HBO MAX app?

Likely right after the promised Comcast VOD replacement app, never.

 

Tivo - great DVR - not so great steaming device... I suspect they'll have new streaming apps... Never...

Not sure why their website still claims Tivo is the 'all-in-one' box. It is a great DVR but the few apps they support are all very old and clunky and likely never going to be improved.

Best bet is to use Roku or Firestick etc. The Firestick that is often available for $40 or less runs circles around Tivo apps but neither Roku or Firestick currently support HBO Max. At least not yet. I can't imagine they'll let that stand - Roku and Amazon basically 'own' the streaming market.

 

If you need an inexpensive streaming device that supports HBO Max right now, you could get the Mi Box S, which runs Google's Android TV system. It's sold exclusively through Walmart and costs $50. Supports 4K HDR. It recently got the Amazon Prime Video app too, so it supports all the main apps.

Or you can wait and see if Google announces their own forthcoming Android TV streamer this week at an upcoming event that's scheduled. A lot of info has already leaked out about it. It will support 4K HDR, including Dolby Vision. Price is unknown, although rumored to be under $80.

The cheapest way to stream HBO Max on your TV right now is with a $30 Chromecast device (1080p HD only). You'll load the HBO Max app on your iPhone, iPad or Android phone or tablet and then cast it from there to the Chromecast connected to your TV.

 

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Mi Box S is a good box, but it doesn't support Hulu. I was surprised. I have so many different streamers, so it doesn't matter to me, I can just switch to a different one, but if you need a box that supports Hulu and HBO Max, Mi Box S isn't the one.

 

Yeah, I actually wish I could complete remove the "apps" menu item on my TiVo main menu. It's nearly useless... And by "nearly" I mean it is totally useless...

 

Yah I don’t see them adding any new apps to the DVRS. Maybe somehow when HBO Now goes away at the end of the month it would turn to MAX but I highly doubt it. One of the main reasons I got a stream 4K. I really like it and hope one day it will at least connect to my Roamio.


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Could just get a Stream 4k...

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Seems that after Mi Box S updated to Android TV 9 that it has problems with the Hulu app. Not sure who's to blame there. Maybe an older version of the Hulu app can be sideloaded? (Admittedly though, that's a pain.)

Anyhow, as rgr mentions above, I should have just recommended the $50 TiVo Stream 4K rather than the Mi Box S which costs the same. The TS4K does have some bugs but it sounds like they're getting them fixed. It definitely supports HBO Max and Hulu, along with all the other major apps (except the Apple TV app, which isn't yet available on any Android TV device).

 

They have been adding apps though, Pluto was just added recently....so someone is working on this.

 

TIVO STREAM 4k has HBO MAX.

 

Tivo doesn't write the apps, so it is not really up to them per se.

 

Too bad it has nothing to do with any Tivo DVR, might as well suggest a chromecast, firestick, etc

 

The Fire TV Stick doesn't have an HBO Max app either. Nor does Roku.

 

wow, I knew about the Roku, but the firestick is a surprise.

 

Both Amazon and Roku are being rough negotiators these days, so both are lacking both of this summer's big new apps, HBO Max and Peacock. Which, IMO, creates a real opening for Google's Android TV, which has them both. (Apple TV does too, but at $150+, it's in a whole different price category.)

 

Yeah but AndroidTV isn't synonymous with a streaming box/stick like Roku and FireTV. I mean what lower end AndroidTV box or stick are the customers going to flock to? The Tivo STream 4k? Not seeing that happening.

I don't see Roku or FireTV losing customers in the short run over this. IF it drags on and on and on and we look up and it's summer 2021 then that's different.

 

Performance ain't often 'CHEAP'!!!

 

I've been saying for two or three years that Google should release their own Android TV "hero device" which could be the affordable, mainstream retail device for the platform that consumers might flock to. And it looks like they're finally about to do that. Google's upcoming dongle, code-named Sabrina and probably to be branded something like Nest TV, may be set for a September release (based on a column/tweets yesterday from industry analyst Rich Greenfield).

Even more interesting, Greenfield claims that Google is in talks with Charter (the second-largest broadband provider in the nation) to supply the Nest TV to their broadband-only customers. Guess they're not interesting in going the Cox route and licensing Comcast's X1 to offer the (inferior, IMO) Flex box as a video streaming solution to those customers. Greenfield also tells me that Charter may license Android TV to embed in their next-gen cable TV boxes, as AT&T TV has done (along with lots of other MVPDs outside the US).

If Roku and Fire TV go several months without both HBO Max and Peacock, they'll lose some users over it. I already see folks on Reddit asking which device they can turn to to get these apps (with the TiVo Stream 4K being one of the most often mentioned, along with the upcoming Google dongle). Google is already offering free Peacock Premium on their devices for three months, through Oct. 15. They'd be smart to strike a deal with WarnerMedia to include at least a one-month free trial to HBO Max with purchase of the device when it rolls out.

If we go the rest of this year without HBO Max and Peacock apps on Roku and Fire TV, I can see a lot of folks buying the Nest TV, either for themselves or as a gift, during the holiday season (when all these streaming devices tend to be temporarily discounted). And if Charter gives one of these dongle out for free to each of their broadband-only households, that would ramp up the install base by several million.

Meanwhile, we know that Comcast's free Flex box, as well as their X1 cable boxes, have the Peacock app. It was announced at the May launch of HBO Max that that app would also come to X1/Flex. Might that happen this year? That could only further encourage disgruntled Roku and Fire TV users to do their streaming on a Comcast-provided box.