Dying for yet another way to watch Game of Thrones? HBO is working hard to expand their audience via their online standalone service. The newest announcement is that HBO Now launches on Apple TV this month. Video and more details after the break.
There are two interesting things to note in The Verge article. First, they are offering a free month if you sign up in April. The monthly charge will be the same as previously announced–$14.99. Second, after the launch Apple will have a 3-month exclusive hold on smartphone and tablet apps for HBO Now. That is probably what made the deal really worthwhile for Apple TV.
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Does it show porn?
with accompanying exposition, yes
Brilliant reply.
Got it a few hours ago through my iTunes account and already having an amazing time finally watching Curb Your Enthusiasm on my iPhone while working.
Will probably try and rewatch Season 4 GOT prior to Sunday just to get back in the mood and have some continuity heading into the premiere.
I know it’s a luxury but I’ve never spend a dime on cable in my life/ don’t have Netflix and to have the entire HBO roster of shows going back the past 10-15 years for all seasons, plus their documentaries and movie collection is pretty nice.
Uhg… Apple. -_-
So far I’m really impressed; I think I’ll keep it after the free month to augment Netflix. (HBO has the better movies, Netflix has the better non-HBO TV shows.)
It’s a bonus that you sign up with your iTunes account because you get one-click cancelation… I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to cancel cable or a newspaper subscription, but it’s a nightmare.
You only need an Ipad, Iphone or Apple TV to sign up for HBO Now. After that you can access it from any desktop PC or laptop via HBOnow.com
Darjan,
I’m pretty sure after you sign up, you can just watch through a browser on the website. But I’m using Apple TV so I haven’t tested that.
Until it’s on Xbox One, I’m going to be out of luck.
Here is an idea which I have not tried yet.
It is possible to switch to multiple apple ids on iphone/ipads. So if you setup your apple id on your itunes software on a computer and use that on a family member/friend who you know has an iPhone/iPad just for signup purpose (using your own apple id you created), and once that is done, you can proceed watching contents on hbonow.com on computer.
Interesting. My mom is nicely letting me borrow her ipad so I can do this, but I want it to charge to My apple account (I have an iphone, but i want to watch on bigger screen!!) and not hers…so I should sign up on my phone, then just download app on her ipad and sign in? (Gonna try it later).. Either way.. excited!!! 😀
Dragons125,
I registered through my Apple TV, which was just to tie the billing to an iTunes account. BUT, then I had to set a password through HBO Now. So, theoretically, you should be able to use that login/password through any browser or Apple device that has the app. HOWEVER, the subscription billing (after the first month that’s free) is tied to that iTunes account you used to sign up. So just make sure you’re using the right account at the time.
Darjan,
Can you (or anyone!) confirm that this is true? I was really disappointed when I learned that you need an Apple device to sign up, because I don’t have one! But if this is true, I could get someone I know with one to sign up and use their username and password on my laptop!
The problem with this is you have to use an Apple device to sign up because the account is tied to and bills to that device’s associated iTunes account. So if you’re my friend and want to use my iPhone to register, you just signed me/my iTunes account up for HBO Go and I get the monthly bill. I’m not sure there’s a way to dissociate the HBO Now account from the Apple/iTunes/iCloud/whatever account.
With the Apple exclusivity, you are “purchasing” HBO Now through Apple vs your ISP. So, in three months when they open it up, you would be able to purchase it through your ISP. So if you have Time Warner for Internet service, you add HBO Now to your internet package and they add that to your bill.
Right now, through Apple, it’s like buying anything else with your Apple ID through iTunes (music, ringtones, etc) and charges it to whatever card/payment method you have associated with your Apple ID. So if you personally do not own an Apple product/have an Apple ID on any Apple devices/etc I don’t think you can just use a friend’s iPhone to sign up. It would start automatically billing to that account. Now if you wanna work out with your friend that you’ll pay them back and then use that account to watch through HBO Now’s website… Sure. But in 3 months it won’t be an issue at all, so that seems like a lot of trouble to go through.
You logout first on the Apple ID you do not want the billing to go to (on the device), log back in with the second Apple ID, then do the sign up with HBO Now using the second Apple ID. Once you confirmed everything went through Just logout from the second apple id and log back in with the first Apple ID.
Two things I found out about HBONow service while scouring various forums discussing it.
(1) Shows such as GOT will not be available to stream at the same moment the show begins airing live on TV. But should be available to stream before the episode finishes on live TV.
(2) You can have 3 separate devices streaming it simultaneously using one account.
