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.

[nst]

This whole thing remains, to me, one of the most bizarre customer support things I've ever come across.

Here we are with an app that we've lived with for almost 10 months that was launched inexplicably missing 5.1 for no real discernible reason.

Now couldn't explain why, just that it was being worked on and the fix was coming "soon".

I don't know about your definitions of soon... but mine is "in the next few weeks" and not "at least 10 months away".

Yet here we are now.  Its down to the customers to start noticing that things aren't  quite as they were. What kind of service is this?  If Now are actively developing this (which they should have been for the last 10 months) then why is this being experimented on in a "live" environment that leads to questions like this direct from their customers.

Why, when questioned about it, are they not able to give us an answer as to what's going on here.  It just leads to confusion and speculation and irritation.

A simple statement such as "we are actively trialling some live content in the AppleTV app and you may find that some live feeds have a 5.1 soundtrack whereas all on demand remains 2.0 for now" but no this seems too much like hard work.

I understand making no announcements when you are working behind the scenes but not when you are materially altering the content that your paying customers are consuming.

So, for now, we the customers have ascertained that the situation is that Live (accessed via the TV guide part of the app) might be in 5.1 but anything on demand is still 2.0.  Why, how, how long for are things we couldn't hope to answer.

[dr_necessitor]

Come on @nst you of all people should be fully aware of how it goes with “all things Sky” by now (or should that be “all things NOW by Sky?) anyway…

”Never apologise, never explain!”

[Enapace]

Did anyone manage to get Live Pause on the Apple TV box to work? Articles say it should but i can't seem figure out how to use it.

I recently upgraded to a Apple TV 4K 2021 version I do prefer the new remote as wanted 4K HDR for BT Sport and 4K BBC Iplayer when they update that app. While the Firestick is good I do find the linkage in the TV App on Apple TV to be far better so wanted the new one.

I noticed 5.1 isn't still sorted on Apple TV but I figured if i wanted watch a film on Now i could use my PS5 least it has 50FPS support for my sports. 

[MrZippy]

I can’t even get normal pause to work with the remote button most of the time. You have no chance of them implanting live pause on the Apple TV!

[Enapace]

@MrZippy 

Not struggled with any pausing with the remote but i do prefer the new Apple TV Remote over the old one having a proper clicker is a plus over the touch pad.

It does claim in the FAQ that you can pause Live TV on Apple TV 4K

[Wentey]

Anyone else noticed jaggered and stuttery screen on NOW both on demand and live channels post TVOS 15 upgrade? 

[nst]

No, but BBC Iplayer is totally wrecked with TV app integration.

No iPlayer content shows on the up next list, however it does show in the top shelf view if you have the TV app in the dock.

Ridiculous that companies (big ones too ... the BBC) don't test their apps when they have had access to a developer beta for months and then they wait for all their customers to be inconvenienced whilst they do a post fix.

[dr_necessitor]

@Wentey No, but am also seeing same as what @nst mentions and agree that the lack of integration testing by other app developers is poor

[Enapace]

BBC in general seem to be bad with apps. Apple one still doesn't do 4K when on other platforms it does, they still haven't managed a PS5 app nearly a year since the console launched. So them not properly testing there app on beta software makes complete sense to me lol.

[nst]

I know this is a bit off topic again...

But following the update to TVOS15....

Both BBC player... and now ALL4 just don't work with the TV app at all.

Hope they fix this soon.

[RoyB]

@nst 

Have you tried deleting and reloading them?

On my iPad, iPadOS15 (not your TVOS15 I know, but same difference) has wrong-footed a few apps such that auto-updating hasn’t worked, but manual updating has.

[Officer_K]

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@nst wrote:

I know this is a bit off topic again...

But following the update to TVOS15....

Both BBC player... and now ALL4 just don't work with the TV app at all.

Hope they fix this soon.

---

Must be a problem with your box. Both work fine for me after updating to TVOS15. 

[nst]

@Officer_K 

Really?  Thats surprising.  

On all my iOS 15 devices there are problems.

So, you are saying that a BBC player show is appearing correctly on your 'watch now' section on AppleTV?

All BBC programmes are missing from mine after I updated to iOS15 and TVOS15.

As I said before, the weird thing is that they DO show up if the TV app in in your shelf/dock area and you hover over it in the line above, but when you click into the TV app itself they disappear.

[Samuel71]

Same here all4 and bbc are fine other than the usual gripes with bbc and sport shows.

[Simonpaddy1]

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On all my iOS 15 devices there are problems.

So, you are saying that a BBC player show is appearing correctly on your 'watch now' section on AppleTV?

All BBC programmes are missing from mine after I updated to iOS15 and TVOS15.

As I said before, the weird thing is that they DO show up if the TV app in in your shelf/dock area and you hover over it in the line above, but when you click into the TV app itself they disappear.

---

Exact same issue here. Across all devices.

[nst]

I apologise, as I realise this topic isn't exactly for this tread as such....

but to those like me with TVOS15 TV app issues for iPlayer, it looks like they have officially acknowledged the problem as posted here

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/help/issues/apple-tv/up-next-apple-tv-not-working

and therefore we can hope there is a fix forthcoming.

[Simonpaddy1]

Brill. 

Back on subject - when using through a TV app (as opposed to iPhone or iPad version) does anyone else have trouble with position syncing? For instance an episode shows on the Up Next queue but if I watch the episode it won’t register (and I therefore need to manually mark it as watched), or if I stop watching halfway through an episode

the Up Next queue doesn’t register that it’s part-watched: if I then resume the episode the NowTv app does remember position.  This is only an issue on the TV app, not iPad or iPhone version. 

[dr_necessitor]

@Simonpaddy1  yes but only sometimes (i.e. not with every episode of everything across all “sources”) and I haven’t been able to see a pattern that might explain why. So I’ve just given up and I mark episodes as played when it doesn’t happen automagically! I’m kind of exhausted by the constant, trivial misbehaviour of apps etc…

[Enapace]

I have given up with the Firestick i was debating it for a while because of Ads and layout but since i brought the 2021 Apple TV which fixed the issues over the old one i'm again behind it as the best Streaming Device for me at least. If they could finally fix the Now app with 5.1 it would be brilliant but if I want to watch a Movie on Now I can just use my PS5 for that.  Hopefully one day they fully fix the Now app. 

Reasons I left Apple TV

1. was due to lack of 4K support on BBC hopefully they one day fix that with the new one as it supports HLG now. But can put up without 4K on BBC as it's not overly common yet.

2. Now app not supporting 5.1 since I got my PS5 this is mitigated but since it at least sports 50FPS is supported I can put up with on the Apple TV for moment as it's rare I watch films on there.

3. BT Sports 60FPS 4K HDR i'm glad to say this one has been resolved with the new Box.

4. I forgot how much I liked TV App collecting all my watchlists pity netflix is still against that. 

[Wentey]

I find the best way to use NOW on the Apple TV with intergration is search the tv show your watching by Siri and you get a native view of all the episodes with a tick on what’s watched you also get better detail on release date etc , then click that episode and you just go straight into it on NOW no need to use their app interface at all 🙂

[Enapace]

It seems the app has a nice face lift today but sadly still no Pause Live TV or 5.1 Support.