Available Apple TV Devices
There are currently two different Apple TV models for sale, the Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K. Both come with an Apple TV remote that holds microphones for Siri, a touchpad for navigating, and buttons for controlling volume, menus, and more. But the Apple TV 4K is the more advanced model, and we recommend it if youre considering a purchase.
Why I Now Recommend Roku Instead
For a long time, I used my Apple TV for two exclusive features: the ability to play iTunes-purchased movies, and for AirPlay, the ability to mirror an iOS device’s screen to the TV.
Well, with the Apple TV Roku App for the Roku and , you can watch your iTunes content on those devices .
And now, with Roku’s 2020 software release, select 4K Roku devices like the Roku Ultra have AirPlay capability! I’ve tested it and it works great! Many new smart TVs also have AirPlay built-in.
With these two features available elsewhere, I don’t really see a reason to purchase an Apple TV when you can get more apps with a Roku.
If you’re still interested in Apple TV, see my original article below.
Apple TV Plus Devices: Here’s Where You Can Download The Apple TV App
Apple TV is available on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Make sure your firmware is updated so you can access it. The app is also available on Mac. It’s also available on third-generation Apple TV devices, Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD. You can also download it on Samsung Smart TVs from 2018 onwards, Amazon Fire TV, LG Smart TVs and Roku devices.
It’s coming to Vizio and Sony Smart TVs this summer, too.
You can watch the service in browsers for PC.
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Where Can I Watch Apple TV+
Apple TV Plus is available on Apple TV , iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac.
Beyond Apple hardware, Apple TV Plus is supported by Roku, Amazon Fire TV, PlayStation, Xbox, and select Samsung, Vizio, LG, and Sony Smart TVs.
Apple TV Plus is also accessible via Firefox and Chrome web browsers on Windows, Chrome OS, and Android devices.
Wolfboy And The Everything Factory
Watch Trailer Released September 24 1 season
In this charming animated series, William Wolf lets his imagination run wild. Along with his new Spryte friends, he might even have the power to change the world. William is voiced by Kassian Akhtar. The show is executive produced by Joseph-Gordon Levitt.
Watch Trailer Read Related Book Official Podcast Released September 24 1 season TV-MA
Based on the genre-defining novels by Isaac Asimov, Foundation is an epic sci-fi adventure. Hari Seldon predicts the downfall of the Galactic Empire and recruits a band of exiles to carry out his plan to save the future of humanity.
Watch Season Two Trailer Read Related Book Released November 1, 2019 2 seasons TV-MA
A drama exploring the power dynamics in the world of morning news broadcasts. The story opens with anchor Mitch Kessler facing sexual misconduct allegations. Newcomer Bradley Jackson aspires to replace Kessler in the prime-time slot, and clashes with longtime host Alex Levy . In the second season, the show unravels the ramifications further against a backdrop of the beginnings of the COVID-19 outbreak.
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How To Get Apple TV Plus For Free
In order to help boost its newcomer streaming service, Apple initially offered a free year of Apple TV Plus to anyone who recently purchased an Apple device. This includes iPhones, iPads, Macs, iPods, and Apple TV set-top boxes.
However, the offer does not stand for new purchases now. Apple stopped offering a free year of Apple TV Plus as of July 1, 2021. From now on, youll get just three months of no-cost access before you have to consider a paid subscription. New Roku devices also include three free months of Apple TV Plus. Other new users can still get seven days of Apple TV Plus for free. Learn more about how to get Apple TV Plus for free at the link below.
Read more: How to get Apple TV Plus for free
Can You Add Disney Plus Or Hbo Max As An Apple TV Channel
Services like HBO Max, Hulu, Disney Plus, Peacock, and Prime Video are not available directly as Apple TV channels. Instead, you have to sign up for these services separately and watch them through their own apps.
That said, you can still integrate recommendations from these platforms into the Apple TV app. Billing is not available through Apple so you must already have a separate subscription to one of these services. You’ll then see an option to link the services you’re subscribed to with the Apple TV app.
This will enable you to see recommendations for movies and shows from that platform inside the Apple TV app. But if you click on a program you’ll be redirected to stream it on the required third-party app.
For instance, if you connect your separate HBO Max subscription to the Apple TV app, you’ll see recommendations for HBO Max shows within the Apple TV interface. But if you click on the show, your device will be prompted to launch the HBO Max app.
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How Do I Stream Apple TV Plus
Every Apple TV Plus title is available to all subscribers in the Apple TV app. Apple TV Plus is $5 a month, and a subscription unlocks the full catalog of original programming.
