It's pity they're not putting storage capacities in the terabytes on these things to allow you to download all your iTunes movie purchases - because if you don't download them, and the content provider pulls it from the iTunes store - you're screwed. Just had a title removed from my library that I bought in 2015 for this reason. [snip] And you don't get any recompense or any notification whatsoever from Apple prior to the title being withdrawn. It makes buying movies from them a massive risk (even worse with other digital stores such as Amazon or Google Play as you don't get to download them as a file as you do with iTunes - assuming one has a computer, of course).
Apple doesn't own the copyright to movies from major studios, and doesn't set the availability or terms of sale. That's why, for instance, new releases are sold for some time before being offered for rental. And when a studio, or its distributor, pulls a title from online sale or rental, its gone. It's also common for titles to be pulled from streaming temporarily during the period when they're being aired on cable or network TV. Again, that's a contract thing that the streaming service has no control over.
Streaming I absolutely get. It's why I subscribe to so many. And no, Apple does not own the copyright to the content they are selling (more like renting/licensing). But the practice of calling something a "purchase" or "buy" and then having it pulled from under you - even with all the caveats and legal definitions - screams anti-consumer law to me. At best it's an extended rental that offers no set limits. And I intend to challenge Apple with this in the UK after giving them a week or two to respond to my queries about this.
I hardly ever use my AppleTV, mostly because of the shitty remote. The AppleTV box itself doesn't provide me with anything I value, as I can do everything I would use it for on other devices. YMMV. If/when I gift my ATV3 to someone, I might (might) get a 4k replacement if I see an ATV+ show I want to binge. For now, all that it on that list is "Foundation" but all the studios are shut down, so I don't see this happening any time soon. YMMV.
Prediction: The remote will get a U1 chip so you can locate it using the Find My app.
I truly understand the sentiment.
The ATV is a great product but the remote control is a human-factors engineering disaster. You can't really hold it in your hand comfortably because its like trying to drive your pickup truck with a Barbie Car steering wheel. Was it actually designed for Hamster hands? But if you put it down, its slick surfaces and wafer thin profile means it's going to disappear nearly instantly underneath or into something in your TV viewing area or anywhere around your house. When you buy an Apple TV, Apple should send a sales associate over to your house in-advance to pre-hide your ATV Remote somewhere in your house where you'd least expect to find it, like in the cat's litter box, in a diaper (yours perhaps?), or next to the emergency fire extinguisher under the kitchen sink. This would serve as a proper tutorial and training exercise for newbie ATV Remote owners.
Okay okay, I'll concede that if you actually live in a padded cell, like the designer of the ATV "where the **** is it?" (WTFII) Remote probably does, you should be able to locate it rather quickly, assuming your padded walls and floor are not upholstered in a very dark decor. Mine aren't. But then again, if you do manage to pick it up in an upright orientation in your tiny trumpian hands, there's still a 50-50 chance you're going to be grabbing it by the wrong end and stroking its shiny side and pressing its Pause button whilst nothing responds on your ATV screen. It's a Homer-Doh!-Fest ridiculous excuse for anything that is supposedly designed for use by creatures with fingers and an opposable thumb. Like me.
The ATV Remote should be inducted into the Apple Design Hall of Shame. It gets my vote. Just put the damn thing in there, but good luck finding it. It's probably hiding under the puck mouse or next to the Newton.
I have been reading this forum for 10 years and a post has never made me laugh out loud before, let alone twice. Brilliant!
AppleTV is one of the few things Apple does that is great. The most annoying part of AppleTV is the Ui just needs to bring back focus frames around your selection. Simply slightly animating/enlarging selections is lame. Also the AppleTV+ is a horrid mess. Actually now thinking about it, AppleTv, used to be great, now it's just ok. It's the custom/private setups, install mods, apps that make it amazing. So to recap: AppleTv used to be great, now sucks. If you have ability to Mod the AppleTV it is good.
It's pity they're not putting storage capacities in the terabytes on these things to allow you to download all your iTunes movie purchases - because if you don't download them, and the content provider pulls it from the iTunes store - you're screwed. Just had a title removed from my library that I bought in 2015 for this reason. As I have 1.75Tb worth of movies and that Apple storage is incredibly expensive, keeping them in the "cloud" seems the only reasonable way of doing it. But no.
And you don't get any recompense or any notification whatsoever from Apple prior to the title being withdrawn. It makes buying movies from them a massive risk (even worse with other digital stores such as Amazon or Google Play as you don't get to download them as a file as you do with iTunes - assuming one has a computer, of course). Subscriptions to Apple TV+, Netflix, Amazon, Disney, etc. are fine - you know what you're getting and you're willing to accept that you'd lose access to them if you stopped subscribing or if their licensing no longer permits them to stream the title.
