Published on December 21st, 2018 | by Brad Gibson

Here’s the skinny on Philo’s new program guide and enhancements to its tvOS app

The low-price live streaming service Philo has updated its Apple TV app with a new program guide experience it says improves navigation and discovery.

The first noticeable difference for subscribers on tvOS is the addition of the ‘Guide” and ’Top” features on the navigation bar.

The “Guide” section uses the same layout as “Favorites.” With its classic horizontal layout by time with channels logos on the left and programs on the right moving as you scroll in time, each selected program resizes to show more detail.

Much like the Netflix promo autoplay feature, Philo has added a similar element to the “Guide” with a video preview that launches underneath the description of a program. A nice enhancement.

The addition of a much-needed program guide on Philo includes a Netflix-like promo autoplay feature.

“Top” content was previously available as a single channel listing at the bottom of the page. Now, the top shows of every channel are in a layout similar to the guide with each show having a rectangle box. Selecting a particular box will reveal additional details of a program with channels marked as favorite appearing first.

Unlike program guides on other similar live streaming services like DirecTV Now, Philo’s “Guide” works on the premise of a show currently live being always listed on the right as standard Philo behavior is launching show from the start instead of catching up in the middle on DirecTV Now. As a result, there is no blue line indicating the current time and progress of a show. This might seem strange at first, but over time it makes more sense.

The new features might seem basic and no-brainers at first, but since it’s launch Philo has been a bare-bones service is more ways than just channel offerings. These ‘enhancements’ are much needed to offer differentiation with its seven other major streaming services.

Reporting was contributed by Sebastian Szwarc.

Tags: Apple, apple tv, philo

About the Author

Brad Gibson Brad is co-founder and editor-in-chief of BESTAppleTV.com. He has been a technology reporter since the late 1980s having previously worked for MacUser, MacFormat, and iCreate magazines, as well as MacNN.com, MacObserver.com, MacCentral.com, MacMinute.com, and Macworld.com. He hosted and produced the MacFormat This Week podcast for three years. He was also a reporter, editor, and producer for the Associated Press and United Press International.