At WWCD 2018, Apple announced a couple of interesting bits of news for cable customers. Well, mostly for Charter cable customers, but the announcements were still pretty neat. For instance, Charter customers will soon be able to get an Apple TV through Charter, and the company will make their live and on-demand TV app available for Apple TV later this year.
Apple is also making it a lot easier to sign in to apps that let you use your cable account credentials to access their live and on-demand content. That will also start with Charter, but will include other cable providers as time goes on.
Here's what you need to know about Apple's latest efforts to replace your cable box with an Apple TV.
Zero Sign-on
Hundreds of content apps let you sign in with your cable account credentials in order to offer you on-demand, and sometimes live, access to their content. Apple has attempted to make this process easier though Single Sign-on, which allows you to sign in to your cable account in the Settings app of your iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, and have apps recognize that sign-in to give you access to their content without having to sign in to your cable account multiple times.
With tvOS 12's new Zero Sign-on, this process is even easier. If you get both cable and broadband internet service from the same provider, when you're on that broadband network, tvOS and iOS will automatically unlock all of the supported apps, meaning that you shouldn't even have to sign in once.
Zero Sign-on will be available later this year for Charter customers and will expand to other providers over time. And speaking of Charter...
Charter partnership
Apple is partnering with Charter Communications, the second-largest cable company in the United States, to bring Charter Spectrum, its cable TV service, to the Apple TV via an app. The app will offer customers access to all of the same channels that they can currently watch through their cable boxes with their Charter subscription, and the app will also integrate with the TV app and Siri.
Additionally, Charter will begin offering its customers iPhones and iPads as it grows its mobile presence. Customers will also be able to get the Apple TV 4K through Charter, rather than a more traditional cable box. Apple already has similar arrangements with other content providers, including Canal+ in France, Salt in Switzerland, and DirecTV Now in the United States.
It's important to note here that you'll still subscribe to Charter Spectrum outside of the Apple ecosystem. You won't be able to buy a cable subscription through Apple.
Questions?
If you want to know anything else about Apple's latest cable partnership and new Zero Sign-on feature, let us know in the comments.
