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Anonymous User
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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.

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Anonymous User
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I’ve managed too watch a couple of episodes of running wild without the boost and enjoyed it. This is of course on the Apple TV, something inside me thinks when nowtv eventually release the app for appletv that boost won’t be included. I may of course be wrong but the appletv has great upscaling and the hardware is top notch. When you compare the appletv to a nowtv smart box it really is chalk and cheese that’s partly the reason why boost was releaased because of the hardware in the nowtv box. I may be wrong on this and hope I am because I know people appreciate picture quality and surround sound.

nst
Elite

trust me....

 

I have both experiences... standard content via the AppleTV app, and also 'Boost' quality via a NowTV box.

 

The 'Boosted' NowTV box is head and shoulders above the AppleTV's quality.

 

The Bear Grylls example I gave is eye-popping good (via Boost dont forget).

 

I just hope that the AppleTV's released app supports boost.... though I feel ive said this a bit too much now so sorry all for sounding like a broken record!

 

 

@nst  I’m the opposite to you then, in that I don’t see any PQ difference between NOW TV on the  tv and on the Roku Streaming Stick+ (but I do hear the difference!) connected to a 2017 Sony 4K tv with calibrated settings. During the beta trial hiatus, I got the Boost pass and definitely noticed the difference on sports though even on the Roku SS+.  I should say however that it’s always been my view that PQ is a very subjective thing - one person’s excellent PQ may be awful to another person’s eyes, and vice versa - and that’s before taking into account all the other factors that can affect PQ like a tv’s age, spec, capabilities, settings etc.

nst
Elite

very interesting to hear of your experiences.  You are right, in most cases its a subjective thing and also depends on all aspects of your setup.

 

In my case, the difference between Boost and non-Boost is significant and highly noticeable especially when you watch one after another.  

 

As a NowTV user from a few years back (with a gap of a few years in-between) - I had a movies pass.... and I had no complaints whatsoever on the picture quality there and that was 720 at best at the time - in fact I recall having a conversation with a friend (who was dead against NowTV's low res output) where I was convinced that NowTV had upped the quality and looked great.  it did for sure... although back then I wasnt able to switch immediately to a 1080p stream to compare.

 

It was fine.. it IS fine... but it CAN be better with boost.

 

 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

But should we really need to spend £3 a month on boost, why is the bit rate not the same as Netflix prime etc. Surely sky have the resources to put a standard 1080p picture onto the platform without the need for an additional £3 per month. I payed for the boost after the initial 1 week trial and yes there is a difference, but if I’m being honest this should be standard. 4k is another matter and you pay the difference but standard 1080p. 

Anonymous User
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Sky do like to charge extra, I have a friend with Sky and I suggested a good box set I’d watched on NowTV. But he doesn’t have box sets as they charge extra for them. 

But seriously I saw NowTV as Sky making sure they had a foot in the streaming market. But their offering app, video and audio is all below par, they should be market leaders, but they don’t need to be with their satellite platform at the moment.  NowTV seems to be a hobby. 

As you said I can see charging extra for 4K as for a start not everyone could watch it. But 1080p, that I would say is a bare minimum. 

I only have a mid range Samsung TV and I feel NowTV (720p) generally looks better than Netflix (1080p). But I suspect this is bitrate as Netflix often looks blocky, especially on dark shaded backgrounds.  A good quality 720p would scale nicely. My Netflix Speedtest is 37 mbps, which is my connection speed so it’s not ISP throttling. 

Anonymous User
Not applicable

I’ve just cancelled my boost and plan to cancel my entertainment pass when it runs out in June. I might subscribe now and again to catch few select favourite shows. (HBO mostly as they are Sky exclusive)

at RRP it’s £11 for “entertainment” tv shows, with seemingly only a small selection in 1080p (unlike competitors who are 99% 1080p and almost all new content 4K)

 

as an example Netflix is £12 I think for 4K with HDR and Dolby Atmos. And that includes all categories, movies, entertainment tv shows, kids shows, etc. Supremely better value. And of course the 1080p tier is cheaper than the now tv 1080p bundles so it becomes even more of a joke. 

my experience with the beta app has been terrible, not just bugs but functionally and design just isn’t much good compared to leading competitors. 

Anonymous User
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I’m glad someone shares my opinion on the beta app, it looks prettier but that’s about it for now. Although it’s just about possible to track what your watching, but it’s buggy. Bugs removed and at least some layout suggestions taken on board and it wouldn’t be too bad.

Something that hasn’t been mentioned is frame rate, everything seems to be 25fps as my TV never blank screens as it switches modes like in Netflix. So they don’t even support native frame rate, imagine only U.K. stuff is 25fps. Most Netflix is 24fps.
nst
Elite

you are all absolutely right in what you are saying.

 

Im not sure this thread is quite the place for a philosophical discussion on Sky's charging structure... but for the record I agree with all thats said.

 

My opinion is that Boost should be included, as standard, and the entire catalogue should be streamed in 1080p and 5.1 as standard where possible (of course some old shows cant and aren't)...

and yes of course Netflix etc etc do it as a bare minimum.  they should make the experience uniform across ALL the platforms they purport to provide - and either drop a platform they cannot support, or pull out all the stops to make the experience the same wherever NowTV is available (SO not the situation now!)

 

Taking a step back, absolutely the offering from nowTV even with an updated app is astonishingly behind that of other services.

 

I suspect that changes will have to be made to pricing etc at some point as they will simply not be competitive.

 

One thing I would reiterate that I have said in the past, is that a great deal of the "complacency" stems from the fact that Sky already have their premium customers with SkyQ etc.... and the NowTV streaming service comes a very distant second place to that.  Also, un unfortunate truth here that im sure Sky are WELL aware of.. is that all their content is unique, and sought after, and not available on other services.  if they were peddling the same content as others, then you'd be seeing a very different app, and price.

 

 

Spot on @nst and sadly it was ever thus the same going right back a few years ago now to when we first went Sky > Now tv 😟