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08th Aug 2011

Is the new Sky Go app the solution to your on-the-go needs?

With extensive marketing to accompany its rebranding, is Sky Go the salvation for streaming needs or a buffering blunder?

JOE

With extensive marketing to accompany its rebranding, is Sky Go the salvation for streaming needs or a buffering blunder?

By Emmet Purcell

When Sky recently rebranded their live TV service, Sky Player, to ‘Sky Go’ we were a little bemused. The previous service’s mobile incarnation had been met with mild interest, mainly due to its monthly subscription, yet the Sky Go service is more than just a name change – it’s free to Sky customers. Yep, we said free.

Free sounds good to us, especially as the Premier League finally returns this weekend and indeed, Sky know full well that the chief appeal of this app is its sports content. As such, the iOS app gives users access to all five Sky Sports channels, ESPN (now free to Sky Sports subscribers) and Sky News.

Aside from these options, Sky Movies subscribers can also get in on the action, although there’s currently no option for Sky Movies Box Office video-on-demand purchases. The selection is obviously missing out on two vital options – entertainment and current affairs – yet Sky have assured customers that more channels will be added over time. Hopefully, they’ll begin with Sky Atlantic.

As it stands, the app itself is tremendously user-friendly. If you already have a Sky Go account then you’ll be able to connect straight after signing in, while newcomers should find the sign-up process very easy going too.

Sky Sports legend Jeff Stelling deserves his own app, wouldn’t you agree?

Picture quality will be a deal breaker for some on this app and we have to say that using the app over 3G is a hit-and-miss affair. At times the picture could get quiet chopy while the fact that the picture automatically adjusts itself to lesser quality when not connected to a Wi-Fi signal is a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that it saves on our monthly bills and battery, but occasionally a curse if you have to endure crippling buffering symbols during an arse-clenchingly tense penalty shoot-out.

On another note, while we’re extremely happy to see that there’s no recurring charge to access Sky Go (if you’re a Sky customer, obviously), one less pleasing aspect of the service’s rebranding has flown under the radar, unsurprisingly so.

Rebranding removals

Rather than being able to register four devices (iOS mobile/tablet devices or PC/Mac) to view Sky Go, as was the case with Sky Player, users are now limited to just two. So for example, if a customer had four devices registered two months ago, they will find that the latter two have been unceremoniously dumped, while they will have to choose between which two current devices they want to remain registered before using the mobile.

Granted, this is obviously a move to curb multiple users, be they cousins, neighbours or friends from accessing one household’s Sky content, but splitting the registered devices amount in half will leave plenty of families fighting for control of a service which, let’s not forget, only allows users to register a new device to replace another once each month.

Thus, a husband and wife that already use both their laptops for Sky Go and are reading this feature will have to decide whether they want to dump their laptop for their mobile instead, whereas both were possible under Sky Player. It sounds like we’re nitpicking but it is a problem and begs an interesting question: if users were able to purchase additional accounts, would they?

In any case, if you have the necessary space and the necessary handset (that’ll be an iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4), this generous app is a no-brainer. There’s something incredibly futuristic about grumbling when you’re forced to change the channel at home and then whipping out your phone to continue watching telly a few seconds later.

An upgrade from Sky Player with a few caveats, despite our reservations we have to conclude that Sky Go nonetheless wipes the floor with its iOS competition. Whether that’s a statement of the app’s success or the paucity of its competitor’s offering is up for debate. Sorry, TV3 Player app, but it had to be said.

Sky Go is available as a free download to iOS Sky customers. An Android version is set to follow later this year.

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