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HBO today updated its HBO GO app for iOS devices and the Apple TV with support for Single sign-on, allowing subscribers to access HBO content more quickly.
With Single sign-on, HBO customers will no longer need to enter their cable credentials separately when logging in to the HBO GO app. Instead, the app will use universal credentials that are stored by Apple. HBO GO is also now available in the TV app, with full support for "Watch Next" tracking functionality.
Single sign-on, introduced in December, is one of the first steps Apple has made towards streamlining the television watching experience on the Apple TV and iOS devices. It's designed to allow all cable subscribers to sign in once with their cable credentials to gain access to all cable-restricted content available within apps.
Single sign-on is limited to the United States and requires both service providers and app developers to implement support for the feature. Along with HBO, more than 20 popular television apps support the Single sign-on, with a full list available via a Single sign-on support document.
Not all cable providers are offering support for Single sign-on yet, so the feature is limited to Cable ONE, CenturyLink Prism, DIRECTV, Dish, GVTC, GTA, Hawaiian Telcom, Hotwire, MetroCast, Service Electric, and Sling TV.
Top Rated Comments
We still have a standard DIRECTV account for now, but we don't pay for HBO on that account; nor am I willing to pay $15.00/month or whatever extortionist pricing they're charging for HBO on a standard DIRECTV account these days. $5.00/month on DIRECTV Now is a lot more palatable.
Thankfully, AT&T finally seems to be working out the bugs with DIRECTV Now. I haven't seen a QP1501 or QP1502 error for a week or more. It's looking more and more like we'll keep the service. I'm sure once they add DVR capability, it will be a $10 or $15 per month add-on for people who got the special introductory pricing. Even with an extra charge for DVR, it will almost certainly be far less expensive than the $90/month we pay for standard DIRECTV service currently. Plus, DIRECTV Now has more channels I want to watch and less garbage I couldn't care less about compared to our standard DIRECTV service.
It's got nothing to do with single sign on, I don't even have a TV App.