“I’ve been living with two media streamers in my living room for the last five years,” Thomas Ricker reports for The Verge. But now that Plex is in the app store for the new Apple TV I can finally consolidate around a single device that streams all my favorite media regardless of origin.”
“Previously, I owned a WD TV media streamer to play stuff I downloaded off the internet. It’s like a Roku but with an uglier UI made by the cowboys at Western Digital,” Ricker reports. “I also owned a third generation Apple TV, initially purchased to assuage my professional curiosity with AirPlay. Over time, the Apple TV became my family’s lean-back source for Netflix, YouTube, and then live NFL action thanks to the Game Pass channel.”
“As of today, the WD is gone — replaced by a fourth generation Apple TV running Plex, no jailbreak or hacking required,” Ricker reports. “And that should worry the incumbents for whom media streaming has never been just a hobby.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Did you get your new Apple TV, yet?
SEE ALSO:
TouchArcade reviews new Apple TV: A discoverability nightmare, zany controls, and loads of potential – November 2, 2015
Terry White reviews Apple TV: Feels like an ‘unfinished’ product – November 2, 2015
ZDNet reviews Apple TV: A diamond in the rough – very rough – November 2, 2015
New York Times: All-new Apple TV invigorates the set-top box – October 29, 2015
Paczkowski: Yes, the Apple TV you’ve always wanted is finally here – October 29, 2015
Apple TV’s Siri search soon to include Apple Music – October 29, 2015
Apple TV review: Channels are dead. The future of TV is apps – October 29, 2015
Mossberg reviews the new Apple TV: ‘This is the one I’d buy’ – October 28, 2015
Only thing missing for me is slingbox app. Hope it’s coming.
I received mine Saturday. Really enjoying it so far. I did have a thought. I think eventually it would be nice to have “folders” like other iOS devices for organization as we add more and more apps. Eventually there will be a lot of scrolling involved.
Does anybody know how to browse the tvOS App Store on a mac? i am on the fence re: getting the AppleTV, so if i could see what is available on the tvOS App Store it might make it a no-brainer…… until then i am unsure of the options
Got it this past Friday. Love the “multitasking” bar when switching between media types. Unlike the previous version you had to back out of several levels and then back into where you wanted to be. The Podcast omission is a bummer for now but I’ll AirPlay from one of my other devices in the mean time.
Question for those in-the-know:
We currently have DirecTV hooked up to the two main TV-viewing rooms in our house–and will NOT discontinue that service under any circumstance. (Wifely order.) So, how can/does/will the new 4G Apple TV work within that particular service environment? Any potential problems here? (We will have to use local Sound Shop personnel to effect this connection, if it’s at all possible; but any additional information from you learned folks will be most appreciated. Thanks in advance!)
Shouldn’t be a big problem.. are your two TVs totally independent of each other? (Not part of some whole-home AV system?) You’ll just connect AppleTV to a second input on the tv (or home theater), and toggle between the two sources DirecTV and Apple TV.
-Rob
That’s my exact setup and everything works great. I run my DirecTV and AppleTV Hdmi outputs into my Denon Receiver to get the benefit of my home theater speaker system and all is good. I just switch between Cable/Sat and Media player selections on my Denon remote to switch between DirecTv and AppleTV. Of course there are other ways to do it if you don’t have a receiver in the mix.
Dear Apple,
My ATV feature request:
HDMI Pass Through
Have a HDMI input on the back. I could hook my cable HDMI cable into it. My ATV then has an “app” that shows what is being pass through. This way I don’t have to constantly switch between my TV inputs.
Now I know this next idea will never be allowed. But allow the ATV to record/DVR shows that are being “pass through”.
Isn’t there copy pretection on an hdmi signal that prevents that?
I’ve seen other devices before with an HDMI input and their own HDMI output. If the signal is encrypted, maybe a true “pass through” of the signal could happen.
Yes. This won’t be possible anytime soon.
Ahem, Xbox one.
Yes it exists, just not Apple.
That said, I route mine through my AV receiver and that can overlay it’s crappy menus, so whilst Apple TV perhaps couldn’t do anything with a passthrough signal, it could overlay stuff.
I can imagine watching a show and asking siri something the answer to which is overlaid. Unless it’s a game or provides some actual content, what apps are people honestly going to want to tie up their tv with that wouldn’t be better served by using them on a phone, iPad, or computer?
Also, at the moment, without some form of multi-tasking, control centre, or notifications, you’re limited to the features of a particular app unless you leave and come back. It’s still not there.
Agreed this is a sorely missing feature and would be the key to “Input 1” — no reason they couldn’t (it would work on the same idea as a home AV receiver) except for the size/power it may add to the hardware.
I’m sad that things like CNN still require antiquated cable subscriptions in order to function. Hopefully they will change this. I’m still waiting for the AMC and ION channel apps, which hopefully play live TV. Once these combined with HBO are available I will be 100% dropping my cable. These are the only channels anyone in my household ever watch.
So if you can change the hdmi input in your tv between 1 and 2 freely…
Why is it a big deal to switch the hardware cables?
If your Apple TV is on hdmi 2.. Just leave your tv on input 2.
I use my Apple TV a lot, and will be using the new one even more. But I’ve labeled my inputs on screen to say Apple TV instead on input 2/hdmi 2.
Actual usage is more important than the input # imo.
All my sources go into my amplifier which then sends the signal to my tv. As it happens I connect it via hdmi3 because that’s closest to the middle of the tv to bunch cables together, and can also be accessed from channel 1 by pressing down (as opposed to pressing input repeatedly to skip the start and pc connections). I miss my old sony where I could assign an input to a particular channel number.
I can only presume that it is sheer laziness that makes this an issue for some people. What difference does it make which input it is?
Is it that difficult for some people to select another input? Most TVs will scroll thru their various inputs if you repeatedly tap or hold the input button. Some will highlight (or only show) the input if the device plugged into it is turned on.
What drama!
Changing the HDMI input takes WAY too long.. (Don’t get me wrong, I actually change the HDMI input MANY times a night.)
On mine i dont need to mess with inputs..
As soon as i click on my apple tv remote.. Any botton…it magically switches the input on my tv to hdmi 2 and apple tv…
Very interesting… I have never had an external device that did that… If theTV is off it triggers it on too…
Amazing.
The real problem with Apple TV, especially for users outside the US, is lack of quality content. The vast majority of Hollywood output in the last two or three decades has been formulaic film flam aimed at American teenagers.
Looking through the genres, everything on my Apple TV is American. Where is Life on Earth? What about French films? British documentaries from Channel 4? Opera? Fawlty Towers? Monty Python?
It’s a cultural desert.
Like my last Apple TV it will sit there, idle, until I need it for AirPlay.
Those people at Apple need to get out more. Better still, they should establish a big office in Europe to handle cultural affairs. Perhaps then iTunes might be re-architected to handle classical music properly as well.
great job