You can say the same about anything, but there always be those that won't upgrade to 4K, they would stick to eBay if such issues arise.
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Is the Apple TV dead ????
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You can say the same about anything, but there always be those that won't upgrade to 4K, they would stick to eBay if such issues arise.
Well iTunes being the server it kind of goes without saying it needs to be running. Its also no surprise Apple doesn't make an app for every single NAS available and its definitely no surprise Apple doesn't license out there own software. If it wasn't for the size of the PC market iTunes wouldn't be on Windows either.
BD's players on computers (Macs and PCs alike) are haphazard at best, offering typically the worst experience available. Studios cringe at the idea of a BD in a computer. I would go as far as saying you are better off ripping the MKV of a BD, playing that then immediately deleting it if you wanted to watch a BD on a computer vs trying to use a BD player. Lol.
That's quite the condescending post for someone that doesn't appear to have thought this through at all and/or completely misunderstood what was being said.
You do realize that an AppleTV is actually a computer and that adding support for SMB/NFS (and formerly AFP) sharing would not have been difficult at all, right? My 1st Gen ATV running XBMC (now Kodi) could easily access any network share on my network (NAS, DLNA, etc.) It could also access an external hard drive with an added app on the main menu (i.e. Apple could have easily supported external drive storage). The fact that FireTV supports SDCards and External Drives even though the main interface isn't really set up for it shows that they thought about 3rd party Apps well ahead of time. Not until AppleTV 4th Gen has Apple allowed 3rd party apps, but no one said it had to be that way. Apple wonders why they keep falling behind other companies when they were one of the first to introduce this type of all house media player and it's precisely because of their GREED and lack of consumer focused features/support. Who wants to pay $150-200 for an AppleTV 4 when a $39 FireTV Stick can do the same things or a $99 one can do far more including 4K?
Apple is becoming Apple's own worst enemy. They started the smart phone craze with the iPhone and yet they are a mere 17% of the market now and have to imitate other companies these days instead of the other way around because they purposely hold back features to milk their customers for the next gen phone and the next and the next instead of trying to make the best product they can and worry about the next best product afterwards.
This has to be the most ridiculous thing I've read all week. It's hard to tell what you're even getting at since you imply I should rip a BD (which requires a BD drive) and then delete it again later. WTF would I want to delete it after taking all that time to rip it? I can only assume by "BD Player" you mean a software application that plays the movies from a BD Rom drive whereas my comment was clearly talking about hardware Blu-Ray players in a theater room (the UHD bit alone should make that clear) or a streaming 4K box (like FireTV 4K) versus using iTunes based purchases on an AppleTV that is DRM locked and thus puts you in a dilemma if you ever want to leave the Apple ecosystem or Apple gets out of media at some point.
My Blu-Ray drive's function (drive is listed in my signature) is to rip Blu-Rays to convert to M4V files and store them on a media hard drive that serves my entire house. I don't watch Blu-Rays on my computer (regardless of whether it works "well" or not), I despise menus, forced previews, etc. that studios typically put on discs. I just want to select the movie from a list and have it start playing hence why I use Kodi on FireTV 4K boxes. Those movies could be moved to a Windows PC, an NAS box or even a couple of SD Cards. It doesn't matter. Once they are encoded (or you can use the MKV rips at full BD quality) you can move them around your network at will. The point is that when you encode yourself, you aren't DRM locked any longer. Requiem used to remove DRM from iTunes files (making them usable on other brand devices), but it required Snow Leopard Server and an older iTunes version and lately (as of about February of this year) Apple seems to only let such older iTunes versions download/use 720p versions, making them less appealing even if you have the correct setup to remove the DRM. Thus, I buy Blu-Rays even thought to date I have never watched a Blu-Ray movie (in its entirety at least) straight off a disc (I do have a free player that can do it and works well enough, but why would I want to watch a movie on a 24" monitor in stereo when I have a 48" Plasma with 4.1 surround in my living/music room and a 93" projector in my home theater room with 6.1 surround?
