HBO Now stops working for Third-gen Apple TV in Could, listed here are your choices [update] GL-NEWS

Replace: HBO today extended the deprecation date one other two weeks, so HBO Now will hold working till Could fifteenth and HBO Go will proceed for a number of extra months.

The HBO Now app is ending help for the third-generation Apple TV on Could 15 (initially scheduled for April 30). HBO Go might be discontinued at a later date. The apps will not work when that point comes; a banner is now seen within the HBO app on the older Apple TV packing containers explaining the upcoming removing.

Though the third-gen Apple TV is definitely an eight-year-old machine at this level, launched in 2012, quite a lot of them are nonetheless in use because the improve cycle for set-top packing containers is for much longer than it’s for telephones. Apple additionally offered that mannequin of Apple TV for as little as $69, so it was highly regarded. However now, HBO is ending help because it prepares to launch its new HBO Max streaming service. So what are your choices?

The removing of HBO Go and HBO Now impacts house owners of Apple TV second-generation and Apple TV third-generation. The corporate didn’t give a purpose why it was ending help, however we imagine it’s associated to a scarcity of contemporary video codec help and a need to chop some technical baggage as HBO focuses on its brand-new HBO Max streaming initiative in Could.

When you’ve got a second-gen mannequin, then you definately don’t actually have any choices however to purchase a brand new streaming machine: You will get a more recent Apple TV or one thing like an Amazon Hearth Stick, and use the HBO Now app on that.

Nonetheless, you probably have the third-generation mannequin, one doable workaround for HBO Now subscribers is to cancel your direct subscription to HBO and as an alternative enroll by means of Apple TV Channels. It’s because Apple added the brand new TV app to the third-generation Apple TV, as a part of its rollout of Apple TV+. Which means HBO is on the market by means of the TV app as nicely.

You’ll be able to enroll and pay for HBO on Apple TV Channels by means of your Apple ID for $14.99 per thirty days, the identical worth because the native app. This subscription may be shared throughout all units that may entry the Apple TV app, and with as much as six members of your loved ones by means of Household Sharing.

The help for HBO by means of Apple TV Channels will proceed on the third-generation Apple TV regardless of the service’s standalone app being discontinued. The channel could also be rebranded when HBO Max debuts (HBO has but to make clear its rollout plans) however the content material providing will keep the identical, and probably get bigger.

The factor is, the third-generation Apple TV is just fairly previous. Apple is already on the second iteration of the trendy tvOS Apple TV platform, and we count on one other {hardware} revision of the product someday this 12 months. The easy truth of life is that HBO won’t be the one firm ending help for the “dated” {hardware}. This week, prospects have additionally seen issues loading YouTube movies on the third-gen field, and YouTube hasn’t proven any expediency in fixing the problem both. Realistically, we’re solely going to have extra of this stuff occur over time, not much less.

So, in case you are desirous to improve, what are your choices?

The pure development is an Apple TV 4K. It options the identical deep integration with Apple providers because the third-gen field and goes additional with wealthy integration of iCloud Photographs, Apple Music, and entry to an App Retailer of apps. The App Retailer contains video apps like Disney+, which means you possibly can entry video providers that the previous Apple TVs by no means may. The newer Apple TVs additionally allow you to benefit from the Apple Arcade library, and a lot extra. Nonetheless, quite a few individuals don’t just like the trackpad-based Siri Distant, and the large downside of the trendy Apple TV is the worth. It’s just too costly. (Concerning the distant, the third-gen Infrared distant can also be appropriate with tvOS.)

For those who don’t wish to pay the Apple TV premium, nor wait to see what Apple has in retailer for the anticipated Apple TV {hardware} refresh coming someday this 12 months, the subsequent finest suggestion is an Amazon Fire TV Stick. For a really cheap worth, you will get a terrific streaming stick on your dumb TV. And the Hearth Stick has the Apple TV app, which implies all of your Apple TV and iTunes video purchases can come alongside for the journey.

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