iTunes video competitor Vudu coming to app for fourth-gen Apple TV
Vudu -- Walmart's online video rental and purchase service -- is coming to an app for the fourth-generation Apple TV, according to an engineer with the company.
The app is "in development," the engineer said on the official Vudu forums, while warning that an actual launch date is still in the air. The service's iOS app already offers AirPlay support -- which can push video to an Apple TV -- but a native interface would let users browse content via the Siri Remote, and possibly keep up on shows via Apple's "TV" app.
Vudu has so far made the Apple TV a low priority because Apple policies deter third parties from selling movies and shows directly through iOS and tvOS. To watch Vudu content in the iOS app, people have to pay for it via the Web or an Android device, which will then add videos to a personal library. Otherwise, the iOS app only supports browsing the Vudu catalog.
Walmart frequently promotes Vudu in its stores. The service is nominally a competitor to Apple's iTunes Store, but differentiates itself with things like 4K support, some free ad-supported movies, and the ability to add digital versions of disc purchases to an online locker.
Vudu is also on a wider number of platforms, including Roku, Xbox, PlayStation, Chromecast and some Blu-ray players and smart TVs.
The fourth-gen Apple TV was first released in Oct. 2015. Apple has concentrated mostly on tvOS updates since then, but is expected to put out a fifth-generation model later this year, adding 4K support. It's uncertain if Apple will start offering 4K iTunes video to match -- all current iTunes material tops out at 1080p.
The app is "in development," the engineer said on the official Vudu forums, while warning that an actual launch date is still in the air. The service's iOS app already offers AirPlay support -- which can push video to an Apple TV -- but a native interface would let users browse content via the Siri Remote, and possibly keep up on shows via Apple's "TV" app.
Vudu has so far made the Apple TV a low priority because Apple policies deter third parties from selling movies and shows directly through iOS and tvOS. To watch Vudu content in the iOS app, people have to pay for it via the Web or an Android device, which will then add videos to a personal library. Otherwise, the iOS app only supports browsing the Vudu catalog.
Walmart frequently promotes Vudu in its stores. The service is nominally a competitor to Apple's iTunes Store, but differentiates itself with things like 4K support, some free ad-supported movies, and the ability to add digital versions of disc purchases to an online locker.
Vudu is also on a wider number of platforms, including Roku, Xbox, PlayStation, Chromecast and some Blu-ray players and smart TVs.
The fourth-gen Apple TV was first released in Oct. 2015. Apple has concentrated mostly on tvOS updates since then, but is expected to put out a fifth-generation model later this year, adding 4K support. It's uncertain if Apple will start offering 4K iTunes video to match -- all current iTunes material tops out at 1080p.
Comments
If it supports the TV app it would be HUGE.
Call again, and a different customer service rep will tell you something different. On this front, the CSR's can't be trusted, because they don't really know.
The source of this new information, "Jake" is an actual VUDU engineer, who has been on the VUDU forum, offering support since 2007, with 800+ posts.
He didn't say definitively that it's coming out, and didn't give a date (saying he doesn't know) but he did confirm it's being worked on, and I believe him. Whether or not it will actually see release anytime soon, is another question entirely.
Lol....No, just a rep via twitter. But the definitiveness of thier statement is why I choose to believe it. This engineer sounds like the same people who worked for Target saying Apple Pay was coming to the stores. Sounds bogus to me.
But these days, the competition is between people who have set top box hardware. Apple has Apple TV, Amazon has Fire TV, Roku has Roku, Google has Chromecast and (giggle) twice failed Android TV. (The only Android TV minor success is Nvidia, and it is because they added their own gaming platform on top of Android TV and not because of anything Google did.) Everyone else, including Vudu, is just an app that they HOPE Apple, Amazon and Google will approve. Vudu has been on Android TV indirectly via Chromecast support, but looking at their Play Store stats they don't get very many installs. So maybe getting on tvOS will allow them to make some money. And 4K is not really a differentiator. Amazon Prime, Google Play, Hulu, YouTube and of course Netflix all support 4K and have for some time.. Some of them even support VR by now! So, rather than being an iTunes differentiator, it is just an example of Apple lagging. Of course, since it would make no sense for iTunes to support 4K before tvOS does, as iTunes will only work in iPads and iPhones (obviously no 4K there and for good reason, though some Android 4K phones do exist for some reason, Sony makes one) and Apple TVs, no reason to add software support if the hardware doesn't support it. Ooops, I forgot about PCs and Macs that support 4K and certainly have a large install base. Yeah, but in fairness, I suppose not that many people are watching movies on PCs like they did 10-15 years ago ... thanks to Apple inventing the iPhone and iPad.Still remember those dumb Microsoft commercials that promoted watching DVDs on your bulky laptop, or on your desktop with the (then usually) tiny screen. Good thing Apple crushed that nonsense with mobile devices.
Same with a company 'sharing' an ad or something. The company just released it. They didn't give up anything to someone who had nothing so they are both better off and the world was a better place. Terrible use of the word.
Look Americans can make a word mean whatever they want it to mean. But I still can point out the vagarities and I am sure there are things we say that make Americans weird out.
So let's not even think about the expression "I'm rooting for you"