Apple TV

The Apple TV, even the recently updated model, is pointless in its current form and price. That’s the view of Bloomberg News‘s Mark Gurman in his latest newsletter. I find it hard to disagree.

Apple, known for its closed ecosystem, is even embracing the shift by offering many services on smart TVs and boxes made by competitors. Those services include iTunes movie and TV rentals, the Apple TV app, Apple TV+, Apple Music and AirPlay. Of course, that was intentional on the part of Apple, which sought new revenue sources when iPhone sales slowed around 2018. That made the Apple TV a mostly pointless accessory, and consumers seem to agree: 2020 data from Strategy Analytics found that the Apple TV holds 2% of the streaming device market. The product isn’t without its benefits, though, for the Apple ecosystem’s most loyal users. Integration with HomeKit, Fitness+, AirPods and the iOS remote app is useful. The new remote control and faster chip in this year’s version are definite improvements, and the box is getting SharePlay and Spatial Audio support later this year. Still, I don’t see these enhancements moving the needle for most people. For further reading, check out how to set up your Apple TV 4K.

Users are reporting that they are seeing billing issues when trying to pay for their Paramount+ and Showtime Apple TV+ bundle, according to AppleInsider. The suggests that the deal is coming to an end. U.S. users can though get Paramount+ free for a month on Apple TV.

Users on Reddit have reported billing errors, where the usual $9.99 fee for the bundle failed to renew. A check of the subscription in their account shows the bundle as “expired,” and non-accessible. In one case, a customer contacted Apple support and was informed their card was declined. However, on checking with their bank, it seems the payment was sent through, then Apple refunded it. Another Reddit user was informed by a senior supervisor of Apple’s support that it was a “special offer for 1 year” rather than a permanent bundle.

HBO shut down its Apple TV channel on Thursday, meaning users have to move to HBO Max. However, MacRumors reported that there are also login issues.

Simultaneously, as HBO shuts down its ‌Apple TV‌ channel, several users are reporting across social media that HBO has removed the ability within its HBO Max app to sign in with an Apple ID account. Users who were previously signed up to HBO via the ‌Apple TV‌ channel had done so through their ‌Apple ID‌. Now, with the channel shut down and the ability to sign in with an ‌Apple ID‌ missing, some users are locked out from their accounts until further notice.

British broadcaster ITV has apologized after fans streaming the England vs Denmark Euro 2020 semi-final on an Apple TV encountered problems. The issues led to some viewers missing a significant portion of the historic match, BBC News reported.

The broadcaster said viewers watching on other Apple devices, such as iPads and iPhones, and its ITV Hub player had been unaffected. But there have been other complaints about ITV Hub’s livestreaming, such as it does not work on all smart TVs. Some of those with supposedly compatible devices have said they have experienced problems and poor picture quality. Nearly 24 million people watched the game on ITV’s traditional TV channels. But ITV said its digital-streaming problem had not been due to high demand for the service. And it had also experienced “technical difficulties” during the France v Switzerland match on 20 June. In a previous tweet, the broadcaster acknowledged issues with its Amazon Fire TV Stick service on 3 July.

Earlier this week the HBO Max app for Apple TV was updated and caused a number of issues. For example features as “What did she say?” and touching the D-pad/trackpad to bring up the timeline while playing content no longer worked. ScreenTimes reported that HBO is ow aware of “some” of the issue and working with Apple to get them fixed.

This new version, while seemingly containing no updates to the gallery UI, has replaced the standard tvOS playback UI with HBO’s own version… The bottom line is, the viewing experience in the HBO Max app is now horrifically bad and almost unusable unless you’re planning just to play and pause. If you need to do anything else, don’t get your hopes up. Ironically, the notes for the update are “A smoother streaming experience is waiting for you with a focus on bug fixes and performance improvements”.

Earlier this week, Nvidia announced that SHIELD users can purchase or rent movies and shows and access Apple TV+ through the Apple TV app on the device. At iMore, Oliver Haslam neatly outlines how this underlines a significant shift that has been going on in Apple’s services business.

Apple’s services business isn’t what it once was. It’s no longer a way to keep people tethered to Apple and is instead just another way for Apple to make money. If people insist on using Android phones, they might as well give Apple $10 each month to listen to its music. People really don’t want to buy an Apple TV 4K? No problem, Apple will take their $4.99 per month and let them watch on their crappy smart TV instead. The idea of an Apple TV app running on the Nvidia Shield – of all things! – would have been insane just a few short years ago. Call me an old romantic, but who knows – maybe it gives us all hope that one day, on an indefinite timescale, we’ll see iMessage break free of Apple’s chains as well.