Roger Fingas
Subscribers of Sony's PlayStation Vue TV service can now see their on-demand content in Apple's TV app for iPhone, iPad, and the Apple TV, potentially making it easier to keep up with shows and movies.
The option to add Vue videos to the TV app's "Up Next" section should appear when browsing titles in Apple's interface, so long as people subscribe and have the service's official app installed and logged in. Apple's software keeps tabs on progress, and places Vue content alongside that of other streaming services like iTunes, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.
It should even be possible to catch up with with live sports. Opening any Vue video in the TV app will switch to Sony's native client.
Relatively few live streaming services have added support for the TV app. That includes even DirecTV Now, despite parent company AT&T's close ties to Apple, and a long-running promotion — now over — of a free Apple TV 4K for people willing to prepay for three months.
Next year the TV app is expected to be ground zero for Apple's fledgling slate of high-budget TV shows. They should initially be free to anyone with an Apple device, but the company may eventually segue into a Netflix-style paid platform.
PlayStation Vue has four packages, costing between $44.99 and $79.99 per month. Each has an increasing number of channels, with the top tier — Ultra — bundling HBO and Showtime, which are normally expensive add-ons.
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
Marko Zivkovic
Wesley Hilliard
6 Comments
I’m getting to like the TV App these days. Prime Video supports it. So does Hulu. it’s nice to be able to search for content and have it presented from several sources. The problem is locating a movie only to find out I don't subscribe to the service it’s on, like Showtime for example.
If Apple were serious about TV they’d release the TV App in more countries rather than let YouTube rule the world. Where is it Apple?
Maybe we’ll get v2.0 as the current one just aggregates content discovery then switches to the app for delivery which is a bit clunky. They should just change store rules so no more TV show/ Movie apps are released and provide subscription services to extend the TV & Movies Apps.
Apple TV with the TV app is NOT up to the standards of Tivo and Cable TV, or Dish Network, or even starting in the Playstation Vue app in the first place. I've bought at least 3 iterations of the Apple TV now over an 11 year period. Apple has a long way to go to be at parity in TV entertainment space. They are barely holding their own in the set-top-box for 3rd party app space.
I went into TV and selected a football game that was currently running. I get into a menu that looks like iTunes Movies. There is a new menu which says "Open With". Ok. I use Open With and that got me into Playstation Vue watching the football game. Very good. All menu options from then on are in Playstation Vue. That's not very great integration with the TV app.
Ok. Let's try this again. I go out back to the Apple TV main icon screen using the Menu button and then I go into TV app again. Now I go find another show that is available on Playstation Vue. Again I go back to the Open With and open with Playstation Vue. That gets me back into the football game. I selected several other things in the TV app and always when I say open it with Playstation Vue I immediately get back to the football game. It seems that once PlaystationVue has started something and you are down into it's menus, any further calls from the TV app just get you back where you were in Playstation Vue. This is not great. This is not even useful. I guess I have to terminate the Playstation Vue app in order to get the TV app to work with it for a 2nd time? How about if after showing me a show when I hit the up/menu button it takes me back to the TV app or give me a choice to go back to the TV app? That would be proper integration.
What I want is for the TV App to show me the sources I've already paid for first (instead of offering to charge me more to see the TV show first) and then getting me right to a recording of the TV show or free/prepayed copy if one is available, or directly to the TV show if it is currently on (and there is no recording or on-demaind free copy), or get me to Playstation Vue's Add to watch list thing so you'll get a DVR copy of it when it does come on, or get me to Plastation Vue if it was previously recorded by Playstation Vue. The TV app does work better with CBS All Access. You still get stuck in the CBS All Access app however.
The TV app is interesting as a list of things which you could conceivably be watching some-day but when it shows you a list of things, you can't tell whether those items (movies, TVshows) are for sale, are for rent, are free (to me) but coming soon, are free (to me) and halfway over, or for which one needs to do some other complex menu options in another app to arrange to see in the future.
As it is, the TV app is not something I'd ever use if I already knew which other app had the show I wanted to watch.
Not to mention the ATV remote is still clunky to use. PS Vue is not bad for what you get. Gaming should be more a priority for Apple.