Apple TV on Fire stick says I have to buy what I

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Apple TV on Fire stick says I have to buy what I

I just bought an Amazon 4K Fire stick and set it up. The first thing I did was add Apple TV.

When I first tried to add it, I gave it my user name and password. It sat there, with the spinner on, saying it was signing on. Five minutes later, still spinning. Go to another app and back. Still spinning.

I had to remove Apple TV from the device, unplug it, restart it, then add Apple TV again. This time it took and I could sign in. The main reason I mention it is in case this is a symptom of something else.

Once I got it working, I wanted to see if everything transferred. (I haven't yet used Apple TV on anything but my Apple TV device.) I didn't know if my subscriptions to other services, like Netflix or Britbox would transfer over, so I wanted to see if all that was available.

I did a search for an old British comedy and found it. I tried to watch it and got the "How to Watch" button. Pressed it, did whatever it asked (I don't remember now, that was an hour or two ago) and came back and tried to watch it again.

No matter what I try to watch on Apple TV on my Fire, I can't - I get a "How to Watch" button. I get a message that I can't buy anything on that device and I have to buy it on an Apple device first. All of the shows or movies I try to watch give me the same thing.

I also have Netflix and use that on my Apple TV, but when I tried to search for "Stranger Things" within the Apple TV app on Fire, I could not find it.

Remember, I have a subscription to BritBox and Apple TV works fine on my Apple TV device, but on my Amazon Fire, Apple TV apparently thinks I have no subscriptions.

Does Apple TV, on other devices, only access Apple's content and stuff like my Apple Music contents? Or should I be able to see everything on my Apple TV app on Fire that I can see on my Apple TV?

Posted on Nov 9, 2019 12:25 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Urquhart1244

Level 10

146,776 points

Nov 11, 2019 2:44 PM in response to HalNineThousand

Just exactly what is a "Channel" in this case? Is it something specifically offered by Apple, or can it include another streaming service like BritBox?

It is content from various sources (third-party streaming services), but offered by Apple, exclusively accessible through the Apple TV app. They’re currently identifiable by the circular icons in the Apple TV app.

Apple TV Channels FAQ: Services, pricing, availability, and everything else you need to know - Macworld.com

If you subscribe through the Apple TV app, then you have to always watch through the Apple TV app. But you also get Family Sharing and downloads for offline use on iOS/iPadOS.

If you subscribe through the original content provider’s app, then you can watch that content any which way each content provider supports that, which could possibly even include Android devices.

Does that mean if I subscribe to something like BritBox through another service and not through Apple, that it's not available through Apple TV apps on non-Apple devices?

Exactly.

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Answer 2

Urquhart1244

Level 10

146,776 points

Nov 10, 2019 9:33 AM in response to HalNineThousand

The Apple TV app on third party devices gives access to

the Apple TV+ channel content (subscription),
the iTunes Store movie and TV show content for your region (buy/rent),
the select Apple TV app Channels that were subscribed to inside the Apple TV app. Subscriptions to services of the same name but through a separate app, are not exchangeable with this service.

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Answer 3

Nov 11, 2019 7:41 PM in response to Urquhart1244

Thank you for clearing this up.

Amazon has a real issue with BritBox. If I subscribe to BritBox through any source other than Amazon, I can't see it on Fire. At least Apple lets you add things you subscribe to through other sources to Apple TV. That's the smart way to do it, in my view.

The Fire stick is on the way back to Amazon. I'm testing an Android box. I'd like to get another Apple TV box, but they're so darned expensive! I'll have two, in the long run: one in the house, one in the guest house. But I need a less expensive box for other TVs.

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Answer 4

Nov 10, 2019 9:48 PM in response to Urquhart1244

The last point is a little confusing to me:

"the select Apple TV app Channels that were subscribed to inside the Apple TV app. Subscriptions to services of the same name but through a separate app, are not exchangeable with this service."

Just exactly what is a "Channel" in this case? Is it something specifically offered by Apple, or can it include another streaming service like BritBox?

I'm also not sure about the last sentence. Does that mean if I subscribe to something like BritBox through another service and not through Apple, that it's not available through Apple TV apps on non-Apple devices?

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Apple TV on Fire stick says I have to buy what I

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