“One of the drags about being an AppleTV owner is the dearth of content. Sure you can rent or buy from iTunes or watch Netflix, but all of the yummy apps available for the iPad from the pay cable networks like HBO and Showtime balk when you try to use AirPlay to watch their content on your television [with no restrictions on location, either],” The Mac Advocate reports.
“Fast forward to today. DirecTV released an update to their app that allows you to *gasp* watch some of the content playing on these stations on your iPad and on your HDTV via AirPlay,” The Mac Advocate reports. “Now I realize this in itself is not groundbreaking, but it’s a definitive step in the right direction. It sucks that it had to come from my provider, but it’s better than a stick in the eye.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “FinneasMax” for the heads up.]
It doesn’t use airplay – it pulls in from the internet – nowhere does it say AppleTV required..
AirPlay is a method of streaming content from the iPad to an Apple TV. It wouldn’t be require because you could still watch the content on your iPad without ever streaming it to your Apple TV.
YouTube is an example of this. It pulls it’s content from the internet but has the option to instead stream that content to an Apple TV. the Apple TV would in both cases not be required but instead be optional.
Wait, you mean I can now watch DirectTV (a satellite TV alternative to Cable TV) on my TV via my iPad instead of directly from the DirecTV box to my TV?
Hello? Can someone PLEASE explain to me WHY I would want to AirPlay DirecTV when DirecTV is connected DIRECTLY to my TV??? What am I missing (I can understand having an app which lets me control the DirecTV box- but Airplay from my iPad to my TV- this makes NO sense)? (Same goes for HBO & ShowTime- these are received via a cable box which is connected directly to my TV!)
To watch shows in another room that doesn’t have a cable box?
to even watch shows when you are away from home. most hotels have TVs with hdmi connections, and an appleTV and airport express are easy to carry around.
i don’t believe that us the case. At least up to the last version, your iPad needs to be on the same network as your Directv DVR.
Up until now. I tested the latest version of the DirecTV app in a remote location (different WiFi network, no DirecTV boxes) and AirPlay streaming works.
Maybe it’s just DirecTV, but all of the other cable/satellite apps do require you to be on same network.
I want my HBO Go and maybe the ABC player apps to be sent to my Apple TV.
I don’t have DirecTV but I want them to keep the airplay and the ability to play on a different network going. And force the rest to do the same 🙂
Just to clear up any confusion, DISH does NOT require that you be on the same network as your DVR box. You can watch shows (live, DVR, Blockbuster) from any network that has WiFi or 3G access. I watch on breaks at work. I’ve watched at the mall. No difference.
Try turning off your location on your iPad. It worked for me once I did that.
To watch pay channel movies like X-Men First Class on any HDTV anytime instead of being chained to the schedule/DVR of your home TV or limited to viewing on your iPad.
It’s also a way to access content from Starz, which doesn’t currently have an iPad app.
Not everyone that has DirecTV has a DirecTV box in each room. The DirecTV app, an iPad, and an AppleTV can remedy that issue to a point.
Still sucks compared to Dish Network. My Dish lets me watch all live, DVR recorded and Blockbuster shows on my iPad or iPhone. I can control them just like at home (back, pause, FF, etc.) and it’s amazing quality. And I can do this from anywhere that I have WiFi or 3G.
You’re right on Rick.
We had a Dish equivalent and got rid of it. Aside from the cost saving our new AppleTV is a poor substitute, with Netflix being the saving grace. To stream iTunes content the host computer has to be up and iTunes on. 9/10 times we forget and have to go clear across the house to turn it on.
The UI is dreadful and the update did little to improve matters. Searching for something is tortuous and it doesn’t remember searches or allow you to save searches, it even lacks a simple on/off button. This means it takes at least 9 presses on the remote to turn it off, and when you turn it back on you’re greeted by the menu still selecting ‘Sleep Now’.
I still use it tho’ and it (sort of) gets the job done but it’s disappointing that they didn’t quite think it all through.
There is a bright side: We spend less time idle and zero time being brainwashed by unrelenting ads.
We’re looking forward to AppleTV coming off ‘hobby’ status and hoping Steve really did crack it. Hopefully the rumours are true.
You can put the Apple TV to sleep by pressing and holding the select button. No need to go to the menu.
Also, if you have an Apple TV 3 it will now pair with bluetooth keyboards to allow you to use them to enter text for passwords, searching, netflix, etc.
If your content is from Apple, it should stream from iCloud so you can avoid streaming from iTunes to certain extent.
All Macs (don’t know about PCs) will let you schedule turn on and turn off times to help with the computer off issue.
Hope this helps.
You’re exactly right Rick. I’m glad to see you feel the same way about it as I do. I actually work at DISH and have been using the Dish Remote Access app linked to my Sling Adapter since DISH began offering it. Having all my programming (live channels, DVR content, etc.) has changed the way I look at TV in a fundamental way, and I’d never want to go back to not having it. To everybody else here, you can check out this difference yourself now too, because DISH has a promotion going on called Test Drive wherein you can sign up for a 24 hour trial period to get live channels and a selection of DVR content streamed to you for free with no obligation. It’s a pretty close approximate to having it set up for yourself, and once you try it, you’ll never want to go back to these weak video on demand options again.