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Anonymous User
Not applicable

Update Now TV app for apple TV

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.

2,755 REPLIES 2,755
nst
Elite

@CraigMcC11 

 

I believe you.

 

However... isnt this very curious.

 

You've seen, on the AppleTV Now app, that it can and does output a 5.1 stream under certain situations.

 

This begs the very big question.... 

 

WHY not everything.  

 

I hate to put my tinfoil hat back on... but my long standing theory just seems more likely to me.  

 

To recap - 5.1 is hardly difficult - there seems to be NO technical reason whatsoever that an app on AppleTV in 2021 doesn't provide a 5.1 soundtrack.  All the others do and Now's inability to make it happen is deeply suspicious.  It simply cannot be a technical limitation of anything.  They make themselves look incompetent when all the other streaming apps manage 5.1 and have done for years.

But.. I feel the current restriction of 5.1 is an artificial one - the only reason I can fathom is allowing the simultaneously released Firestick app some technical advantage over Apple forcing AppleTV owners to get a Firestick if they wanted 5.1 audio.  Given the 'deal' struck back then between Sky and Amazon to share content which immediately lead to the surprise release of a fully specced and functioning app for the Firestick...  its too coincidental.  This limitation would be for a pre-determined period.  This is why, I think, that this remains unfixed 8 months after release.  How hard can it be?  We've had assurances from Now's help department saying this was being worked on and due for fix 'soon' ever since December 2020.

 

Remember.... as a beta tester I was assured that 5.1 was coming on release of the app.  I was told this from March 2020 all through the beta period.  It WAS coming and WOULD be included in the final app.... of course when those promises were made im sure that it was true but when the Amazon deal was struck they had to disable the AppleTV app somehow.

 

Personally I think this is just a case of flicking a switch.... and some content seems to be seeping through the cracks and outputting 5.1 as you have shown.

 

That switch wont be flicked until Amazon's deal comes to an end and their period of technical superiority will come to an end.  Ive always guessed 1 year and I suspect that after 1 year of functioning without 5.1 the app will miraculously get 'fixed',

 

Time will tell.

Hooba
Scholar 3

@CraigMcC11 Showing 2.0 here (on HUD). I assume they're periodicaly testing 5.1 on selected content (presumably with a view to flicking the switch once whatever deal they're cooking up is concluded).  

Anonymous User
Not applicable

I have been experiencing 6 channel and 2 channel audio on sky sports on my Apple TV 4K. I have Apple TV 4K > Tv > optical to amp

however say I have the cricket on in 5.1 - when it cuts to adverts which only have 2 channels the app still outputs in 6 channels. Can hardly here a thing on the adverts. 

this lack of 6/2 channel switching also occurs when changing channels from a 6 channel source (like the hundred) to a 2 channel source like the lions highlights. 

I have to close the app and re open it to resolve this problem

@Anonymous User Same here

 

@Hooba  yes I was also starting to wonder if it's being tested on the quiet because I'm definitely hearing & seeing this on Sky Sports Main Event live channel during the cricket test match

nst
Elite

@dr_necessitor @Anonymous User @Hooba 

 

I dont have a sports pass so cant really join in the fun here...

 

But something occurs to me...

 

If this is the same stream live from the same source as the main Sky Sports cricket feed... presumably they dont, or cant strip out the 5.1 soundtrack before its fed simultaneously to the main sky service and to the Now app - therefore mysteriously it just works...

 

.. begs the question why everything doesn't have the 5.1 stream provided... answer being because its not live and they can fiddle with it as they like.

 

They've really given the game away here havent they.  The app as is, NO UPDATE, is fully capable of providing a 5.1 soundtrack - this is no surprise..... why therefore is 5.1 being suppressed for the rest of the content and how long until Now suddenly "fix" this.

 

 

Unfortunately I can’t use Xcode to check what’s going on within tv at present - because I upgraded it to a beta of tvOS 15 a few weeks ago, so I can’t use Xcode 12 to connect to it. I need to upgrade Xcode to a next version beta, but haven’t had a chance to do so yet.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

also I should add on the programs which have the 5.1 sound (such as the eng v ind test match) the 5.1 sound channels continue through the adverts. Since the adverts are only 2.0 the sound messes up and you can hardly hear them

Anonymous User
Not applicable

@nst ah that’s interesting. Was just watching Brentford v Arsenal on Main Event channel, and was getting 2.0

 

Ive just switched it to the Premier League channel and SURPRISE - it’s in 5.1 now.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

For all the doubters, try the Premier League channel for this evening’s game.

 

100% I’m getting 5.1 - Sonos is telling me clearly, and I can definitely tell it’s surround sound (and not faked).

 

I was literally watching the game 5 minutes ago in 2.0 on the Main Event channel (which Sonos confirmed), and I can confirm it’s like night and day.

nst
Elite

@Anonymous User 

 

Its not a case of doubting at all.

I have a Sonos system too, and if it says its getting a 5.1 audio feed.. then it is.

 

As I said earlier... surely its mighty strange that an app that supposedly isn't capable of 5.1 actually... is.

 

Why aren't NowTV streaming everything in 5.1 through it if its technically capable.

 

Very curious indeed.