being in the UK limits some apps etc. I find the AppleTV a bit lacking but I'm sticking with it bc I have a Mac, an iPad and an iPhone, and getting an android box like nvdia shield (which is a good machine btw) or whatever is only bc I am too lazy to sit around and learn how to troubleshoot Something New. I do think Amazon is being a bit jerk-ish by not allowing the Amazon Prime Video App (which is available for iPhone!) to run on Apple TV, but they don't want you to do that - they want you to buy a Fire stick. (same goes for YouTube, which sucks on Apple TV, but is better on Android boxes etc.) I still watch Amazon video via Airplay from my iPad and it looks and works fine. Plus on some programs the Amazon "X Ray" mode is invoked and you can see details about the movie while you're watching it. It is one of those things that sounds stupid until you try it and it's kinda neat.
I was a believer that the ATV4 in the UK would take off because of the games that can be played on it but they are largely uninspiring and the controllers expensive to get and limited.
As per the original post, I had high hopes for the Apple TV but Apple seems unable to move the UK TV market - strangled by the hold that the larger providers hold over everything - which seems the biggest downfall. Because the broadcasters want to control their own apps we don't have a Hulu type app which provides content across the board. That's fine, but then the limited availability of their own apps such as that seen on the AT4 compounds the problem, especially when you consider that those apps are available on the iPad and iPhone.
Then there are apps like CNN Go. I have cable (VM) in the UK and I can get CNNi on the system. But there's literally no way I can hook that subscription up to the CNN Go app on AT4, unlike our US friends who have that availability. And that goes for dozens of other channel apps on the US store as well. It seems like these channels are happy to make their content as widely available in the continental US but when it comes to their international distribution aren't interested in putting any effort in.
It is remarkably frustrating and limited. I would think Apple would be doing more to kickstart the product here in the UK, one of their most passionate and loyal markets.
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the ATV is far from dead. It easily has the best interface of any streaming device on the market. Built in TV apps are usually slow and buggy or often only support stereo audio. The best thing about the ATV, the apps are usually the first to get updated. I have chromecast built into my TV and it is a joke. Netflix sounds like trash and HBO/Showtime only support stereo.
I agree. I have given the Android TV based nVidia Shield TV a try 2 times...once with their 2015 version, then sold it after a few months, as it seemed that Google had given up on Android TV. Then nVidia announced their new 2017 model of the Shield, just came out in January. So I thought I'd give it another try since we actually have a 4k TV now and there is more content now. Same specs as the previous Shield TV model with updated controller/remote. It is nice. I'll say that, but still, Google REALLY needs to step up their game in the TV/channel apps. Apple has 2 times the amount of TV/cable station apps for Apple TV, than Android TV does. The only benefit is the Shield TV is 4k, which I like, for VUDU and Netflix in 4k, its a solid performer...of course until Apple updates the Apple TV with a 4k version. If VUDU does release an Apple TV app (as rumored), that'll be a deal breaker. Absolutely.
Until then, I'm slightly struggling with using this damned Android TV as our main box, over the Apple TV which has moved to being used with a bedroom TV.
I didn't realize VUDU was a rumor for the ATV. I figured they would never allow another source for buying content. I guess they could allow VUDU just for accessing your library. I would be perfectly ok with that.
I agree 100%, I'd be fine with that, just give me access to my library...like the iOS app.
Here was the latest on the tvOS VUDU app: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/03/08/vudu-apple-tv-app/
I had a Apple TV gen 2 (for kodi), gen 3 for NBC sports - gave up on that and the atv because apart from airplay, pretty useless (I have YouTube / Netflix on my smart Tv).,,, smart Tv is fine I thought then came along a beautiful little black box with a slit of green - nvidia shield Tv (oh had a fire Tv before that - very good but limited / no google play store)
Shield Tv is more expensive but much more versatile with a free spirit - internal storage - stick a £60 256gb flash drive in it. More storage? Stick a 4tb USB hard drive in and play videos off it.
Play most games from pong in the 1970s to PlayStation 1. I've also heard some systems up to the wii / ds too.
