Comcast to launch Xfinity Stream app for iOS in prep for wider Stream TV rollout, no tvOS ...

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in iPhone
U.S. TV and internet provider Comcast has announced an upcoming iOS and Android app called Xfinity Stream, which will not only replace the existing Xfinity TV app for cable subscribers, but lay the foundations for a wider rollout of Stream TV -- its internet-only TV service -- under different branding later this year.




The app should go live on Feb. 28, Comcast said. People using the Xfinity TV app will be automatically transitioned to Xfinity Stream through an update. At the moment, no Apple TV client has been announced, and it's not clear if the app will come to other platforms like Roku.

Stream TV is currently only available in a few U.S. markets, spread across Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Hampshire. For full content users must have an Xfinity internet account and stream on their local Wi-Fi network, or else take advantage of third-party apps with "TV Everywhere" support that authenticates a Comcast subscription.




Through the new app, people subscribed to an Xfinity cable package will be able to watch over 200 live channels outside of the house, as well as roughly 40,000 on-demand titles, some of which can be downloaded for offline viewing. Comcast is also promising the ability to manage, stream, and download DVR recordings.

Other features will include Spanish-language text and audio options, and narrated descriptions for the visually impaired on "select" movies and TV shows.

Cable features should be paralled for Stream TV users, but only for the service's bundled channels and on-demand videos. Downloads will be also off-limits for broadcast networks and HBO.

Comcast's plans suggest an attempt to better compete with rivals like Sling TV and PlayStation Vue. Both of those, however, aren't tied to Wi-Fi or any one internet service provider, and are available across a wider variety of platforms, the Apple TV among them.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    I would love it if this new app (unlike the existing one) supported AirPlay. I often travel with a third-gen AppleTV so I can watch content in my hotel, and streaming DVR content to a TV would be really nice.
  • Reply 2 of 16
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,905member
    Too little, too late. There are plenty streaming choices(SLING,DirectvNow, Sony Vue,CBS all access,and individual TV Apps) on AppleTV for cord cutters. FoxNow live streaming on AppleTV.. Wish more TV channels offered as ala-carte from $1.99-$5.99/month streaming.
    edited February 2017 DavidAlGregory
  • Reply 3 of 16
    i'm shocked by those media companies that don't get iOS -- Saturday Night Live has an iOS app, yet no Apple TV version. XM Radio is another. Amazon. it's like -- hello, this is the perfect device for your content, so stop hating your customers and start adding value. 
    libertyforall
  • Reply 4 of 16
    DirecTV doesn't have an Apple TV app either. I hate it, especially when it's raining or snowing and I lose my signal.
  • Reply 5 of 16
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,305member
    wood1208 said:
    Too little, too late. There are plenty streaming choices(SLING,DirectvNow, Sony Vue,CBS all access,and individual TV Apps) on AppleTV for cord cutters. FoxNow live streaming on AppleTV.. Wish more TV channels offered as ala-carte from $1.99-$5.99/month streaming.
    I cut the cord, not so I can instead start paying for all these other streaming services!!! I mounted a large antenna and get most of my TV that way and have Netflix. Well I have Amazon also, but I really had that for Second Day air before they even had streaming content. Both I had before I even cut the cord.
    libertyforall
  • Reply 6 of 16
    I used it a little bit when it first came out, but as soon as they started interrupting shows with commercials I deleted the app. I'm not paying for Comcast and TiVo to get unskippable commercials.
  • Reply 7 of 16
    Resistance is futile

    I really hope AT&T can fix the backend issues of DirecTV Now and focus on tvOS integration.
    Then people would just need the network pipe from the Comcasts of the world until 5G is widely deployed.
  • Reply 8 of 16
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    We just bought a new home and will move in weeks and have to decide between Comcast and Frontier.  We only want internet, no phone no TV.  We have Comcast HD included with our HOA not that that determines our choice of internet provider.   It's not any easy choice, both offer new customer specials and small print saying we'll screw you in year two.
  • Reply 9 of 16
    This looks similar to the Spectrum TV (formerly TWC TV) app. The Spectrum TV app is actually pretty good. Not 100% reliable, but it does provide all of the "live" programs you get on your TV subscription when you are on your home network. It turns your iDevice into a little TV, complete with DVR playback and management, and provides access to On Demand content too. I found using it on an iPad to watch TV in bed is better than the crappy TV I happen to have in the bedroom, plus I can listen with headphones to avoid disturbing my wife.

