Apple unveils new TV app for Apple TV, iPhone and iPad

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Apple's new TV app is now available to users. The application offers a unified experience for discovering and accessing TV shows and movies from multiple apps on iPhone,  Apple TV and iPad. The TV app provides a single destination to access TV shows and movies, as well as a place to discover new content to watch.

The idea of developing a centralized application comes from the time when there was a growing number of streaming video applications that do not offer a satisfactory streaming experience. A user will have to sign in or authenticate with pay TV provider in order to watch on either one, this makes it practically difficult to remember the network app that has one's favorite show.

Apple TV app is meant to simplify video viewing on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad with a user experience that feels like a Netflix front end to the wide array of content that is available in the applications.

Content from major streaming providers such as Netflix is not available on the TV app, Alternatively, the focus seems to be more on aggregating the content across individual TV network applications. Hulu and HBO are however supported at launch, according to Apple.

Apple also introduced a new Siri feature for Apple TV that lets viewers tune in directly to live news and sporting events across their applications. It also aid users to keep track of favorites programs, search across apps and also get recommendations, plus access to iTunes library and store. Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services said,

"Using applications on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad has become the primary way for users to watch television."

The TV app includes a Live Tune-in with Siri. Users who do not know what to watch can ask Siri for ideas, it can also help a user to continue a previously uncompleted movie, progress will be synchronized.

The application features a "Watch Now," section which includes all shows and movies from user apps, while "Up Next" tab point  a user to movies recently watch, new rentals, purchases and favorite shows.  

According to Tech Crunch, Apple is also offering recommended content through carefully selected collections to help you find trending shows and movies by genres, including several other hand-picked collections from Apple's editors.

The new TV app customers in the United State, now have a more simplified way of settling their pay-TV video apps by using single sign-on. Subscribers to DIRECTV, DISH Network and more can just sign in once on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad to enjoy immediate and stable access to apps that are part of their pay-TV subscription.

The Apple TV has grazed it users experience in the living room with 8,000 applications, including 2,000 games and 1,600 video apps, across different categories such as sports, education, news, fitness, kids, lifestyle and much more. The TV application  works on all fourth generation Apple TVs and will arrive in the latest version of its mobile software, iOS 10.2.