So for me, the Apple TV has lost its appeal somewhat.
This isn't a media server, it's a media streamer... If you want all your movies saved locally, do it on your computer and use it as a media server. My iMac has long been used as my "iTunes" server with some 2 terabytes of movies, tv shows, music, podcasts, and photos all stored on an external hard drive.
You're making the assumption everybody has a computer or NAS. Plus 4K/HDR content cannot be downloaded as a file. Maybe if Apple were to make the Apple TV a dedicated media server as well with sufficient storage (or the ability to add extra storage) and worked super nicely with iPhones, iPads, Macs and Windows PCs running Apple TV app - that'd be one possible way of doing it, I suppose.
I use an older ( Mid 2011 ) Mini with 10TB of storage connected directly to it via external HD's. Infuse for Appletv allows me to see all of my content on the externals by creating individual share drives for each one within the infuse App installed on all of my ATV's. What makes it nice is that Infuse's playback engine uses the ATV itself to do the transcoding so my computer doesn't have to get bogged down handling video streams.
I would assume most folks with 4K ATV's have some type of computer, and this is an easy and cheap way to put together a media server set up in your home. All you need is a working machine ( Mac or Windows ) , and external hard drive and an Appletv. I think Infuse Pr0 lifetime is $5.99 a year.
It's pity they're not putting storage capacities in the terabytes on these things to allow you to download all your iTunes movie purchases - because if you don't download them, and the content provider pulls it from the iTunes store - you're screwed. Just had a title removed from my library that I bought in 2015 for this reason. [snip] And you don't get any recompense or any notification whatsoever from Apple prior to the title being withdrawn. It makes buying movies from them a massive risk (even worse with other digital stores such as Amazon or Google Play as you don't get to download them as a file as you do with iTunes - assuming one has a computer, of course).
Apple doesn't own the copyright to movies from major studios, and doesn't set the availability or terms of sale. That's why, for instance, new releases are sold for some time before being offered for rental. And when a studio, or its distributor, pulls a title from online sale or rental, its gone. It's also common for titles to be pulled from streaming temporarily during the period when they're being aired on cable or network TV. Again, that's a contract thing that the streaming service has no control over.
Streaming I absolutely get. It's why I subscribe to so many. And no, Apple does not own the copyright to the content they are selling (more like renting/licensing). But the practice of calling something a "purchase" or "buy" and then having it pulled from under you - even with all the caveats and legal definitions - screams anti-consumer law to me. At best it's an extended rental that offers no set limits. And I intend to challenge Apple with this in the UK after giving them a week or two to respond to my queries about this.
Also in the UK here. Let me know how you get on as I have had the same issue and no comeback from them. Agree that disc+digital a mess here and can’t see how what Apple does isn’t a breach of consumer law - especially when 4K titles CANNOT be stored at all.
It's pity they're not putting storage capacities in the terabytes on these things to allow you to download all your iTunes movie purchases - because if you don't download them, and the content provider pulls it from the iTunes store - you're screwed. Just had a title removed from my library that I bought in 2015 for this reason. [snip] And you don't get any recompense or any notification whatsoever from Apple prior to the title being withdrawn. It makes buying movies from them a massive risk (even worse with other digital stores such as Amazon or Google Play as you don't get to download them as a file as you do with iTunes - assuming one has a computer, of course).
Apple doesn't own the copyright to movies from major studios, and doesn't set the availability or terms of sale. That's why, for instance, new releases are sold for some time before being offered for rental. And when a studio, or its distributor, pulls a title from online sale or rental, its gone. It's also common for titles to be pulled from streaming temporarily during the period when they're being aired on cable or network TV. Again, that's a contract thing that the streaming service has no control over.
Streaming I absolutely get. It's why I subscribe to so many. And no, Apple does not own the copyright to the content they are selling (more like renting/licensing). But the practice of calling something a "purchase" or "buy" and then having it pulled from under you - even with all the caveats and legal definitions - screams anti-consumer law to me. At best it's an extended rental that offers no set limits. And I intend to challenge Apple with this in the UK after giving them a week or two to respond to my queries about this.
Serious question: is there a for-purchase video retailer that 'sells' movies and guarantees you can stream it as long as the retailer exists?
I know there are many who've had the same experience, but this has been publicized widely. Even moving to a different country can affect your ability to stream a 'purchase'.
