Apple TV Operations Questions

ferrarr said:

I also just noticed it is "US only" at this time.

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I think Slydude is living in the US although sometimes I wonder about certain parts of Louisiana. LOL.

Apparently I have not been a good enough boy this yer and the elves in Cupertino do not like me. Otherwise I am at a loss as to why I don't have the app. i'm currently on IOS 10.2.1 and don't have it. Unless I have overlooked it somewhere.

Now I remember, I searched in the App Store for "Apple apps", that was how I found the "TV" app. Also, on my iPhone 6, and my iPad Pro, I am on iOS 10.2, no other designation.

For some reason I didn't find it in the app store. I don't see it when I scroll through my phone but when I do a search on my phone it is there.

Maybe it is in a "Folder"?

Not in a folder. I feel like a complete dunce. I've looked at my screen multiple screens and finally saw it on screen 3. I'm gonna go sit in the dunce corner for a bit now. Somebody pass m a morsel of food now and then.

i'm currently on IOS 10.2.1 and don't have it. Unless I have overlooked it somewhere.

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Not to sound like I'm questioning the above.... but 10.2.1 is still in beta. Anyway, glad you found the TV app. By the way, it took only a minute for me to remove it from both our iPhones. We do not have an Apple TV.

chscag said:

Not to sound like I'm questioning the above.... but 10.2.1 is still in beta.

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Just checked the version number to be sure. Mine is 10.2.1 but I've been in the public beta programs for IOS and OS X since shortly after they started.

chscag said:

We do not have an Apple TV.

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Works with iTunes library as well.

I don't have an Apple TV either.

Works with iTunes library as well.

I don't have an Apple TV either.

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How does it integrate with your iTunes library? You mean for downloaded TV shows and episodes?

Yes, downloaded Movies, TV Shows, and, I also added home movies to my iTunes library, now I can stream them on my iPad. But, I think, you can also sign into your TV Channel apps and access those as well.

OK, thanks. But since my iPad 3 is too old to install iOS 10, I can forget about streaming anything to it. And there is no way I'm going to stream movies or TV shows on my iPhone. I have a hard enough time reading magazines on it. So I guess I will continue to do without the TV app. And yes, my new TV provider does have an app that you can use to watch their channels.

You mean you aren't going to rush out and buy an ATV 4? According to the folks in Cupertino, it's the great thing since the beginning of time. You want in on that right?

Over the years I have resisted buying an Apple TV. I was thinking about buying a ROKU at one time but changed my mind. What I really need is an iPad Pro to load up all my programs and be able to use that every Wed, Fri, and Sunday instead of my iPhone. Not sure I want to hold something that heavy and be on my feet for an hour or more. Still considering it.

I have been trying to convince my wife that I need a new iPad since mine is only 16 GB. She has decided that the next iPad we get is hers. Her current one is my old one that has a hairline crack along the edge pf the screen. She is thinking an iPad Mini would be right up her alley.

The search feature only searches within iTunes, Netflix and the apps that are available on the ATV, whether you have installed them yet or not. - e.g. TV station apps to include Hulu, HBO, AMC, the CW, etc.. It let's you know where the show can be seen, and provides for you to choose which of the available apps you would like to open to view it and install the app if you don't already have it. Basically, it gives you a single location of search to find available streaming content only.

It does not search your iTunes Library, although it does provide another access point within the TV app to view and play your library.

It does not search the Sling TV nor the Playstation Vue apps and I would guess, it will not search any cable or TV service you may have either. Only what is available to be streamed.

I did search for the Cowboys and Spurs - it responded with the opponent and time of their next game - not where I could watch them.

chscag said:

Over the years I have resisted buying an Apple TV. I was thinking about buying a ROKU at one time but changed my mind. What I really need is an iPad Pro to load up all my programs and be able to use that every Wed, Fri, and Sunday instead of my iPhone. Not sure I want to hold something that heavy and be on my feet for an hour or more. Still considering it.

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I've tried Roku a couple times and both times were horrible experiences. The first time I could never get it to work properly. I've forgotten much of the details, but streaming Netflix and even local media was horribly laggy while the same activities were buttery smooth on the ATV I had been using. I wound up returning it after extensive troubleshooting failed to resolve the issues. The 2nd time around everything streamed much better, but their app did a horrible job of syncing to the device. By that, I mean that I'd try copying passwords for app activations from 1Password on my iPhone and pasting them into the Roku iOS app to pass to the Roku device. It'd scramble the password or maybe miss characters (don't know which exactly was going on) when sending it and I'd wind up being forced to use the remote. It was a pain in the rear. Conversely, the ATV has always been flawless in this regard.

@bobtomay Thanks for that description of the search feature. That answers a good bit of my questions about it. My wife thinks that having it search for something and including the apps/services we don't subscribe to would cause a lot of confusion. I personally like that but she doesn't. Is there any way to confine the search to apps/services that you have installed?

@ LB Thanks for that info about the problems with the Roku. We almost bought one but picked up a small TV that has the services we currently use embedded instead. My wife is using that in the computer room and likes it.

Sounds like my wife - looking for excuses not to get something now. No way that I can find to tell it what apps you want it to search. Plus, I can't see how the way they display it could be confusing at all - unless maybe you have no clue what services you don't subscribe to - from what I can see, you either subscibe to Hulu, Netflix, HBO... or you don't. As far as the "cable" channel apps, while I do not have cable/satellite service at all, I can still watch plenty of stuff on Lifetime, AMC, ABC, etc. apps even without a subscription.

It's not like you're going to find any movie or TV show on 6-10 places. After all, there's no Amazon or Vudu (or any ultraviolet service). A show will be for sale on iTunes, possibly available to view on Hulu or Netflix (if you have a subscription) and from there, you're typically looking at a single other location. All the searches I did, you're looking at 2 or 3 places to get something. Found 4 results only when both Hulu and Netflix had the show. Think about it, there is nothing that's available on both AMC and ABC or pretty much any other 2 networks you can name.

However, since it's been awhile since I had the ATV3, I really can't say whether the ATV4 is a worthwhile upgrade for those happy with the ATV3 - Only remember it had something I wanted when it came out and I'm happy with it.

Thanks for the update Tom. After I posted earlier today I was in a FaceTime chat with a friend who has the ATV 4. His description of the search function was not as thorough as yours. Thanks.

I'm in the process of reworking the setup of our present setup just a bit so that she can run things with one remote. I can do it rather easily but I'm working on a setup she can use easily.