I think this is how HBO Go works also?
ace,
No no, I know. I more meant that for people who don’t have an iPhone/whatever (and thus no Apple ID), that you can just borrow a friend’s phone to sign yourself up.
Chrysee,
CAN’T. Jeez. Sorry. 🙁
ace,
Yeah, HBO Go is pretty much the same. It could stream on either 3 or 4 devices simultaneously. And while it wasn’t up at 9pm exactly, it was available within a few minutes. Now, did it work well, especially during premieres when everyone was trying to stream it as quickly as possible?? Ehhh.. I’ll admit there were nights that I decided I’d just go to bed and watch it after work on Monday when it would work well.
I’ll just use HBO Nordic (and I’m not from Scandinavia…although not far away).
Annoying. Why do they make people purchase it through some other service? That defeats the whole point of a standalone service. It’s supposed to stand alone. I shouldn’t have to go through Apple, or Time Warner, or anyone else. They should just let anyone with an Internet connection go to their web site and sign up.
For those concerned, you do not need an Apple product to have an Apple ID. You can get one by installing iTunes on your computer – the Apple ID is what you use to make any purchases through iTunes or the Apple App Store. I’m fairly certain of this, anyway. I set my Apple ID up on a PC, but that was 12 years ago when I got my first iPod.
This is still a cumbersome process – if you don’t use iTunes you need to download and install it (you may be able to uninstall it afterwards? I expect your Apple ID and payment information will be retained even if you don’t use the software), set up the Apple ID and enter a debit/credit card. Then you’d need to find a friend with an Apple device, convince them to disconnect their Apple ID from the device (this is something done in the settings portion of the device, not in-app, and rather a difficult thing because many of their phone/tablet connections are routed through their Apple ID, especially if they’re like me and have multiple devices all synced together; seriously, I don’t know if I’d do this with my devices), connect your Apple ID, activate HBONow (which is very easy, and took less than 30 seconds on my AppleTV), then disconnect your Apple ID from the device and finally allow your friend to re-connect theirs.
After activating HBONow you’ll get an e-mail at the address associated with your Apple ID, which allows you to complete your registration (providing a name, creating a password, and providing a zip code). After this is done you can watch HBONow from any internet-connected device, including a Windows PC (and I assume Linux, Chrome, or any other OS).
So yeah. This is a major hassle for a lot of people, but I expect that the proprietary gesture made it a lot easier to financially get this off the ground. The good news is that with a little ingenuity and dedication it seems possible to work around the Apple device requirement.
Deficiencies aside, I’m excited to be able to enjoy Thrones (and all of the other HBO programming that I love) in full legality and at least give some financial compensation for the hundreds of hours of content that I have enjoyed over the past few years! And maybe with a bunch of use HBOGo-borrowers transitioning to the new service the bandwidth burden on each service will be lightened!
Chris,
Yes, I believe you’re correct. I’m going to use my mom’s Ipad to create an account using my Itunes account (I haven’t used an Ipad but I believe you can just sign out of the account that is on that Ipad, then login using your own). I’ll confirm this once I try it. if nothing else, I’ll just sign up using hers and pay her if need be, but I’m fairly certain that what you said is correct, I’ve read it on a couple of other sites recently.
Once again scouring the interwebs, I discovered some non US tech savvy GOT fans managed to sign up for HBO Now.
So come premiere, not only you get US subscribers watching via HBO Now, there could be a number of subscribers outside the US. I hope their servers can take the extra load.
Chrysee,
Tried it last night and it worked!! 🙂 signed up on my iphone, so it will take the $$ from my itunes account when it starts charging for it, then downloaded the app on my mom’s ipad, and I was able to just enter my sign in info… all set for sunday! 😀 Excited!! 😀 (I have a roku box for my tv, instead of an apple tv, i’ll get it installed on there once the apple monopoly of the first 3 months is over, lol)
not available in Canada 🙁
“HBO is working hard to expand their audience via their online standalone service.”
Except no, they’re not, they’re working hard to expand their revenue via exclusive rights deals with huge tech companies like Apple as a backscratch campaign to sell more AppleTV boxes.
They could have released this service as an ACTUAL standalone (not standwithApple) and that would have been considered “working hard to expand their audience via their online standalone service.” … but trading one exclusive deal for another is not in the best interests of the audience it is in the best interest of their shareholders.
Sean,
I just signed up one of my family members Iphone, then went to Hbonow.com on my laptop and voila! Perfect quality graphics. Cant wait til Sunday!!