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 started using the new app last night. Firstly it’s annoying it’s counted as a new device! Luckily I had space to change. Secondly the app responds really slowly to the Apple TV remote and thirdly it was very sloooow to load content once selected. On the plus side the picture quality is so much better it’s almost worth the pain of the user interface.

[jetbootjack]

apsymb said - "Might be worth checking that you have set the video default output to 4k SDR not 4k HDR or 4k Dolby vision and then turn on match dynamic range."

I did as you suggested and the live TV no longer exhibits the issue, however I cannot help but feel that the output settings on the ATV should be accommodated by the app and forcing a user to alter system-wide settings (that work fine across other apps) to accommodate specific issues in this app is not what should happen...

sTeVE

[MrZippy]

Sounds like an app bug, good luck getting it fixed. Noting previously the old app wasn’t updated for 5 years, leaving it hang at a blank screen at the end of a show, amongst other issues.

[nst]

My hope is that if this is now a universal app (I havent checked) then we can hope that it will continue to be refined with the same frequency that the iOS version does.

Theres no denying that the iOS one receives many updates over the year so hopefully changes to the TVOS version will fall in line (again assuming its a universal app).

Im still in utter disbelief that they havent been able to get 5.1 working.  The app was in beta for 8 months.  8 months.  and many of us reported the lack of boost support literally from day 1.  They've had 8 months to get something working on a platform that literally EVERY other streaming app manages to do.  This does not bode well for it being actively worked on and promised in an update soon (as the Twitter feed told me yesterday) - I don't believe this is forthcoming soon at all.

I can only guess their app is so proprietary and dare I say it badly written that for some reason they couldn't get it to work with 5.1 sound.  

Again, im beyond flabbergasted that someone in their marketing department saw fit to release "boost" without 5.1 and have the audacity to say that most customers appreciate the multi stream and hd picture so are happy with what they have - despite paying for 5.1 sound as well as all the other customers paying the same price get on all the other boost supported platforms. 

I can understand why some lesser platforms struggle with 50fps etc... and that seems to be a reasonable thing for boost to leave off on those platforms.  But... 5.1 sound?  come on... you can't offer boost without that.  I, for one. who pay for boost am not willing to watch content in hd without 5.1 sound - especially as I pay for it.

[Anonymous User]

@nst @I understand exactly where your coming from it does begger belief simply cancel the boost as ive just done. I’ve not seen that much of a change in picture quality to justify the £3. Yes I’ve got an old LG Tv and it’s still supported. If I turn my nowtv 4k box on I see the picture quality is different to the Apple TV. But as you so rightly say to have no 5.1 is not right. 

[Anonymous User]

I’m happy that we finally received an update for NOW TV on the Apple TV platform.

But like most of the other members here, I can’t understand who in Sky management thought it was a good idea to launch the app without DD 5.1 support.

Like some other member mentioned, we don’t ask for 4K or Dolby Atmos, just simple 5.1 sound.

I can only imagine that Sky/Now has to pay a big fee to Apple or Dolby Labs to use DD on the Apple TV platform.

No other explanation makes any sense. And as long as NOW TV can get away with selling Boost on the Apple TV without 5.1 support, and no one is cancelling boost, nothing will change.

The Boost option is easy money for NOW TV, because you already pay for the basic service. So unless a big group of Boost subscribers keep paying the monthly £3, and don’t cancel it, nothing is going to change.

[nst]

@Anonymous User 

Absolutely.

5.1 is an essential element of boost.. surely.  I mean, someone who has an HD tv (um, everyone) will most likely have a 5.1 capable sound bar or system.  I can't imagine many just want boost for HD picture.

I would never have called this outcome!  I would have half expected boost to not be supported... and i never truly believed them that they would be supporting the AppleTV TV app (despite being told they would) - but to release boost like this is like selling a car at full price without the wheels - who would think that's acceptable without a serious discount.

As a relatively happy-to-pay boost subscriber... I pay for this for a reason, and that's because when i watch movies on Sky Cinema I want them to have surround sound (I have a decent sound system) - and up till now ive been using the LG TV WebOS app.  I was really hoping that Boost was a given for the new app and I could stop faffing around with another remote just to watch Sky Movies.  This turns out to not be the case.

Its with genuine regret that having spent so much time working with the Beta version, that now the actual live version is released I still won't be able to use it and remain on my LG app.

I have emailed the trails manager.  After all, its them who told us that Boost and AppleTV app integration would be included at launch (we were told that back in August I seem to remember) - so id like them to at least get some feedback from the development team to try to understand what went wrong here and why the app launched without the features we were promised and more importantly if it is still their intention to rectify this.... as without 5.1 I can't use it.