Shield Tv is more expensive but much more versatile with a free spirit - internal storage - stick a £60 256gb flash drive in it. More storage? Stick a 4tb USB hard drive in and play videos off it.
Play most games from pong in the 1970s to PlayStation 1. I've also heard some systems up to the wii / ds too.
Thank you, you did point out a few very big points with the Shield TV over any ATV: expandability and thus versatility. I also have a low profile 256GB USB 3.0 flash drive in my Shield TV, you can also run the Shield as a Plex server using an external hard drive. Although I run a standalone Windows 10 PC for my Plex, it's great to know that it can handle that. Plus the video game emulation which I do plan on getting into at some point!
All nice things, but again, Google really needs to start taking Android TV seriously or focussing more on it. They could have a real advantage over Apple with the Shield or their own Android TV box if they put more effort into it.
Channel 4 seem to have made a decision to stop supporting the Apple TV. Their news app was updated daily with the news programme, but now its just empty, but still in the app store. Im guessing there will not be a C4 app.
I've noticed that my Apple TV4 performs exactly the same role as my non app store Apple TV3 did, with the exception that I have the iPlayer app and the Infuse app, which is basically a iTunes homesharing alternative with less restrictions.
The Apple TV4 has a nicer and more modern user interface, but after two years it is more or less a direct replacement for the Apple TV3 and nothing more.
Though I don't really play games, so maybe I'm missing some of the bigger picture. I only have Sonic the Hedgehog, out of nostalgia.
Its basically my Youtube, Netflix, iPlayer, movie rental and iTunes/Infuse machine. Which doesn't say much for it.
I also notice that the non techies in our house are barely interested in it save for the odd iPlayer programme.
I really like Apple TV, but its like a lost product now.
[doublepost=1489451903][/doublepost]Its really surprising to learn that ITV, Channel 5 and C4 (in the UK) have apps on the Amazon products. Why are they not on the Apple TV? I suppose its time to get at least one of the alternatives.
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I have to agree with the Shield TV being quite versatile, it's quite hard to beat as it runs Android TV and is expandable.
I do presume that if you bought a Sony XE93 or similar, you could do the same as the Shield TV thus negating an additional box under the TV (presuming you've got a Blu-ray player and Sky/Virgin already under the TV).
It all works out a lot better than the ATV though, apps and the availability of what you can watch and do is a lot better, even if it is a slightly higher upfront cost.
Which is sad since it costs 2.5x as much or more and you can no longer get the ATV3 so its overpriced or nothing. Amazon still has the dirt cheap Stick version if you don't need 4K in a given room (typically goes for $30 or less). And Amazon has quality original programming (including the guys from Top Gear) available with their Amazon Prime program that includes quite a lot of music as well, etc. and you can actually hear Alexa respond (instead of ATV4's "mute" version of Siri). Even the $40 version of the Stick includes Alexa. I feel like it's the 1990s all over again. Apple started AppleTV with no real competitors and now they're making dumb-arse decision after dumb-arse decision based on GREED rather than capturing the market share which leads to greater profits in the long run. Apple can afford to offer a cheaper/better products more than Amazon and yet Amazon is now leading the way....
Have you seen the Amazon page for their FireTV? I just looked at it and they are still sold out weeks in advance (was the same before Christmas) and that's at Amazon's own web site (probably easier to pick one up a brick and mortar store which is where I got mine to avoid the wait). It's nearly half the price of AppleTV4 and apps are really starting to take off on it lately (not to mention you can side load almost any Android App as well as full Kodi support without jumping through too many hoops). And that includes 4K 3rd party support now (MrMC already supports 4K hardware playback on it).
