Apple is reportedly planning to upgrade its TV app with support for subscription services. This will likely happen around mid-April 2019.
Don’t necessarily expect this to be the debut of Apple’s original TV efforts, however. Instead, this likely refers to making it easier to subscribe to service like HBO Now using the TV app, instead of having to subscribe through HBO’s app.
Ahead of the upgrade, Apple has reportedly told media companies “whose offerings will be available through the service” when it hopes to be up and running. Timelines may slightly shift, but it is likely to be around the middle of April.
Bloomberg previously reported a similar change to Apple’s TV app. In an article published in May 2018, it noted that:
“Apple plans to begin selling subscriptions to certain video services directly via its TV app, rather than asking users to subscribe to them through apps individually downloaded from the App Store, according to people familiar with the matter.”
Making it easier for customers to subscribe to services — and, presumably, manage those subscriptions — on their Apple TV should help all parties. Entertainment companies get a more seamless way to gain new subscribers, while Apple further bolsters its services revenue and gains another selling point for its TV offerings.
Tim Cook has previously stated that new services are on the way for 2019. In addition to Apple’s original television shows and movies, it is also likely to debut a digital magazine and news subscription service, as well as a possible Netflix-for-games offering. With this part of Apple’s business going from strength to strength, 2019 should turn out to be a good year for media-consuming customers.
Source: The Information (paywall)
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
