with false hope.

[MrZippy]

Monthly update just released and still not a universal app, so it’s still not released.