It’d be great if the apps (iOS/AppleTV) connected with the AppleTV app?
(Understand that as with all the big annoying things about the apps needing fixing, this probably won’t happen anytime soon)
Specifically, the “Up Next” category under the “Watch Now” tab.
The iOS and AppleTV apps have been updated a couple of times recently but really not noticing any improvement / changes.
Just something that struck me as yet another odd thing that could be improved with the apps.
I have no idea how Apple’s stuff works. Is such an integration a dev issue or is that something Apple needs to do on their end? I guess I’m confused why Apple apps wouldn’t natively work with AppleTV.
I’m sure that I have a tech article that goes into detail but yes, from what I recall it’s something that a developer needs to implement so content data appears in the AppleTV app (at least on the AppleTV device?)
Do they charge for it? It sounds like something they’d charge for.
I don’t believe so?
Sounds like something VHX would have to implement, and I’ve gotten the impression that they’re trying to do as little as possible.
Nah, they want consumers to use the AppleTV app as their hub on iDevices, so they actively encourage developers to add the integration and try to keep the friction low. Netflix is the biggest holdout of the majors, because they want you to stay within Netflix as much as possible.
It’s really nice when I get an AppleTV notification, especially for a show that airs somewhat irregularly like Bob’s Burgers (added to Hulu the day after it airs), and I can go “Oh cool. It was on this week!”
Alas, as @KlutzLament mentioned, that’s something the VHX SDK would need to add and I’m not aware of any VHX apps doing it.
“When I am Weaker Thn You, I ask you for Freedom because that is according to your principles; when I am Stronger than you, I take away your Freedom Because that is according to my principles.” – Frank Herbert, Children of Dune
Whatever Herbert meant this to apply to, it applies 100% to corporations. If their roles are reversed, you can bet Netflix will start playing nice and Apple will—well, do what they (and every other company) does when they’re on top.
At the risk of sounding like an ad, I really do think the “Up Next” shelf of the AppleTV app is a really convenient way to keep up with which of the various shows I watch have new episodes out on one screen. It’s such an elegant solution from a consumer standpoint.
Having said that, I’m not sure how that would work with live events. ie would it show up once the replay of the livestream is available? On the day of the livestream? When the stand-alone on-demand version is available? I wouldn’t want the on-demand version showing up as a new episode if I already tuned into the livestream. And what about the monthly picks? I don’t want those clogging up my “up next” list when they get rotated out.
If I’m not mistaken, you can opt for the iOS app to push out its own notification to your phone (or your watch) when a new livestream is scheduled to start. I think that’s a better way to go about it.
Unless there’s a way to implement it so that the live broadcast takes priority in the “up next” menu when it goes live….
It just seems messy from a backend system perspective to get right, and they probably don’t have the resources or time to prioritise looking into something like this with the launch so close.
Not meaning to sound like a negative Ned the Nanite. I’ve still voted for your suggestion as I’d love to see them work out said implementation - just floating some potential issues they’d need to be wary of going into it.