ATV costs twice as much and has no 4K support. I went on and on about this when ATV4 was released (they missed an opportunity to make Gen4 mean 4K but idiots run Apple these days so....) and all the Kool-Aid brigade told everyone that 4K was owned by hardly anyone and so it didn't matter at all. They were kidding themselves. Even people at work that aren't into home theater like I am are talking about getting a 4K set now that they're dirt cheap. Epson has a pseudo-4K projector (similar to interlacing to achieve near-4K on a projector at 1/5 the price of Sony's $10k real 4K projector) now for a price that won't break the bank so I'm thinking of getting it now instead of a regular 1080p 3D projector to replace my aging 720p one and since I already have the 4K FireTV in that room I can hook it up and immediately get Netflix 4K (works out well since my ISP just decided to double everyone's speed again for the 2nd time in less than 2 years; I'm now at over 100Mbps down and 10Mbps up (400/15 is available and 1Gbps will be available soon) so I can now stream two rooms showing different programs at 4K at the same time without issue now.
Things are changing fast and Apple is way behind the competition as usual these days. Everyone else beats them to the new features first and that leaves Apple with a tiny share. They may make billions from selling only 17% share iPhones, but that isn't helping ATV and Macs are looking to lose even more products (Airports are history). I think Apple should sell the Mac division to someone that actually gives a crap and then they can devote all their time to selling overpriced phones that are behind Samsung to people that don't mind being ripped off.
The op should try out fire Tv as it has catch-up
I opted for the shield because it's a bit more open and google store friendly. I rarely watch itv, 4od, five because of adverts
Applied for a job - sounds like a scam where they pay for you to watch premier league soccer but the app they use only uses android. I bought a £99 moto g4 play (amazon warehouse deal - like new) and it's as fast / faster than my iPhone 5 and just as light however, I don't like the 5" screen and think the smaller droid phone is 4.6".
Otherwise, because I've got a shield Tv, I'm open and actively moving away from apple - competition has caught up so why pay through the nose for the same thing anymore? Having a text come up on my Mac and safari tabs / history to sync isn't that big a deal, if anything I have so many bookmarks a cleanse of them would be good
I opted for the shield because it's a bit more open and google store friendly. I rarely watch itv, 4od, five because of adverts
Applied for a job - sounds like a scam where they pay for you to watch premier league soccer but the app they use only uses android. I bought a £99 moto g4 play (amazon warehouse deal - like new) and it's as fast / faster than my iPhone 5 and just as light however, I don't like the 5" screen and think the smaller droid phone is 4.6".
Otherwise, because I've got a shield Tv, I'm open and actively moving away from apple - competition has caught up so why pay through the nose for the same thing anymore? Having a text come up on my Mac and safari tabs / history to sync isn't that big a deal, if anything I have so many bookmarks a cleanse of them would be good
To be fair, most of the apps that are supported on the ATV do not offer 4K as an option(HBO, Showtime, cable channels, etc). I think Netflix would be one of the few. If HBO and other premium channels were in 4K, I could see it being a huge problem. Apple will most likely add support for 4K this year, and if they add a Vudu app for accessing your library they would be back at the top for me. Even having a 4K TV, I still use the ATV for streaming b.c I like their interface and never have to search for content with the "TV" app. If you really care about 4K, HDR, and audio you shouldn't be streaming anyways. The only good 4K streaming source, IMO, is VUDU b.c of Dolby Vision and some things on Netflix.
Ah, the rather nonsensical 'If it's not darn near 100% uncompressed then don't bother PERIOD' argument. I heard it with DVDs. I heard it with Blu-Rays and of course it's the battle cry of 'Since Apple doesn't offer it then it sucks'. There's two problems with it.
One is that if resolution were solely dependent on not using compression, then we wouldn't really have any streaming video options. Bu we do and despite some claims over the years, even 100% uncompressed 480p looks blurrier than highly compressed 1080p and that's because using less compression does NOT increase resolution. You can't get back something that's not present in the original signal. Thus, compressed 4K will still look sharper (at least part of the time) than uncompressed 1080p.
