ESPN app for Apple TV update adds the ability to watch four live feeds simultaneously

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited August 2017
ESPN has rolled out a new update for its live streaming Apple TV app, allowing cable subscribers to catch four live feeds from the network at the same time, aimed at college football season.




First reported by Recode on Wednesday, the forthcoming version of the app for the fourth generation Apple TV allows users to long-press on the Siri Remote to invoke a split-screen viewing option. This can be repeated with multiple streams, for up to four streams.

ESPN says that it expects the feature to be most-used in the fall, when the network will air up to 55 college football games on any given Saturday.





The last major update to the app prior to Wednesday'swas in April. That update saw a revision to the user interface, an increased amount of content in the on demand section, and other improvements.

Users still need to be authenticated to watch ESPN's video content, verifying in the app that they are subscribed to a relevant package with a participating TV provider. In January, the Disney-owned sports network enabled Apple's single sign-on feature, simplifying the authentication process for many U.S. cable TV subscribers.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    This will be nice for tennis coverage as well. Multiple matches on different courts, in the early rounds.
    lolliver
  • Reply 2 of 12
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    Actually a cool feature that apparently won't be available (at least anytime soon) on Android TV's due to feature differences.  Plus one for Apple TV.
    edited August 2017 gregg thurmanjony0
  • Reply 3 of 12
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,056member
    The FoxSportsGo app does this and it is kinda cool. The FSG app isn't perfect for sure, but this is a neat feature.
  • Reply 4 of 12
    gatorguy said:
    Actually a cool feature that apparently won't be available (at least anytime soon) on Android TV's due to feature differences.  Plus one for Apple TV.
    Lots of write-ups about this today.  I pulled this quote from one of them, "For now MultiCast is exclusively available on the Apple TV, ESPN says, because other smart TV platforms don’t have the same capabilities as tvOS."
    edredjony0lolliver
  • Reply 5 of 12
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    ESPN? Meh. Until they realize people don't want politics mixed in with sports, their raitings are going to continue to tank. 
  • Reply 6 of 12
    Brilliant!

    Would love it if Apple could make something like this work system-wide, so you could mix content between apps.
    e.g. Being able to watch a movie on Netflix while keeping an eye on the sports scores in the corner of the screen could be very useful.
    lolliver
  • Reply 7 of 12
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    gatorguy said:
    Actually a cool feature that apparently won't be available (at least anytime soon) on Android TV's due to feature differences.  Plus one for Apple TV.
    Lots of write-ups about this today.  I pulled this quote from one of them, "For now MultiCast is exclusively available on the Apple TV, ESPN says, because other smart TV platforms don’t have the same capabilities as tvOS."
    That may not be entirely accurate as the Nvidia Shield running Android Nougat offers PIP, but Android TV specifically might not so I'd accept ESPN's explanation. FWIW the Shield is probably the most capable, fastest, and relatively future-proofed of all TV streaming boxes. Google should have put Nvidia in charge of optimizing Android TV. :neutral: 

    Apple obviously put more thought into Apple TV than Google has with Android TV. 
    edited August 2017 jony0lolliver
  • Reply 8 of 12
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,056member
    bbdroid said:
    Brilliant!

    Would love it if Apple could make something like this work system-wide, so you could mix content between apps.
    e.g. Being able to watch a movie on Netflix while keeping an eye on the sports scores in the corner of the screen could be very useful.
    There's a lot to that. If an app could have a customizable scroll bar with user defined content, that would be useful too. Features like this baked into the screen saver would make me leave the ATV on continuously. Have a weather map, maybe a traffic map, notifications, and the like. Maybe a Siri readout. There's still a lot of potential for tvOS. 
  • Reply 9 of 12
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    sog35 said:
    ESPN? Meh. Until they realize people don't want politics mixed in with sports, their raitings are going to continue to tank. 
    and you are mixing politics with Apple. how are you any different?

    Back on topic: Love this feature
    Speaking of this feature, I wonder how this will work with blackouts? For example, there will be a game on ESPN 2, but at the same time, it will be on my local ABC station. ESPN 2 will be blacked out for me. Hopefully you can select the game thats blacked out to be on one of the 4 screens since that's usually a big matchup. 
  • Reply 10 of 12
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,858administrator
    sog35 said:
    ESPN? Meh. Until they realize people don't want politics mixed in with sports, their raitings are going to continue to tank. 
    and you are mixing politics with Apple. how are you any different?

    Back on topic: Love this feature
    Speaking of this feature, I wonder how this will work with blackouts? For example, there will be a game on ESPN 2, but at the same time, it will be on my local ABC station. ESPN 2 will be blacked out for me. Hopefully you can select the game thats blacked out to be on one of the 4 screens since that's usually a big matchup. 
    You'll get whatever is airing in your locality on that particular ESPN channel or feed at the time -- the same as it worked for the single-stream before the update.

    Related: There's a reason why we shut down comments on political articles- because you guys can't be civil with each other. Spread it to my news items from any point of view, and I'll drop the hammer on you, without further warning or remorse.

    What is in this article is as far as it goes.
    edited August 2017 lolliver
  • Reply 11 of 12
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    sog35 said:
    ESPN? Meh. Until they realize people don't want politics mixed in with sports, their raitings are going to continue to tank. 
    and you are mixing politics with Apple. how are you any different?

    Back on topic: Love this feature
    Speaking of this feature, I wonder how this will work with blackouts? For example, there will be a game on ESPN 2, but at the same time, it will be on my local ABC station. ESPN 2 will be blacked out for me. Hopefully you can select the game thats blacked out to be on one of the 4 screens since that's usually a big matchup. 
    You'll get whatever is airing in your locality on that particular ESPN channel or feed at the time -- the same as it worked for the single-stream before the update.

    Related: There's a reason why we shut down comments on political articles- because you guys can't be civil with each other. Spread it to my news items from any point of view, and I'll drop the hammer on you, without further warning or remorse.

    What is in this article is as far as it goes.
    Ok. I have actually never used the app during college football season so wasn't sure about the blackouts. Regarding your other comment, understood. 
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