Roger Fingas
Apple on Thursday added ABC News to the roster of apps supported by Live Tune-In, a feature of the fourth-generation Apple TV.
Through Siri, the technology lets viewers jump straight into live feeds in apps that have them. Support has been slow in coming though, so far including only CBS, CBS News, CNN Go, the Cooking Channel, the Disney Channel, Disney Jr., Disney XD, DIY, ESPN, the Food Network, FXNOW, HGTV, and the Travel Channel.
It's also available only in the U.S., despite the Apple TV being sold in many more regions, and live feeds typically require an authenticated cable/satellite subscription.
Where it does work, viewers can use commands like "watch ABC News live" to switch channels from anywhere in tvOS. This provides a quicker cable-like experience, whereas people would normally have to find the ABC News app, open it, and select the live content.
Live Tune-In was introduced in an update earlier this year.
William Gallagher
Sponsored Content
AppleInsider Staff
Christine McKee
5 Comments
I don't have Apple TV, well at least not a current one. How does Live Tune-in work for news broadcasts since they are only on at a few particular times? Also does it handle ABC local news like ABC7 LA? How does it handle time zones. Just curious as I may consider getting an Apple TV, as lack of live programming was my biggest complaint for news, finance and sports.
In time for the debate Monday of course.
So this is for all markets? I know they've had live programming for a while but restricted to certain markets only.
The camera is the main reason that I upgraded to the IP7+ from a 6. It took a while to get used to the bigger 6 and I suspect that I will also get used to the IP7+. But the new camera('s) make it worthwhile in my opinion.