CES 2019: TiVo app will soon let you watch live TV on Apple TV…even on the road

TiVo will launch apps for various streaming devices, including Apple TV, later this year that will let users watch live or recorded over-the-air and cable programming through a TiVo Bolt without needing to buy separate TiVo Mini devices for each television. BESTAppleTV has learned this capability will also include watching content on a Bolt outside of the home, say in a remote hotel room, via an Apple TV.

The apps will be free and not have a monthly fee associated with accessing their TiVo Bolt. The only cost for Apple TV users will be a local antenna or cable subscription, a TiVo Bolt – which retails starting at $200 – a monthly service plan for programming listings at $15, and an Apple TV.

Instead of needing separate TiVo Mini devices for each television, owners of a streaming device like Apple TV will simply install the free app through the App Store, launch it, and mirror content over the Internet to directly control their TiVo Bolt.

Zatz Not Funny first reported the news at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, saying the app for Apple TV will launch in the third quarter of 2019. A video provided to Dave Zatz and linked to below shows a demonstration of the apps, with a run-through of the Apple TV app last on the video.

The only drawbacks to the standalone app will be no 5.1 audio capability and at least at launch no ability to jump over commercials with a skip mode, BESTAppleTV has learned. There is still a possibility that a skip mode option could be added in the future.

But the ability to watch programming from a TiVo Bolt through the Apple TV app inside and outside the home is a distinct advantage for those on the move. Users can simply take their Apple TV with them and plug it directly into a TV – for instance at a hotel or Airbnb rental – to stream content similar to the capabilities of a Slingbox.

The news of third-party TiVo apps is a big change for the company who has obviously met some consumer resistance to having to spend more money – in this case, $179 for each TV – for a TiVo Mini to watch content from their TiVo Bolt.

The apps will allow TiVo to compete with Tablo and others who already offers an option to stream out to multiple devices. The main difference will be the fact that users will still have a traditional DVR box plugged into a main TV.

A source tells BESTAppleTV the Bolt app and TiVo Mini will co-exist moving forward as the Mini still has important advantages within the home where a Bolt would reside.

With no additional fees for programming data for multiple TVs, the app solution will make the TiVo Bolt a far more attractive option as a DVR system.