cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
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

My little tinfoil hat theory seems quite plausible.

 

The app is demonstrably capable of 5.1.  Were we supposed to not notice?

 

 

If its not capable its not capable.... but it is.

anth16
Advocate

Been viewing this thread for a while. Today I tested cinema and entertainment both live and on demand. I have the new Apple TV box and Bose system with rear speakers and sub. To my surprise it’s definitely 5.1. Sub output and rear speakers definitely outputting 5.1. It wasn’t like this a few weeks ago. About to get rid of the now tv box now. Very strange why they have not announced this.

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Likewise, I've been following this thread for ages hoping to get rid of my NowTV stick given how much more performant the Apple TV app is, and it's upscaling beats my TVs.

 

Xcode reports Sky Sports The Hundred is ec-3, 6 channel, 48000Hz at 50fps.

nst
Elite

interesting to see a few reporting that on demand is also 5.1.

 

On my testing yesterday this wasn't the case.  it was Live only.

 

The same content via on demand was definitely 2.0 whereas live it was 5.1.

 

Are things changing rapidly here?

 

How come this isnt a new version of the app...?  When will they announce the change?

anth16
Advocate

Probably the apple box and my system but the boost is so much better than the now tv box. Really loud and surround sound really good. Better than some of the Apple TV programmes. 

Hooba
Scholar 3

I'm pleased to see more people reporting seeing more 5.1 content. But it doesn't appear to be consistent e.g. for me The Hundred is aac 2 channel, 48000Hz at 50fps.

nst
Elite

@Hooba 

 

For the record.. I don't believe this is intentional and is a mistake on Now's part. (also it shows them up a bit as this app is supposedly incapable of 5.1 yet now we know that's not true)

 

Why would they 'unlock' 5.1 on the AppleTV app and then only allow it to work for live...  or only for some content...

 

Surely its all or nothing.

 

At the moment its a dog's breakfast and rightly isn't 'official' but so weird that its happening like this.

 

I think that they will realise what's happening sooner or later and it will revert back to 100% 2.0 ready for the big 'or small' TAH-DAH WEVE CRACKED THE PROBLEM AND FIXED IT!! moment....

 

Of course we could just get an updated version of the app co-inciding with the blink-and-youll-miss-it change to the buried deep support pages where it will no longer state that 5.1 isnt supported.

 

 

Again id encourage people to ask Now via support or twitter what's going on here.  I tried and didn't get anywhere but the more that ask the more likely they are to respond.

 

 

Hooba
Scholar 3

Feels more like some sort of half arsed BETA to me. Some content, on some of their streams, to some users, some of the time. NowTV uses Unicast - each stream sent to a different single recipient, so it's at least 'possible' that's what's going on. 

Mark_Weinreb
Legend 5
Legend 5

Here’s a thought.

 

Now will have multiple play-out servers for each supported device in order to support various capabilities. Perhaps, some of the servers supporting the Apple TV boxes can play-out sound at 5.1, whereas others can only to 2.0. This would, in my opinion, explain why some of you can get 5.1 sound, whilst others only 2.0 for the same program.

 

Not having 5.1 capable equipment myself means that I cannot test this hypothesis, but I’d like to hear from anyone willing to try and test this. Note the sound (2.0 or 5.1), exit the stream and go back in. See if it changes. If it does, you’ve logged into an different  play-out server.

Hooba
Scholar 3

@Mark_Weinreb Already tried that. No dice.

 

As I  understand it, Now has the capability of modifying how a request for content from subscribers is treated - depending on a user's location / device / both. They are clearly sending 5.1 (at least some of the time) to some Apple TVs, but not all. Yet.