Yes I could cancel my boost pass... and if AppleTV was my only streaming hardware then id be doing just that (or not having it in the first place!) - but I do want movies with 5.1 sound and frankly in 2020 why is this even an issue.  We know that NowTV are years away from 4K and Atmos offerings but 5.1?  come on.

I would encourage as many of the beta testers who care about this to engage with the trials manager and ask the same questions.  Why was the app released without the promised features and if and when we can expect it to be updated.

[Anonymous User]

@nst @Yes certainly encourage everyone who was a beta tester to contact the trials manager and see when 5.1 will be implemented otherwise you should be entitled to a reduction in your monthly fee for boost. Also get clarification that will this new app get regular updates this needs to be asked. If this app never gets updated like the last one then it’s 8 months of beta testing down the drain. 

[MrZippy]

I think trials fobbed us off like the Twitter account...

I note I was never promised boost when I asked, although it was stated Apple TV app integration and also voice search would be added. Neither of those are there either.

As I’ve said many times, vote with your feet and tell them in the cancel pop up why.

[Mikeh_]

I’m having the same problem, seems to start when I go into the watchlist and scroll down, it loses all of the images then going back into the main screen all of the images have also disappeared including the channel idents from the TV guide, I have two 4K boxes and this happens on both, have emailed the trials manager to find out what’s happening as this issue wasn’t there on the beta 

[AlexB83]

Remember boost was an option for those who didn't have a boost compatible device as it also allows for an extra concurrent stream. 

I'm glad the update has happened and the picture quality is a vast improvement. Would people want to wait until it's all ready in one go with complete radio silence. 

[dr_necessitor]

I feel your pain & disgruntlement @Anonymous User @nst ! But you’ve got off lightly by only having to endure for 8 months! It’s over 2 years since I first got involved with trialling a new NOW TV app for tv 😳

[nst]

@AlexB83 

I would disagree with you "ready on one go" analogy.

Boost is marketed and advertised as 3 things.  Multi Stream, HD, 5.1.

A Boost supported device should support all 3.

Whats the point of showing movies in HD with only 2 channel stereo sound.

IF they decided that Boost is a tiered offering, then the pricing should be tiered too.  We should be expected to pay full price when one of the three components is missing.. (and an important one at that)

[MarkB1]

I wonder if the lack of 5.1 support at the moment is a capacity issue, and has been done on purpose to throttle the bandwidth until it can be rectified?  I believe there was a similar issue on the YouView platform initially (where they had to stop 50fps transmission on live sports).  I'm not sure if separate servers supply different platforms or not.

The only reason this crossed my mind is that I have noticed the picture quality dropping for a few seconds a couple of times during movie playback.  I never noticed this during the beta trials, and it's not a device or broadband issue as I've streamed 4K HDR movies (with DD+) via the Apple TV app without issue before and after the Now TV stream.  Just a thought..

[nst]

@MarkB1 

Possibly... and I guess we won't know the difference between space required for 2.0 vs 5.1.

However, that suggests that they totally underestimated the demand for an AppleTV app and how many users would download it.

But if this were true, you'd have seem them release 5.1 from day one then rapidly withdraw it once they realised they had a problem.

i doubt from day 1 there are enough AppleTV customers out there that would cause such concern.

I always come back to wondering why they are embarrassing themselves releasing a boost add-on which only supports 2.0 stereo sound on its flagship movies service.  Who wants 2.0 nowadays?

More embarrassing is whether they like it or not they share the streaming space in the UK with other companies such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ - and they all seem to manage not only HD and 5.1, but 4K and Atmos too.

[Anonymous User]

I’ll be telling them when I leave soon what the reasons are and for me
it’ll be no native support for the Apple TV remote & no voice search.

Regarding boost my issue is that we shouldn’t be having to pay for it at
all. The film package is already £12 a month and The entertainment package
£10 and I refuse to pay anymore or use the film service at all without 5.1
sound being included as standard no matter how many offers they send me.

Out of all the streaming services that I use I can’t believe there is one
that I actually resent paying for due to what feels like contemp from
Now/Sky.

Rant over for now.

[MrZippy]

I agree, whenever I pay money to NowTV resent it too.

[Anonymous User]

the new updated is worse than the old version. Voice search work don that!, The continue watching is nice but does not actual work, as it show the last episode I actually watched, and it restarts from the beginning and not where you stopped it. ITV and BBC free apps work!!!

[Hooba]

A Boost stream uses just under 8Mb - irrespective of whether 2.0 or 5.1. So it's nothing to do with capacity / bandwidth.

[MrZippy]

Continue watching was a known issue in older beta builds, last time I tried it was better but far from reliable. Sums up Now TV really.

I said before add a reliable continue watching to the old app and it would be way better!

[Anonymous User]

I am quite happy with the new app, and not bothered whether the sound is 2 or 5.1.