For years, when I've 'bought' a digital movie, I've backed it up within a week or so. Contrary to what others have suggested, huge storage and expense are far from necessary: buy a 2TB portable drive for ~ $60 to store hundreds of HD movies.
Apple is NOT taking gaming seriously and we are yet to see modern console quality titles. Even though Apple TV is more powerful that Switch we are yet to see games anywhere near that quality.
Examples:
Nintendo Switch:
Apple TV 4K:
The craziest part is Apple TV runs 4K while Switch can't! Apple runs Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, which would be a dream for Switch owners.There's no fu**ing excuse!
For the first time ever I agree with those who say "Apple TV doesn't need a stronger chip" only because Apple won't take advantage of it anyway.
It's pity they're not putting storage capacities in the terabytes on these things to allow you to download all your iTunes movie purchases - because if you don't download them, and the content provider pulls it from the iTunes store - you're screwed. Just had a title removed from my library that I bought in 2015 for this reason. As I have 1.75Tb worth of movies and that Apple storage is incredibly expensive, keeping them in the "cloud" seems the only reasonable way of doing it. But no.
And you don't get any recompense or any notification whatsoever from Apple prior to the title being withdrawn. It makes buying movies from them a massive risk (even worse with other digital stores such as Amazon or Google Play as you don't get to download them as a file as you do with iTunes - assuming one has a computer, of course). Subscriptions to Apple TV+, Netflix, Amazon, Disney, etc. are fine - you know what you're getting and you're willing to accept that you'd lose access to them if you stopped subscribing or if their licensing no longer permits them to stream the title.
So for me, the Apple TV has lost its appeal somewhat.
Just load your own NAS Plex server. There’s an Apple TV app.
It's pity they're not putting storage capacities in the terabytes on these things to allow you to download all your iTunes movie purchases - because if you don't download them, and the content provider pulls it from the iTunes store - you're screwed. Just had a title removed from my library that I bought in 2015 for this reason. As I have 1.75Tb worth of movies and that Apple storage is incredibly expensive, keeping them in the "cloud" seems the only reasonable way of doing it. But no.
And you don't get any recompense or any notification whatsoever from Apple prior to the title being withdrawn. It makes buying movies from them a massive risk (even worse with other digital stores such as Amazon or Google Play as you don't get to download them as a file as you do with iTunes - assuming one has a computer, of course). Subscriptions to Apple TV+, Netflix, Amazon, Disney, etc. are fine - you know what you're getting and you're willing to accept that you'd lose access to them if you stopped subscribing or if their licensing no longer permits them to stream the title.
So for me, the Apple TV has lost its appeal somewhat.
This isn't a media server, it's a media streamer... If you want all your movies saved locally, do it on your computer and use it as a media server. My iMac has long been used as my "iTunes" server with some 2 terabytes of movies, tv shows, music, podcasts, and photos all stored on an external hard drive.
Yup, one can use a networked iTunes library on ATV today.
Given the current trend of Apple releasing "new" models that are basically the same as the old with just a chip change or two, I wouldn't count on them entirely redesigning the remote. Complete redesign of things doesn't seem to be their 2020 priority (iPhone SE 2020, Macbook Pro 13 2020, iPad Pro 2020).
lol it’s not a current trend. Aside from spec bumps, iterative improvement is how Apple rolls, going back to the original Macintosh. Gruber wrote about this a decade ago! Read up:
...iterative product development is the name of the game. It’s how we got from the original iPhone/Mac/Watch/whatever to the current versions, or iterations.
Bite the bullet and spend the $10 for a brightly-colored glow-in-the-dark ATV remote case. It will protect it against a fall (I have two cracked ones...), will make it easy to tell up/down by touch, and makes it easier to find.
Nothing can completely fix the remote, but it will improve it dramatically.
Yeah likewise I have a remote sleeve. Mine is black but even that is still an improvement.
It's pity they're not putting storage capacities in the terabytes on these things to allow you to download all your iTunes movie purchases - because if you don't download them, and the content provider pulls it from the iTunes store - you're screwed. Just had a title removed from my library that I bought in 2015 for this reason. As I have 1.75Tb worth of movies and that Apple storage is incredibly expensive, keeping them in the "cloud" seems the only reasonable way of doing it. But no.
Buy an NAS RAID and plug it into your home network.
I have a Synology DiskStationDS218+ with 2 workstation class Seagate 8TB drives for about $800 total.
It was a little tricky to setup, but now all my media files are stored on it and use it for wireless Time Machine backups for my wife’s and my MacBook Pros.
