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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

@Anonymous User 

 

Just a p.s. from earlier....

 

Ive tested some more tonight and its seems for me anyway its ONLY live that works in 5.1 

 

I specifically tried White Lotus on demand and for me its only 2.0

 

Nothing on demand is 5.1 so far for me.

Anonymous User
Not applicable
@nst

I must say I haven’t noticed anything at all then I randomly put friends on live and the sound was considerably better through my HomePod that I have set up, fingers crossed all our nagging is finally paying of, but agree with you that a deal was struck with Amazon and we won’t have it fully till December time
nst
Elite

@Anonymous User 

 

Yep this is definitely a mistake it would not be released in this way just dribbling out like this.

 

 

The most interesting thing about all this is that the app, without an update, is perfectly capable of 5.1 and I suspect always has been.

 

The very big question remains... why do the paying Boost subscribers with an AppleTV box have to put up with 2.0 sound when they could presumably show everything in 5.1.

 

Id love an official position from Now but we'll never get it.

 

Who knows.. maybe the super secret AppleTV disabling of boost to enable Firestick to gain traction was only an 8 month agreement rather than 12 🙂  - I seem to recall the Firestick app appeared out of thin air around Monday 14th Dec.

Anonymous User
Not applicable
@nst

I must say though that it is really getting stupid now and I’ve found that since Netflix has done the deal with Sony and Amazon bought MGM and with apples new programs coming out I’m getting sick of Nowtv and being charged stupid money for a handful of things I watch on it, apart from sports the occasional film and few things I like on the entertainment pass I’m considering just leaving as the other apps offer so much more quality. Just a shame sky has the monopoly on the football in this country
nst
Elite

@Anonymous User 

 

Don't get me wrong, id like to vote with my feet....

 

As you say for what they are charging its way in excess of the other streaming services and the technical quality is vastly inferior.   No excuse with a company the size of Sky behind it.

 

Thankfully? im not a sports fan so am not tied in that way.

 

Cinema... that's debatable.  Realistically I might watch only 1 or 2 movies a month on Sky Cinema but on many occasions its those that I didn't see at the cinema but am always happy I've had the chance to watch.  I could of course rent from iTunes but that's often £4.99 per movie and as I say in many cases I don't know if ill like the film and wouldn't want to risk it for £5.

 

Movies are a tricky subject.  There are of course exceptions and I've no idea how or why this happens but some films do not automatically go to Sky and appear on Amazon Prime or Netflix instead..... but not enough to be able to abandon Sky Cinema.

 

Of course the smart option would be to buy a cinema pass every few months and watch all the content then cancel for another few months.

 

Entertainment pass is far trickier... as pretty much all the new shows on Sky are exclusive and you can't see them elsewhere which is where they have me hooked there.

 

 

The way AppleTV users are being treated with the new app is pretty appalling and i include the app beta testing too which was a monumental waste of time.

 

If you take Now as a separate streaming entity whose natural competition is Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ then they will be forced at some point to make some significant changes otherwise they will lose subscribers.

Providing a service whose top quality is 1080p and 5.1 for an additional £5 per month on top of the other high prices they charge for the monthly passes is just not sustainable in the long term.

Since Disney+ started the 'star' channel... and that's home to a load of new and exclusive content...and the whole lot including movies etc is £7.99 a month AND in 4K AND in ATMOS.... it should make Now look twice surely.

nst
Elite

Update for you.

 

Not really wanting to let this go... Now must know what they are doing here and whats happening.

 

I tweeted again today as follows:

 

"Sadly ‘Rachel’ thought it would be ok to end the chat mid conversation so that didn’t help. Simple question. Why does live content currently provide a 5.1 soundtrack and on demand doesn’t when the appletv app is apparently not yet capable of 5.1 at all. Please explain."

 

to which they replied:

 

"we've seen reports of 5.1 working via On Demand and Live however it may not have been rolled out to all device right now. We are working on an official announcement when live and on demand will fully support 5.1. Extremely sorry about the confusion here. However, with it being that 5.1 is not officially supported yet we can not ensure everything is working as intended right now. Keep an eye on our social media pages or our Help site for any updates regarding 5.1 for Apple TV. - Thank you"

 

 

So there you have it.  NowTV Help have seen reports that its working.  You'd have thought that they could quickly check with the development team to see but....

They are working on an official announcement.  So does this mean its going to get sorted soon - is what we are seeing some drip fed live trial...?

Seems something is stirring just a shame they cant be open about whats happening right now.

I suggested, recently on this very thread, that I thought that they might be testing DD5.1 on the quiet. Maybe I was on the right track there then? It’s as plausible an idea as most of the other nonsense that they have come out with over the past years…

About 8 years ago, I (and a few other SUs on the Sky Community) were invited to visit the Sky+HD software development at Osterley for a day. It was very interesting as you might expect, especially as we were all beta trialling significant improvements to the software to run on Sky+HD boxes. What I/we never understood was why some of the features that we had trialled which worked brilliantly and that the public was crying out for never went live. Well not on Sky+HD anyway. Like the multi-box multi-room planner - playback recordings from any box in your house on any box in your house. Which is obviously now available on Sky Q where there are multiple boxes. Anyway, point is, lots of stuff had already been developed and was proven to be working, but I think they were always keeping things back whilst looking ahead for a way to monetise and/or another angle to deployment. It’s just the way they are I think. Oh and “never apologise, never explain” is the motto!

Anonymous User
Not applicable

Turned on The Hundred today as usual. First load was stereo, so swapped to Sky Sports Mix which was 5.1, then went back to The Hundred and got 5.1 the second time...

 

Weird.

Hooba
Scholar 3

Yes, its always about how to monetise.

 

As soon as they had the infrastructure to be able to stream different resolutions, frame rates, audio streams to different devices, along came Boost. On the plus side, it did (does) enable Now to not have to use a single stream that has to cater to the least technically capable device.

 

As above, this is currently a limited under the radar trial. Looks promising though.