The Apple+ MLS broadcasts aren't great, but they're significantly better than what they first trotted out for MLB last year. I suspect they'll get better over time, but at the moment NBC/Peacock is better despite the difference in video quality. CBS/Paramount+ is better as well.
The content, and the production is being done by MLS, NOT Apple...... So if you want to point your ire about announcers, and content, that needs to be directed at MLS.
I noticed some teams have not release "prepping for..." content this week LAFC and ATL at least. I thought these were the minimum weekly content requirements....
As a DC fan in the blackout zone this actually allows me to follow my team. I loved the ESPN+ package for MLS but I began to quit watching because the team I most wanted to see was always blacked out.
MLS Next Pro games are NOT available on-demand via Apple TV? Having to watch games live is an unnecessary limitation. In the press releases it mentioned an on-demand option, but only live viewing is available for now.
“MLS Season Pass: MLS analysts no longer stars of the show” (World Soccer Talk - Saturday, 3/25/23) -G
Add one more thing ATV+ needs to improve with their sad UI... I have an ATV+ account with new MLS Season, which I use mostly on one Roku. But tonight I wanted to use the same ATV+ account on my wife's iPad, to watch my MLS team, just like I do with my other accounts for NBC/Peacock, Paramount+, ESPN, Netflix, etc, etc. They are all my accounts and work fine on her iPad. No such luck with ATV+ though. I opened the app and it just said "try free for 3 mos" so I hunted for where the account was set. Couldn't find it in the GUI (later I did under Watch Now) so I went to Settings > TV and found my wife's Apple ID in there so I removed hers and replaced it w/ mine. Went back to the app and still no luck, closed/reopened app, still no luck. That's when I found the subtle little profile icon, visible only (apparently) if you're in the Watch Now view. And when I found my wife's Apple ID still in there, and I replaced hers with mine, I figured "now it's gonna work!". But no. Although I do now see my own items in "Up Next" (some progress) I see zero trace of my MLS Season Pass. If I browse "Sports" there's zero MLS in there. And when I do a search for "MLS Season Pass" it shows me only one or two games, which I assume is this week's free match. And searching for "New York Red Bulls" (which works on Roku) also shows only the free content, no matches. What gives? Isn't my Season Pass a subcomponent of my larger ATV+ account? And if so, isn't it logical to show up automatically within ATV+? p.s. BTW, when I go into the profile icon again, and click "Manage Subscriptions" I can see the MLS Season Pass as active. It just doesn't show up in the main show viewer UI. UGH!
Family sharing.......share your TV+ sub with your wife's Apple ID......problem solved.....you can share it with up to 5 people
Thanks. I will look for sub sharing wherever that is. Definitely the less intuitive way to implement it though. Out of step with how every other streaming provider does it, no? Ps. I decided to watch it on my Roku instead, but of course I had only suppressed scores on one of my two Roku’s. (hey, how about making that setting an opt in instead of an opt out?!) But even if I had, the way Apple shows the “key plays” thumbnails directly above the season pass icon (the only place you can find for replays) pretty much means that you’re going to get spoiled unless you cover the top of the screen or something dumb like that.
Oh, and one more suggestion for Apple, or MLS, whoever is in charge of the UI… Please move the highlights section somewhere else on the screen, perhaps higher? As it stands, it is sandwiched between “match spotlight“ and “how to watch“ So if you’re like me, and you want to watch the full game coverage after the game is over, including the pregame content, it is virtually impossible to do that, without being spoiled by the highlights thumbnails. This would be such a simple “fix“. I could probably then manage to follow the somewhat silly, but “safe practices” in how to navigate to my match content without ruining it.
Honestly if your use case is watching games on-demand the UI literally could not be worse if they tried. Like if their goal was to nerf anyone watching on-demand they still wouldn't have come up with this BS they came up with.
Apple is the master of unintuitive GUI interfaces. They are lacking the key feature of discoverability. Even when you know a feature exist, finding how to use it is impossible without looking it up online.
So a lot of people are upset with Netflix now because they are charging for the service being used on unauthorized devices, or devices in other parts of town/state/country etc. Other services restrict how many devices you can use at one time, or in general (Paramount + as an example). This is all in an effort to curb the sharing of accounts/passwords, and drive up subscribers (because all of that content doesn't come free or cheap). Apple has been using the Family Share function in their iCloud for sharing their services amongst family members. Google has something similar for Youtube TV, only it's clunkier. Here's a handy support page with simple how to's for: Setting up family sharing, and sharing Season pass... Hiding scores.... https://www.mlssoccer.com/season-pass/support/
And yet fanboys keep saying that their products are much easier to use than anything else. It's completely baffling!
MLS Wrap Up has been fun tonight. Really like the balance of Shep Messing, Weibe, Sacha and Sakovitz.
Huge grain of salt, cuz who the heck is this account but I present some concern: Sources: Apple TV are “very worried” about the amount of MLS Season Pass subscriptions sold to start the season. According to my source, they have met just 40% of their initial projection..— MLS Gone Wild ⭐️ (@MLSGoneWild) April 3, 2023