What you do get with higher and higher levels of compression are compression artifacts (odd shading patterns, blockiness or in the case of more recent algorithms, blurrier pictures during high motion events). Whether these or which of these effects is more annoying to a person than less resolution depends on the individual. I don't like blockiness, but getting blurry during high motion doesn't bother me "more" than watching a lower resolution video that is blurry all the time. Frankly, compression has only gotten better. I normally find it very hard to tell a high quality M4V compressed at 1/4 the size from the BD (which is also compressed) >95% of the time. But then I'm not watching it from 16 inches away from a 30" monitor (which is often where people point out the differences), but on a 93" screen 12 feet away (which is still pretty big). Odd pattern sky shading is still the most noticeable effect (blur is less obvious since without a direct comparison you're not really sure how sharp the scene was to begin with).
The other problem with that type of argument is that since Amazon released the specs for other applications to do 4K playback on FireTV, you can watch your own 4K videos on it as well (i.e. they don't have to streamed from somewhere else). Yes, this may be limited to home videos for now, but when even an iPhone can record 4K video, you'll want somewhere to view it that isn't just a smallish monitor and there's a certain irony that an Amazon FireTV can play back your 4K iPhone videos and the AppleTV4 cannot.
As for most of the other 'apps' (HBO, Showtime, etc.), I don't use any of those anyway. I'm thinking of ditching cable altogether soon (I'd save nearly $1000 a year and that can buy quite a few TV Shows at 1080p, more than I'd ever watch for real so I'd still save money AND have the episodes to keep). I have Amazon Prime and Netflix, both of which offer 4K. I doubt we'll be able to rip/encode BD UHD to a hard drive any time soon, but if/when it happens, FireTV with Kodi will be ready.
Is there any need when you can redeem the digital copy that plays on all platforms with UltraViolet offering UHD redemptions for some UHD Blu-rays. I'm all for backing up Blu-rays for use on Apple devices but with the advent of digital copies, there doesn't seem to be a point to all the effort anymore.
That is the exact thing that drives me crazy with streaming. That plus the audio. Either way, I was mostly pointing out that their still still a big gap in streaming 4K content. Hell Netflix and Amazon still leave out HDR on most of their new release UHD content. Apple is always late to the game, it has been that way for at least the last 7 years. If they were to release a 4K HDR capable device this year they would be back on top IMO b.c of the interface.
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Well the main reason is you could lose your entire collection over night. You do not actually own the movie you are redeeming. If ultra violent went away, you would just be out of the collection. I do what you said though, and do not have a need for rips.
Yeah, like mattopotamus said, they could take that digital copy away overnight. It also requires a player app that supports it and if they don't want to provide one for a new Apple, Amazon or Roku product or whatever, too damn bad. You're screwed and/or stuck with one company's product. What if they go out of business or get our of media? Suddenly it doesn't work anymore? Go buy another copy and/or get out the disc.
Internet went down? Aw, you can't watch your Ultraviolet movie. Got a data cap? You really want to PAY more money to watch something that's already been paid for? The list goes on and on. I want DTS Master Audio? I can keep it on a Blu-Ray rip/encode. Good luck getting that over Ultra-Violet or whatever. 3D? Not bloody likely over Internet streaming (but will work on Kodi with a ripped Blu-Ray). Don't like companies know what you're doing in your own home? Too bad. They know what you're watching and listening to when you stream at any given second.
I shall be in the same situation soon, having to learn Nvidia speak because Apple has not introduced a 4K device with a couple of USB ports.
And then the TV and cable companies complain, when their restrictions motivate people to support the illegal download markets.
Since I started using my Apple TV as my primary TV device with Directv Now I am starting to see its full potential. When I had to use another receiver it was not used all that much. Now, my main TV provider is integrated into Apple TV and I seamlessly enter into and out of network apps, with the TV app also pulling in my viewing from those apps as well as Hulu and Netflix.
Sure I want 4k as much as anyone but I can still get that from the Smart TV apps. Streaming TV is most likely the future and the Apple TV is the best device I have used for that purpose so far.
Sure I want 4k as much as anyone but I can still get that from the Smart TV apps. Streaming TV is most likely the future and the Apple TV is the best device I have used for that purpose so far.
I'm in Canada and we have everything Apple in the house but I recently picked up a MiBox from a Walmart near Palm Springs for $69 and in all honesty I wasn't expecting much. But it was the best $69 I've ever spent.
