Hi,
I'm looking at EE TV again but it requires I change my internet provider, downgrading from a great deal to BT/EE, and the whole reason is to get EE TV. My question is, with the new app on Apple TV, is it worth it over something like TV Launcher? Specifically, does it include audio description on live broadcast including sky channels?
I've been toying with the idea of getting Sky Stream, but the interface doesn't hold a candle to apple TV in terms of accessibility though, to be fair, none of them do. It would just be nice to have a fully blown live TV experience including audio description accessible on the apple TV.
Thanks
O
Comments
EE tv
Hi, I’ve had EE on Apple TV for a couple of months now, yes there is Audio description on live channels, and they have just added the ability to also pause live TV on certain channels. There is audio description available on sky channels such as sky Cinema channels and Sky Atlantic etc
Thanks so much. It was you I…
Thanks so much. It was you I had an email chat with about this, wasn't it? Like a chump, I forgot who it was.
Okay, that's great that this is confirmed.
What happens if something is recorded, EG, if you record something from Now TV onto the EE recordy box thing. Does that work with AD, or do you have to have AD on when you record it, or what?
As I say, it's quite an upheaval for not huge gains, so want to make sure it is indeed worth it in the long run.
EE TV
Elliot very kindly gave me some advice when I was looking at changing TV providers and have been pretty happy since doing so.
In response to Ollie, firstly there is no ability to record programmes onto the EE box thingie as you put it.
The EE TV box is effectively a standard Apple TV box, with all the same functionality and restrictions that that brings.
If you want to record live TV, then your options are going to be limited from an accessibility point of view.
Instead of recording TV output, the big push is towards on-demand streaming and catch up apps.
So it's worth noting that you need to watch catch up programmes on each individual app, so iPlayer, ITV-X and so on, rather from within the E TV app itself.
This is a problem if you want to watch a lot of catch up programmes from Sky's output on the Now app, as they still haven't got audio description in the stand alone Now app.
A recent update to the EE TV app has changed the way the subtitle and audio menus are labelled, which might make it more tricky to find if you've not used the app before, but generally it's pretty good for AD.
Oh, apart from the annoying thing of having to select the AD track every time you change channel, but it's not a massive pain.
If you're not in a rush, it might be worth hanging on for a bit to see what Freely devices become available.
Freely is the new move towards free TV streaming from the major UK TV channels and looks quite promising, but it's only now starting to make it into TV sets and a stand-alone box is a little way off.
PS. you did right to avoid Sky Stream, it's absolute garbage!
Thanks so much for this…
Thanks so much for this clarification.
To be fair to them, and as I was part of the focus group on the sky accessibility thing, they are trying very hard but I think hardware limitations are hampering their accessibility efforts. I mean, I can use my parents TV quite well using voice input, that's Sky Q, but the apple TV is basically an Iphone, so it's always going to be the more powerful and, as it is apple, more accessible platform... With bugs.
As far as I understand it, Freely will just be for the free to air channels, which is cool, but I think I'd like the premium channels too, IE, sky/now. As far as I understand it, there isn't an app coming to apple TV, at least not one I've heard mention of and if there are going to be boxes, we're back into the same issue of a platform built to decode video but with little overhead.
... Or am I just talking myself into EE. I'll give them a call today and see what offers they've got. It needs to be at least similar when it comes to price of my broadband, but I'm on a really good deal, a rolling contract of 150 up and down for the low low price of £20 a month. Of course, I have now TV and netflix on top of that, but that's still about £25 shy of the EE package for less punchy internet.
Last question, promise... What's the remote like for the EE branded apple TV? I've heard it's no where near the quality of the standard appl TV remote that would come with the 4k box? Is it good to use? Does it feel good in the hand? Another plus for Sky, they sure know how to design a nice remote.
Re: thanks
The main issue with the Sky Stream puck, is that it's hardware isn't robust enough.
Everything is streamed, including the screen reader, so it's very slow, Apple obviously win this one because of everything being on-device.
You may find it not as expensive as you think, because you get basic Netflix and a few other things thrown into the TV subscription it might save you money elsewhere.
There's also mobile contracts on offer with them at the moment for unlimited data starting at £10 and there's other options that include extras like Apple Music, Apple TV or the full Apple One plan which again is cheaper than having the subscriptions stand alone.
The remote is okay, just okay, it's got dedicated buttons for the EE TV app, but no touch sensitive pad, so rota actions are difficult.
It also runs on batteries, which tend to run out fairly quick, rather than the long life of the standard Apple remote.
However, if you've got a standard Apple TV remote, you can still pair this with the EE branded box, so don't have to use the one supplied by EE.
How does the EE apple TV…
How does the EE apple TV compare with the standard apple TV? As you might expect, I've got a couple of standards in the house. CAn I still watch live TV on those through the EE app or is the full functionality limitted to the EE Apple TV? I did a search but didn't really get a definitive answer.
Good to know about the remote too. The new apple remote is excellent.
I'll have a look at deals. I've already got apple one so that might, as you say, be a saving. I'll have to price it all up, also see if I can haggle them down, always worth a try.
EE TV app
The Apple TV box you get from EE is identical in all ways to the standard 4k box you would buy off the shelf.
I basically did an iCloud restore when I got my EE branded box and it set it up exactly as I had my previous standard 4k box, apps and everything, so a seamless transition.
Sadly though, the EE TV app is next to useless unless on the EE branded box.
If you install it on one of your standard 4k boxes, you don't get access to any of the live TV channels.
I guess it's like the equivalent of the old Sky viewing card, where you could only access your Sky subscription by putting the viewing card in a single Sky box.