    A few months back, the cable guy came in for a DVR and Set-Top Box (STB) upgrade. He reported that the DVRs (and the regular STB too I think) are on their way out soon, with the idea that all playback will be streaming and recording will be cloud based. I can't imagine Spectrum would want to give up their rental income from their own STBs, so either they make us get their own little device, or if they create an ATV app, I would not be surprised if an additional subscription amount would be required. I do worry that their cloud DVR functionality might disallow skipping commercials. Most of what I record is available on their free on-demand channels, but I record them so I can skip the commercials.
  • Reply 10 of 16
    Stupid to create artificial limitations to a local wifi network!  We should be able to get it anywhere we have a cellular signal or any network!
  • Reply 11 of 16
    DirecTV doesn't have an Apple TV app either. I hate it, especially when it's raining or snowing and I lose my signal.
    It is called DirecTV Now.  It works  on any provider network including DirecTV satellite network.

    DirecTV Now on 5G is the future.  Comcast will be toast and deservingly so.
  • Reply 12 of 16
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    MacPro said:
    We just bought a new home and will move in weeks and have to decide between Comcast and Frontier.  We only want internet, no phone no TV.  We have Comcast HD included with our HOA not that that determines our choice of internet provider.   It's not any easy choice, both offer new customer specials and small print saying we'll screw you in year two.
    So pick one, anyone...  And, at the end of two years, pick the other one.
  • Reply 13 of 16
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    Stupid to create artificial limitations to a local wifi network!  We should be able to get it anywhere we have a cellular signal or any network!
    I doubt that that is a technical limitation.  Rather, it is their way of knowing that you didn't simply just share your Comcast ID with all your friends and relatives.  It's essentially keeping you tethered to their cord while opening up to IOS.
  • Reply 14 of 16
    Like was said above- too little, too late. I cut the cable part of my Comcast service when the combined cost reached $200 a month up from maybe $125 a couple of years ago with no change in my service. They have been milking customers to pay for their buyouts of NBC/Universal and others. My preference is a la carte- something Hollywood seems determined to avoid at all costs- as they know most channels cannot survive unbundled which is not my problem. Like millions I am tired of paying for crap I do not watch. For now, Sling TV and a few stand alone are flying the gap. ESPN will be next, as they are seeing a decline on viewers. ESPN costs more per sub than anything not considered Premium Cable and is in just about every bundle. It is mostly sports gossip and actually very little live sports. I watch a few College Football games per year and a few Bowl Games- that is it. ESPN can pay it's talking heads out of someone else's pocket. Who wants to watch a bunch of people gossip about sports all the time?
  • Reply 15 of 16
    Personally I decided big cable bills weren't worth it and cut the cord over 15 years ago. When I hear people gripe about the $200/mo they're spending, I'm certainly i made the right choice even if i subscribe to a couple $10/mo ala cart streaming services.
  • Reply 16 of 16
    Grumpycat32!Grumpycat32! Posts: 1unconfirmed, member
    It’s a political problem not a technological problem.  There is no consensus on single sign on in the software industry and there may never be.  The same thing happened in nyc 7 years after the invention of the telephone.  Every company ran their own telephone lines and the result was a giant cluster fuck.  Every company is forcing you to identify yourself in completely nonstandarized ways in an effort to get your money.  Some cross cutting concerns like security simply do not scale up.  Regulation is the only solution but that will never happen.  The great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from..... lol
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