But unlike Netflix and other subscription streaming services, Apple TV Plus doesn’t have its own dedicated app. Apple TV Plus programming resides inside Apple’s TV app, which overall serves as a hub to watch programming from other video subscriptions, and to rent or buy movies and shows a la carte. That can be a little confusing, but the TV app has a tab dedicated just to Apple TV Plus originals, so you can find them all in one place without other stuff that requires separate payments.
Apple’s TV app is available on:
- Apple devices that can stream video including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV streaming boxes, iPod Touch and Macs
- Roku
Apple TV Plus is also available to watch on the web at tv.apple.com.
Apple TV Plus Vs Netflix: Platforms
Apple TV Plus is available via the Apple TV app for iOS and Mac devices, as well as Apple TV boxes. The app is also available on new Samsung smart TVs, and people who use the Safari, Firefox and Chrome browser can access Apple TV Plus content on a web site: tv.apple.com. Apple also launched its TV app for Roku and Amazon Fire TV smart sticks, set-top boxes, and smart TVs.
Smart TVs and set-top boxes with Android TV also have the Apple TV app as well. In 2020, Apple TV Plus expanded access to LG and Vizio smart TVs as well. Its also available on Sonys Playstation 4 and 5 game consoles, and Microsofts Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X game consoles. While this is to be expected, there are no plans to offer the Apple TV Plus app for Android smartphones or tablets. Those users can watch Apple TV Plus content on their Chrome or Firefox browsers.
As far as Netflix is concerned in terms of availability, the question is what devices dont support it. Its available for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, and it supports Roku and Amazon Fire TV-based devices, Chromecast dongles, and TVs with built-in Chromecast. It also supports Android TV-based televisions and set-top boxes like the Nvidia Shield. Of course, Netflix is available via a variety of web browsers for PC laptops and desktops.
It looks like Netflix wins the platform category, although Apple TV Plus could catch up later.
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Apple TV Plus Vs Netflix: Price
Also read:How to get Apple TV Plus for free
Netflix is more expensive. Its lowest price tier for most territories is $8.99 a month, which supports one concurrent stream and 480p video resolution. The second tier costs $13.99 a month, with two concurrent streams and 1080p resolution. The third tier costs $17.99 a month, with four streams at the same time and 4K resolution support.
Related: How much does a Netflix plan cost?
To be fair, Netflix is experimenting with mobile-only subscriptions in certain markets. The price for that tier, which is only for smartphones and tablets, is less than $5 a month, where it is available. However, Netflix has not made it available in most of its countries.
Apple Airplay Mirror Your Device To Your TV
Through the use of a wireless technology called Airplay, Apple TV can display whatever is on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac screen onto your TV. So basically, you have the ability to view any iPad app on your TV!
Above is my 42 flatscreen TV mirroring my iPad screen while using the NBC iPad App. Note that I had to use my TVs zoom feature to make the picture fill the whole screen, but the picture quality was still good.
So, while the Apple TV itself doesnt have the hundreds of channels that Roku does, it basically allows you to view any app that will run on your iPad, which kind of makes up for the lack of native Apple TV channels.
Note that really old iPhones, iPads first-gen, and Macs made before 2011 dont support Airplay. But all recent Apple devices do.
Overall, Airplay is a killer feature, and its the one reason that I still use my Apple TV, even though I usually use a Roku.
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Top 10 Free Apple TV Channels: Overview
So the first thing that were going to do before we get to the top 10 free apps is show how to download them.
If youve had your Apple TV for a while, or if youve used Apple devices before, this might look pretty familiar so feel free to skip it if you want to.
But were going to go up here to the app store and we can search for whatever we want, or we can check out the apps that they recommend. We want to go into this app category. Theyre going to give you a lot of great options for you to explore, but a lot of those are going to be paid.
So if you know that theres a free option that you want, and you just want to bypass all this, just go to the search and you can find whatever you want. Im just going to randomly pick a letter and yeah, you can see theres plenty of options for stuff that you can search for here on the Apple TV.
Watch The Sound With Mark Ronson
Watch Trailer Released July 30 6 episodes
Watch Season Two Trailer Released August 14, 2020 2 seasons TV-MA
Ted Lasso follows an American football coach who comes to England to lead a soccer team. However, this show is much richer than a typical fish-out-of-water story. Ted Lasso may not know about the intricacies of soccer but he employs his unyielding optimism to bring out the best in his players.
This heartwarming and funny comedy series has been widely received by audiences and earned much critical acclaim.
Ted Lasso Season Three
The third season of Ted Lasso is in development but a firm release date has not yet been announced.
