Freeview app now available on iOS
David Farnor | On 26, Jan 2018
Freeview, the UK’s biggest TV platform, has now released its mobile app for iOS devices. In just three taps, you can stream live shows from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 and on demand content from BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4, My5, and UKTV Play, all for free.
A What’s On guide lets you scroll through TV listings across 15 days, On Demand Recommendations gives you content highlights, and a Search function lets you find shows. A Favourites also filters the TV guide according to the channels you watch the most.
Owen Jenkinson, Marketing Director, Freeview comments: “Kaboom. Freeview now on mobile. Our viewers will love the freedom that this new offering gives them. Whether you want to watch Freeview in bed, in the park, or on your way to work – it’s all possible now.”
The Freeview app is available to download from The App Store now. As with all Freeview products, it is free to use with no download fee and no subscription. An Android version will launch later in 2019.
Freeview to launch new mobile app in January
29th November 2018
Freeview is launching a new mobile app this January, as the TV platform switches from aerial telly to online streaming.
The app, announced was made at the platform’s annual Outside the Box industry event at BAFTA, brings together channels and services into a single one-stop shop for public service broadcasters and free-to-view TV. Through the app, viewers will be able to stream live channels from BBC, ITV and Channel 4 and access on-demand content from BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4, My5, and UKTV Play. Further catch-up players and live streams will be added in due course. As with all Freeview products, the app is completely free to use with no download fee and no subscription.
The announcement marks a significant step for the UK’s largest TV platform. For the first time viewers will be able to watch live Freeview programming without having to access an aerial. Freeview hopes that the app will follow in the footsteps of Freeview’s presence in people’s living rooms, which has been a mainstay of the digital TV age, from set top boxes to Freeview Play installed on smart TVs.
The new Freeview app will replace the existing Freeview TV Guide on mobile devices and will allow viewers to search through both live and on-demand content from the supported players.
The new service has only been made possible through the collaboration between Digital UK and Freeview’s common shareholders, BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Arqiva, who led the software build. Digital UK, which leads on the product specification and technical development worked hand in hand with Freeview on the app.
Jonathan Thompson, CEO, Digital UK, says: “In an increasingly fragmented media landscape, the new Freeview mobile app is an excellent example of broadcaster and industry collaboration in action. Today’s viewers value having access to their favourite shows when and where they want and the new app provides the aggregated experience that consumers increasingly expect from a TV provider.”
The app will be available on iOS from January, followed by an Android version in “early 2019”.