PLUS, all my stuff is safe at home, not floating around somewhere to disappear if somehow the wires get cut.
Absolutely agree a NAS would be one way of backing up, but this makes a couple of assumptions:
1) You have a computer that can connect to the NAS - not sure whether NAS devices come with an iPad app that can connect to share files, but then again, if you download from iTunes to an iPad, the file isn't exposed to the iPad filesystem.
2) Your average consumer shouldn't need to do this. The beauty of the Apple iTunes/Apple TV experience (which they're prompting heavily) is that you buy the movie or TV show and enjoy it across all devices easily - e.g. you don't need to download the file, keep it, and if the copyright owner decides to pull the title from iTunes, fiddle with streaming it to the Apple TV (which should be possible still with AirPlay, but it makes the assumption you have another Apple device to do that, and again, it depends on what devices you have in your possession do this).
1) You don’t need a computer to connect to the NAS to view its content, that’s what the NAS is for. For file administration, if for some reason you don’t own another computer other than an iPad, yes, you can use the Plex app or similar, as well as set up a network file share and access it via Files app.
2) Normals don’t need to do this. Most people need never worry about local storage or studios revoking their iTunes movies. It’s a fringe case.
It's pity they're not putting storage capacities in the terabytes on these things to allow you to download all your iTunes movie purchases - because if you don't download them, and the content provider pulls it from the iTunes store - you're screwed. Just had a title removed from my library that I bought in 2015 for this reason. [snip] And you don't get any recompense or any notification whatsoever from Apple prior to the title being withdrawn. It makes buying movies from them a massive risk (even worse with other digital stores such as Amazon or Google Play as you don't get to download them as a file as you do with iTunes - assuming one has a computer, of course).
Apple doesn't own the copyright to movies from major studios, and doesn't set the availability or terms of sale. That's why, for instance, new releases are sold for some time before being offered for rental. And when a studio, or its distributor, pulls a title from online sale or rental, its gone. It's also common for titles to be pulled from streaming temporarily during the period when they're being aired on cable or network TV. Again, that's a contract thing that the streaming service has no control over.
Streaming I absolutely get. It's why I subscribe to so many. And no, Apple does not own the copyright to the content they are selling (more like renting/licensing). But the practice of calling something a "purchase" or "buy" and then having it pulled from under you - even with all the caveats and legal definitions - screams anti-consumer law to me. At best it's an extended rental that offers no set limits. And I intend to challenge Apple with this in the UK after giving them a week or two to respond to my queries about this.
Well I hope you don’t ever read your software licensing agreements.
Somebody please explain to me why a STREAMING box needs 128GB. And don’t say for downloads. 128GB would get you a few 4K movies. Do people really have hundreds of apps on their TVs like they do their phones?
But then again, if you do manage to pick it up in an upright orientation in your tiny trumpian hands, there's still a 50-50 chance you're going to be grabbing it by the wrong end and stroking its shiny side and pressing its Pause button whilst nothing responds on your ATV screen.
Comments
Yes.. At least for the titles I have bought.
I know there are many who've had the same experience, but this has been publicized widely. Even moving to a different country can affect your ability to stream a 'purchase'.
For years, when I've 'bought' a digital movie, I've backed it up within a week or so. Contrary to what others have suggested, huge storage and expense are far from necessary: buy a 2TB portable drive for ~ $60 to store hundreds of HD movies.
Examples:
Nintendo Switch:
Apple TV 4K:
The craziest part is Apple TV runs 4K while Switch can't! Apple runs Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, which would be a dream for Switch owners.There's no fu**ing excuse!
For the first time ever I agree with those who say "Apple TV doesn't need a stronger chip" only because Apple won't take advantage of it anyway.
Yup, one can use a networked iTunes library on ATV today.
lol it’s not a current trend. Aside from spec bumps, iterative improvement is how Apple rolls, going back to the original Macintosh. Gruber wrote about this a decade ago! Read up:
https://www.macworld.com/article/1151235/macs/apple-rolls.html
...iterative product development is the name of the game. It’s how we got from the original iPhone/Mac/Watch/whatever to the current versions, or iterations.
1) You don’t need a computer to connect to the NAS to view its content, that’s what the NAS is for. For file administration, if for some reason you don’t own another computer other than an iPad, yes, you can use the Plex app or similar, as well as set up a network file share and access it via Files app.
2) Normals don’t need to do this. Most people need never worry about local storage or studios revoking their iTunes movies. It’s a fringe case.
Ima go on a limb and guess you’re not a lawyer.
It's the USB-A of remotes.