It runs Android TV, Kodi 17, Netflix and YouTube (among a few other apps but I mainly use the aforementioned ones) with full 4K support. The box is tiny too which makes it fantastic for travel - I take it with me on the road and it's been great even with crappy hotel wifi.
The only downside is that for some reason it's not sold in Canada. I want to pick up a few more units but so far I've only seen it listed in Walmart US (here).
It runs Android TV, Kodi 17, Netflix and YouTube (among a few other apps but I mainly use the aforementioned ones) with full 4K support. The box is tiny too which makes it fantastic for travel - I take it with me on the road and it's been great even with crappy hotel wifi.
The only downside is that for some reason it's not sold in Canada. I want to pick up a few more units but so far I've only seen it listed in Walmart US (here).
So we have now had our Amazon Fire TV for two months - It is absolutely brilliant, so much so that we have also purchased the new Fire Stick for a second TV.
Performance and ease of use are easily as good as the ATV4 and it supports every source of media we want in the U.K. ( please note we are in the U.K. Before we get anymore comments about using an ATV4 in the US or other parts of the world where Apple actually offers some content).
Also runs Kodi with very good performance (both box and stick) !
So we have achieved our goal of having a single box and remote control that serves us all the content that we want to watch on the TV. The wife is happy !!
At least for the UK Market, Amazon with their Fire TV boxes and Sticks, their own content and support from the other Media providers have completely rendered the Apple TV to the back seat !!!
The only thing I miss is being able to stream content from my iPad but actually all the content I used to stream using AirPlay is available natively on the Fire TV so not really required any more.
Let me stress again that we have been a 100% Apple household up until this point. Very disappointed in the ATX4, Apple pulling out of Wireless Routers - What next are they going to destroy ??
Performance and ease of use are easily as good as the ATV4 and it supports every source of media we want in the U.K. ( please note we are in the U.K. Before we get anymore comments about using an ATV4 in the US or other parts of the world where Apple actually offers some content).
Also runs Kodi with very good performance (both box and stick) !
So we have achieved our goal of having a single box and remote control that serves us all the content that we want to watch on the TV. The wife is happy !!
At least for the UK Market, Amazon with their Fire TV boxes and Sticks, their own content and support from the other Media providers have completely rendered the Apple TV to the back seat !!!
The only thing I miss is being able to stream content from my iPad but actually all the content I used to stream using AirPlay is available natively on the Fire TV so not really required any more.
Let me stress again that we have been a 100% Apple household up until this point. Very disappointed in the ATX4, Apple pulling out of Wireless Routers - What next are they going to destroy ??
Besides the remote control which is kinda crap, I am happy with my AppleTV. My 1080p TV is roughly 3 years old and I have no intention of upgrading to a 4K TV anytime soon, so the lack of 4K is of no concern to me. My main use cases are:
1) Airplaying music off my Macbook and/or iPhone (the AppleTV is connected to my AV system)
2) Watching movies off my FreeBSD NAS with Infuse.
3) Netflix
I guess you could say the device is fine, but it's a bit too expensive for what it is considering there is no real "killer app" and the remote is underwhelming. One of my TVOS gripes is that there doesn't seem to be a way to hide specific images and/or folders in Photos. If you have multiple family members using the AppleTV that is syncing your iCloud Photo Library, prepare for potentially awkward moments if your iCloud Photo Library contains revealing photos as there is no way to hide them, it's either "Show All" or nothing at all.
1) Airplaying music off my Macbook and/or iPhone (the AppleTV is connected to my AV system)
2) Watching movies off my FreeBSD NAS with Infuse.
3) Netflix
I guess you could say the device is fine, but it's a bit too expensive for what it is considering there is no real "killer app" and the remote is underwhelming. One of my TVOS gripes is that there doesn't seem to be a way to hide specific images and/or folders in Photos. If you have multiple family members using the AppleTV that is syncing your iCloud Photo Library, prepare for potentially awkward moments if your iCloud Photo Library contains revealing photos as there is no way to hide them, it's either "Show All" or nothing at all.