Millions of people have cut the cable and satellite cord over the past few years and I’m guessing many of them soon noticed a missing feature on YouTube TV, Hulu, and the rest: TV
listings.
Sure you can see what’s on right now but since there are no “channels”, looking ahead to
what’s coming on this week is difficult or even impossible.
Enter an app and website with a familiar name: TV Guide.
Remember those weekly magazines that showed everything coming on every local and cable
channel? Many people do not know that TV Guide has a mobile app and website that does the
same thing. For free.
When you first open the app it asks you to sign up for an account which you can do to enable
the creation of watch lists. Otherwise, you can just skip the option to see what’s playing. You’re
also prompted to add all of the streaming services you subscribe to such as Netflix, Hulu,
Amazon Prime, Paramount, and some of the free options such as IMDB, Tubi, and Pluto.
It doesn’t list The Roku Channel. From that point on when you open the app, you will see suggestions of shows and movies you
might like along with the top 10 shows on Netflix, what’s new, and what’s trending.
All of that is
fine but there are better options if you just want to browse through what’s available on the
services you get.
The strong suit of the TV Guide app is what made the magazine so helpful: the TV listings.
Using your location or your satellite or cable subscription the TV Guide app lays out everything
that’s playing and that’s coming up. Scrolling through the listings on the app on a smartphone is
much easier than searching for a show on your subscription service’s listings page. MUCH
EASIER.
It’s even better if you use the TV Guide app on an iPad’s larger screen.
If you see something on live TV you want to watch just tap the show title and the TV Guide app
will open that streaming app on your device so you can start watching. For example, selecting
“The Golden Girls” that’s playing on Hulu, opened the Hulu app on my device.
One major drawback is the lack of integration with the YouTube TV app. Currently, the only live-streaming service available is Hulu and Sling. If TV Guide adds the other live-streaming options
it’ll be a major improvement.
You can select a movie to see a preview or trailer and if you set up an account you can create
watchlists and add shows you want to see in the future.
But the strong suit is simply the easy-to-see TV listings. I can see live TV listings as well as
listings for several days in the future. But without my live streaming service, I can only see
what’s coming up and then switch to the YouTubeTV app on my device or streaming device to
watch on my television set.
If you’re looking for an app to browse all of your subscriptions to see what’s new and what
everyone is watching, I suggest the Just Watch app. If you simply want to just see live TV
listings the TV Guide app may be what you’re looking for.
There’s a TV Guide app for iPhones, iPads, and Android devices and you can access the
listings on the TV Guide website, TVGuide.com
