There are a large number of iPhone and iPad apps that let you view high-quality content. For example, the free ABC Player iPad app 
let’s you watch selected episodes of selected ABC content such as the shows Brothers and Sisters, Modern Family, All My Children and The View. Or you can pay $7.99/month to access the Hulu Plus iPhone/iPad app and view episodes of TV shows from stations like ABC, NBC and FOX and certain movies. Sony recently debuted an iPhone/iPad app called Crackle with selected episodes from various shows (e.g. Seinfeld, Married with Children, Doctor Who) and movies. These sorts of apps are wonderful because the iPad is a great portable device for watching TV shows and movies, especially when you are traveling or are just looking for something to watch in bed before you go to sleep.
The content is what really makes these sorts of apps shine, and in my opinion some of the best television content from the last 20 years has come from HBO. I’ve been an HBO subscriber forever, and while I will sometimes watch a movie on HBO, the primary reason I keep my subscription is to watch HBO’s own series. For about a year now HBO has had a service called HBO GO that let you watch HBO content on a computer, but even with a laptop that is not as convenient a more portable viewing device as the iPhone or iPad. Today is the day that HBO announced that its free* HBO GO app for iPhone and iPad would debut. It actually appeared on the App Store a few days ago.
I put the asterisk next to “free” because while the app is free, you must be a current HBO subscriber to use the app. The first time that you use the app it will ask you to indicate which service provider you use. The app currently works with AT&T U-verse TV, DirecTV, Dish Network, Suddenlink, Verizon FiOS and XFINITY. The app works in beta with Charter and Cox, and other providers should be added soon. Select your provider and provide some account information, and from then on, whenever you start the app you can view the content.
And boy does this app have content. You can view, in most cases, every episode from every season of fantastic, award-winning HBO shows including:
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Band of Brothers - Big Love
- Boardwalk Empire
- Bored to Death
- Carnivale
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Deadwood
- Eastbound & Down
- Entourage
- Epitaeios
- Extras
- Fligh of the Conchords
- Funny or Die Presents
- Game of Thrones
- Generation Kill
- How to Make it in America
- Hung
- In Treatment
- John Adams
- The Life and Times of Tim
- Little Brian USA
- Mildred Pierce
- Oz
- Real Time with Bill Maher
- Rome
- Sex in the City
- The Niestat Brothers
- The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
- The Pacific
- The Ricky Gervais Show
- P. Diddy Presents The Bad Boys of Comedy
- Russell Simmons Presents Brave New Voices
- Russell Simmons Presents Def Comedy Jam
- Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry
- Six Feet Under
- The Sopranos
- Summer Heights High
- Treme
- True Blood
- The Wire
If that was all the content that this app provided, that would be amazing enough, especially if you haven’t seen many of those shows already — you could easily justify the cost of an iPad just to watch all of that great content. The app includes far more content than you can get using the “On Demand” services of cable and satellite providers.
But there is more. The app also provides a large selection of movies to watch (currently including new and old movies such as Avatar, Date Night, Dead Poets Society, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Lost in Translation). The app also includes lots of HBO Comedy, Sports and Documentaries Content. The app even includes a “Late Night” section with shows such as the HBO Real Sex series and what I presume must be Oscar-overlooked classics such as The Devil Wears Nada and Bikini Frankenstein (ahem). (There is a Parental Controls option so that you restrict access to certain programs if minors use your iOS device.)
The video content streams to the app, so you’ll probably want to use this app when you have WiFi. (If you are using 3G, the app warns you that you may incurr additional charges from your carrier depending upon which plan you have.) It appears that you can only be signed in to HBO GO on one device at a time, so you need to sign out to switch from an iPhone to iPad or vice versa.
The video quality is excellent. The app has limited AirPlay support — only audio. So you can watch a movie on an iPad and play booming audio through an AirPlay enabled speaker, but you cannot send the movie to your Apple TV and watch it there. I would love to see full AirPlay enabled, but perhaps the agreement between HBO and the cable and satellite companies specifics that the app is just a supplement to watching programs on TV, not an alternative way to watch a program on TV without using your cable company’s equipment.
If you enjoy HBO content, this is a fantastic app.
Click here to get HBO GO for iPad and iPhone (free):
I concur. I am absolutely FLOORED by the massive amount of content that HBO just made available to me, for NO EXTRA CHARGE over what I already pay to DirecTV. Absolutely fantastic. There are tons of HBO series I’ve always wanted to see, in full, but never quite badly enough to plop down the cash to buy the DVDs.
I can see this really impacting the DVD sales of these series, though. I hope HBO continues to be ok with that!
Meanwhile, I am happier than ever to be an HBO subscriber (and iPad owner).
If I have an unlimited data plan will I incur charges from using the hbo go app on 3G?
[Jeff responds: If you have an unlimited data plan, then I would think that the answer is no. But for best quality you’ll probably want to use Wi-Fi if you can.]
I contacted their customer service because their streaming constantly was buffering and pixelated. I had mentioned that I read their suggested article on trouble shooting and found it to be unhelpful, because I have never had a problem with streaming amazon video or netflix in the same high definition qualities. I received a response in the form of the same article that I articulated was not helpful. Extremely disappointed in their poor streaming service and even poorer customer service. There are plenty of “free” streaming sites that have their content, and I am happy to no longer financially support a business that is this incompetent.