This could come in handy.
Or at least drive you that much less insane.
As of Monday, Apple’s single sign-on feature has gone live and provides easy authentication for multiple pay TV services.
The feature is presently limited to U.S. cable subscribers though international support is expected to debut at a later date. The feature allows single sign-on allows fourth-generation Apple TV and iOS device owners to authenticate multiple pay TV video streaming apps with one set of credentials.
Only four cable providers (Dish, GVTC, Hotwire Communications and Sling TV) were participating in Apple’s new service when it went live for beta testers in November, but another five were added earlier today in preparation of the public debut. According to a newly published Support Pages document, accounts from CenturyLink Prism, DirecTV, GTA, Hawaiian Telcom and MetroCast can also be used to access the feature.
Users can now use the single sign-om feature for the following pay TV services:
A&E (iOS only)
Bravo Now (tvOS only)
E! Now (tvOS only)
Hallmark Channel Everywhere (iOS and tvOS)
History (iOS only)
Lifetime (iOS only)
NBC (tvOS only)
Syfy Now (tvOS only)
Telemundo Now (tvOS only)
USA NOW (tvOS only)
Watch HGTV (iOS and tvOS)
Watch Food Network (iOS and tvOS)
Watch Cooking Channel (iOS and tvOS)
Watch DIY (iOS and tvOS)
Watch Travel Channel (iOS and tvOS)
To enable single sign-on on an Apple TV running tvOS 10 or later, navigate to Settings > Accounts > TV Provider and select a participating pay TV service. Input your account information, including username and password, into the provided text box.
Apple first announced single sign-on at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June as an answer to complaints from users who found it difficult to enter account details every time they downloaded and installed a new streaming app.
If you’ve had a chance to try the feature and have any feedback to offer, please let us know about your experience in the comments.
Via AppleInsider and Apple