TV Launcher - Live US Channels

Like others, we’ve been subscribing to Sky for years, and paying extra for the privilege of multiroom access. Having read about TV Launcher online, I thought I’d give it a go, along with another of Adam’s apps, TV Remote. And I’m so pleased that I did. It is fantastic from both a design and usability perspective: to all intents, it looks and behaves like a native Apple app. I’ve added the main catch up services - BBC, ITV, 4 and 5 - plus several others, and I just can’t fault it. With the ability to add loads of services and to easily show/hide individual channels, I’ve now got an EPG that’s actually usable. Another big plus is that I can finally use my phone to control both my AppleTV and my TV. Top tip: make sure you move the app to Top Shelf (the top row of apps) for the best experience.

Took me a while to make the move from well known providers, finally made the move and no regrets at all, does exactly what you need and more!

Absolutely do not pay for this app as it does the exact same thing as other free apps and it does not do as specified! Beware.

Watching TV should in theory be a nice, simple thing. Turn on the TV, select some content and enjoy… The reality however is more complicated, at least for me :- * I’m not able to use a standard aerial with my TV as some rather large trees behind my house block the signal. Upgrading the aerial many years ago didn’t help. * Watching live TV was only possible after connecting it up to a satellite dish. Initially I did this through Sky, but several years ago I stopped the subscription and moved to FreeSat. * The OS and programming guide on my FreeSat Sony TV can only be described as absolutely dreadful. Not only is the OS incredibly slow, but the TV guide does not work properly. The guide is completely “blank” until you launch a channel, after which you only get to see what’s on Now & Next for THAT channel… All the other channels in the guide remain blank until you launch those individually. * Not all subscription streaming channels (i.e. Apple TV, etc.) are available on the TV, resulting in Program X being viewed via the TV, Program Y via the Xbox, etc. This does not make for an easy way for everyone to remember / understand what device to use. Earlier this year I stumbled across an article that mentioned that the Apple TV streaming box could be used to view live TV, as well as all the usual streaming apps. Some further research then led me to the TV Launcher app which seemed to have some really good reviews. From what I was able to tell, it basically seemed to be a standard TV guide which overlays itself onto the TV catch up apps (iPlayer, ITV X, etc.) - I thought they were just catch up services and wasn’t aware you could also watch live TV through them. After lots of deliberation I finally decided to take a gamble, and bought both the Apple TV streaming box and the TV Launcher app, hoping to be able to easily watch live TV and bring all my streaming services together into one place. The Apple TV streaming box is very good, fast and is now the one stop place for the family to consume content. The TV Launcher app is great too and it's clear the developer has worked very hard to build in lots of functionality with frequent updates. Switching between channels is easy when using the guide and most of the app is very intuitive. There are a few small niggles here and there, for example every time I select a station (i.e. BBC 1) from the guide, it takes me to the catch up app (i.e. iPlayer) where I have to select the program again, but I'm assumi

Really handy app, one feature request would be the ability to sync settings between devices. Takes a while to get channels to display the way you want them annoying that you have to enter the settings on all your devices.

As others have said this is a fine achievement, but I think some reviews suggesting it is a genuine alternative to proper live tv streaming services is misleading. It really isn’t. I too would like to stop paying Sky a not insignificant monthly fee for a mediocre service both hardware and content wise (Sky stream) so took a punt on this. The idea of getting more from my Apple TV box and saving maybe £20 a month was appealing for a £4.99 outlay. However it doesn’t come close in terms of UX and reliability. It sometimes insists on opening iPlayer at the log in screen although you are already in and when it does go straight to the programme/channel you have selected it is too apparent it is opening the streaming app first, for it to be considered a proper live tv experience. It plain doesn’t work on some channels (ITV) and is really flaky on others. Going back to the Sky comparison, you will find you have to subscribe to a lot of services to get anything like the same range of channels so it’s actually probably no cheaper if you want all that. It’s very much a third party app experience and doesn’t feel ‘baked in’ enough to justify the cost to be honest. It would be far better if Apple included the ability to just be able to stream the basic stuff available on Freeview and if you want more go with with Sky etc. Pity.

Great App that operates as described - a TV guide that presents live, future and past programmes across multiple broadcasters. Prompt support was provided with initial setup issues (NordVPN disturbed the launch of NOW TV from the App). The App would be perfect if it allowed for backward navigation to past programmes. When selecting a programme aired in the past, the App pushes you to the live channel rather that the historic programme on the channel in question. Regardless of the slight shortcoming, TV Launcher is a sleek App that is thoroughly recommended 👍

After over seven years of Sky I decided to look at a change of direction with all of the haggling and price increases while in contract. I came across Apple TV and it’s just amazing. Picture quality as you would expect from Apple is exceptional. You can also download an app called TV Launcher which provides a live TV guide. It is a one off cost of around £5.00 and that’s it. I have been using Apple TV now for a couple of months and over the moon with the performance the ease and most importantly not having to pay sky anymore. Yes, you do have to purchase the Apple TV box but over time, you will get that cost back by not having to pay Sky anymore. If you wish to continue viewing Sky TV programs you can simply purchase NOW TV which provides nearly everything you need for a monthly fee of between £11-£15, cheaper than Sky TV with no lengthy contract.

Just ditched Sky because of price increases. Like many families we predominantly view terrestrial channels and have got used to, or even addicted to, the intuitive Sky Q system. Using Apple TV as our main source was always ok for me but my wife found had difficulty navigating the various apps - until we found TV Launcher. Once we got to grips with settings options it was a simple process to set up a one click interface that opens up all of the channels we need. Thank you. Any plans for a separate US version? I follow US sports and news via Sling and Max.

If you have a whole weekend to download numerous individual TV apps, then spend hours playing the password, and authentication code challenge then this app is for you ! That’s £4.99 I won’t see again.