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The Interface Can Be Confusing
If you didn’t realize Apple TV and Apple TV+ were two different things, don’t worry. You aren’t the only one.
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Apple doesn’t make it any easier to understand because on some devices it blends Apple TV and Apple TV+ content together by default, the former of which consists of purchasable and rentable content outside the latter’s subscription. Even when you switch to the dedicated Apple TV+ tab, the change isn’t persistentyou’ll need to do it again when you open the app later.
The app’s homepage might look stylish, but it’s not as easy to navigate as it should be. Entire rows are dedicated to single shows or movies. Undoubtedly, this is to mask the service’s lack of content, but it’s a waste of space. In fairness, the consistent position of the “Continue Watching” row is something Netfix, Amazon Prime Video, et al. would do well to learn from.
Unfortunately, the app is also not great at remembering your position when watching something. If you pause watching halfway through, back out, and then return later, chances are it’ll start playback at the beginning. That’s annoying enough, but the less-than-ideal fast-forward controls compound the issue.
Apple TV+ Compared To Other Streaming Services
| Apple TV+ | |
| 6 | 5 |
Apple TV+ ranks high when it comes to affordability. A basic subscription with the service is a dollar cheaper than Hulu, and the streamer offers the longest free trial of all the services listed. Sure, there aren’t a lot of deals or bundles that include Apple TV+ like the Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus bundle. But, Apple TV+ still reigns supreme when it comes to affordability.
You’ll also notice that both Apple TV+ and Hulu rank second when it comes to user profiles. Disney Plus is the winner here, but this point is still worth mentioning for those who plan to share their subscription among big groups.
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Channels & Services On Apple TV App Thats Not Included In Your Apple TV+ Subscription:
Apart from being able to rent & buy movies & TV Shows from iTunes directly within the Apple TV app. You will also be able to subscribe to several channels & third-party services directly on the Apple TV App offering selection of shows, movies, live events, sporting events, all of which can be accessed and viewed directly on the Apple TV app. Each channel will require its own subscription fee most of these channels provide a free trial for you to test out before purchasing. Heres a list of channels & their prices on Apple TV:
- Acorn TV $5.99
- A& E Crime Central $4.99
- NickHits $7.99
Why I No Longer Recommend The Apple TV Streaming Player
The Apple TV streaming player is a small box that connects to your TV via its HDMI port. It gives you the ability to watch streaming services from the Internet on your TV, and it allows you to mirror the screen from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to your TV.
To use Apple TV, you need to have Internet access, and youll have to connect your Apple TV to your home Wi-Fi network or router via Ethernet cable. Connection to Wi-Fi is pretty easy as long as you know your Wi-Fi password.
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Stirr Pluto TV And More
So this is where were going to get into a few different categories of things that you should know about. The first one Im going to talk about is Stirr, and well get to Pluto TV, its going to be pretty similar.
But these are your cable and satellite imitators. So these ones, yeah, theyve got some on-demand content. And well talk a little bit more about that with Pluto TV.
But what it also does is right up here at the top, youve got a channel guide and that channel guide is going to look, and smell, and feel a lot like your cable or satellite channel guide that you had when you had cable and satellite.
The only difference here is that the channels themselves are different. So were not talking about the channels that youre used to with. Youre not going to get TBS and TNT, and USA, and HGTV, whatever else you were used to, these are going to be the stepchildren of those premium channels. I call them premium channels, you know what I mean. Anyway, so they do have a lot of really good content. Its just not the content that youre used to, but that doesnt mean its not worth watching. So check out Stirr for that sort of thing.
What The Experts Think
The general consensus from streaming and media experts is that although Apple TV Plus has a solid lineup of original content and fantastic streaming quality, there simply isnt enough original content .
In our Apple TV review, we noted that while it isnt exactly a runaway success, Apples streaming service is a solid contender. In addition to a unique three-episode-a-week content strategy to get watchers hooked fast, it also features the best streaming bitrate in the business. Plus, at just five bucks a month and a generous free subscription offer, Apple isnt asking much for access to its content.
That said, in our comparisons with other top streaming services like Netflix and Disney Plus , the difference in the amount of content is staggering. Although both services cost more than Apple TV Plus, their catalogs are significantly larger and constantly evolving.
Apple invested a lot of money into Apple Originals and many of them are truly worth watching. Disney Plus has The Mandalorian, Hulu has Handmaids Tale, and Netflix has House of Cards and many others. The closest thing to a hit that Apple TV Plus has is The Morning Show, which got mixed reviews at launch but is getting a second season in September 2021.
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