How I ditched £113-worth of Sky TV and went all-in on streaming
I ditched Sky TV and … it’s been fine!
I've been a Sky TV customer for more years than I care to remember, paying the company more than I dare count. At one point we even paid it for broadband as well, but I don't think we've ever paid it as much as we do now — £113 per month. But not for long.
Last week I canceled our subscription which means it'll end in about three weeks. You can't just cancel, of course. You have to give 30 days notice so they can squeeze a bit more out of you. Fine, that's the contract we signed. It's also one of the reasons I want out. I've never really been comfortable with the way Sky does business. Strange packages that intertwine in ways that mean you can't just ditch one without paying more for another. I can't imagine things getting much better after the semi-recent sale to Comcast, either. So we're out.
To set the scene, here's what our £113 per month got us.
- The latest 2TB Sky Q box.
- Two Sky Q mini boxes with multiroom support.
- Access to everything and in 4K where supported. Sky Sports, Sky Movies, the lot. And Netflix because we paid for our subscription through Sky.
The problem was, we didn't actually watch much of it. I've felt for some time that we were paying for content we didn't use and that's become more obvious of late. We watch Sky Atlantic (HBO, essentially) for the big-name shows that come and go like 'Game of Thrones' and whatnot. I watch the football — proper football, of course — every now and then but not as much as I think I do. The same for Formula 1. And ... that's pretty much it as far as Sky is concerned. There's the odd movie thrown in from time to time as well.
Beyond that, we watch content from other sources. We watch Netflix, of course. We're bingeing 'Vikings' on Amazon Prime Video and then there's Picard from the same source. We watch Netflix because of course we do, and we watch Disney+ because we have kids and it has some decent grown-up stuff, too. We have Apple TV+ thanks to Apple One and even though 'Ted Lasso' is massively overrated, I do like 'For All Mankind' so there's that.
None of that needs a Sky subscription. Yes, we pay for Netflix through Sky right now — but we don't have to.
So here's my plan. Or it was my plan — it's now how we live and a week in, it's working just fine.
First, hardware:
Image: Amazon
- We already had an Apple TV 4K that we can use as the main source of content in the main family room.
- We had an old, old Fire TV Stick that I'd planned on using in the bedroom but it's so old it doens't support some of the apps we need. That's been replaced by a shiny new Fire TV Stick 4K Max. I await the surely upcoming Fire TV Stick 4K Ultra!
- The old Fire TV Stick has gone into the kids' bedroom but it'll end up being replaced with a newer model. It's so. damn. slow.
All of that replaces the main Sky Q box and the mini boxes that were in the bedroom and kids' room. So far, so good. And I'm very impressed with that new Fire TV stick. Buttery smooth, all of our apps, good stuff.
Next, services.
Image: Now TV
- We've signed up for Now TV to replace the main Sky content. Yes, I know Now TV is owned by Sky but I pay a lot less, so there. It streams everything over the internet and it has Sky Atlantic and access to Sky Sports News and Sky News, so everything's covered. We don't watch Sky News, but it's nice to have it just in case. We get access to live TV and on-demand stuff and I can add a Sky Sports sub if I want to in the future. We added the Sky Movies package but can remove it any time, anywhere. And it's all so civilsed compared to the why Shky proper does things.
- Netflix has an app on everything, so we're good there. Our billing will revert to the old Netflix account when Sky finally switches us off next month.
- Amazon Prime Video — same again, apps everywhere and we get it via our Prime subscription. Nothing changes.
- Apple TV+ is paid for via Apple One and there is an app for the Fire TV stick — but only on the newer models, hence the upgrade earlier.
- Disney+ — again, apps eerywhere. There's a pattern developing here, isn't there?
- Everything else. That means access to BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and all those things that we don't use often but do sporadically. Think Killing Eve and Masterchef that we watch for a few episodes each year. Apps exist for all of those services and we're re-watching Fasier via one of the Channel 4 apps. It's fine, and we were doing that even with Sky anyway.
So after all that, where are we? Well, we've canceled £113-worth of Sky and replaced it with £25 per month of Now TV. We now also need to pay for Netflix again, so we pay £15.99 per month for that because I want all the streams and 4K support. We were already paying for everything else, or it's free. So by my reckoning we're more than £70 per month better off and have access to all the same content, bar Sky Sports. Even if I added that back in, we'd be about £50 per month better off.
And we don't have to use the god-awful Sky Q software. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Apple Watch Series 7 after 24 hours
Like a ton of people, I've had my Apple Watch Series 7 for around 24 hours now and, like some people, I have thoughts. Opinions, you could call them. You only need to follow me on Twitter to know that I am never short of an opinion.
So here they are.
I'm writing this at a kids' birthday party, so don't expect Shakespeare. Never expect Shakespeare. Do expect opinions.
See the theme? Let's get started.
Like a ton of people, I've had my Apple Watch Series 7 for around 24 hours now and, like some people, I have thoughts. Opinions, you could call them. You only need to follow me on Twitter to know that I am never short of an opinion.
So here they are.
I'm writing this at a kids' birthday party, so don't expect Shakespeare. Never expect Shakespeare. Do expect opinions.
See the theme? Let's get started.
The display
I picked up a 45mm Apple Watch Series 7, upgrading from a 44mm Apple Watch Series 5 that I've had for about 18 months or so. Before that, I had a 42mm Apple Watch Series 0, or whatever it's called nowadays. The OG, from launch day 2015.
I honestly think that the majority of early reviews and hands-on videos very much slept on this display situation. While the 45mm relates to the case size, not display, the space for pixels has obviously increased considerably here. Apple shrunk the bezels to make that happen – to the tune of making Apple Watch Series 7's display 20% larger than Apple Watch Series 4, 5, and 6. I thought that was a big number when Apple announced this thing, and I expected more to be made of it when people got their hands on it. It wasn't, and I don't understand how.
Putting my Apple Watch Series 7 beside my Apple Watch Series 5, the differences in display are night and day. That 20% is in full effect, and not just because it makes buttons bigger like some have claimed. Sure, touch targets are larger and that's a welcome change for my sausage fingers. But there's better use of that space as well – you only need to look at the new Modular Duo watch face to see that in effect.
I can't emphasise this enough – if you're in doubt about how big these new displays are, go see them in the flesh. You can't buy one for immediatel availability anyway so you've time. Go take a gander. I genuinely believe this display *could* be a reason to upgrade from a recent Apple Watch.
Could.
The color
A lot has been made about the new aluminum Apple Watch colors. Gone are Space Gray and Silver, in come Midnight and Starlight. I can't speak to the latter, but I can definitely discuss the former. Because I adore it.
I'd heard a lot about the new Midnight looking almost blue and that's definitely the impression it gives in the press shots. But in person, it's a different animal. I see such a small amount of blue that it essentially isn't there. It's black, to my eyes at least. It's *much* more black than the Space Gray I'm used to and it looks all the more premium for it. To me, Midnight aluminum looks like the previous Space Gray stainless steel models. It looks *that* good. I'd buy this color without hesitation in the future and I hope that this is the color we get in future models, too.
The Bug
As I'm writing this I still dont really know what happened. But everyone installing specific Apple Watch apps on the new Apple Watch Series 7 found that they didn't have any icons and their complications were ... weird. The general consensus seems to be that the App Store is doing something weird because everything works fine in the Xcode simulator.
I also don't know why this is something that reviewers didn't spot unless it's something that went awry *after* they all did their thing. Either way, what a clanger to drop on launch day. Most people, anyone using the grid app view – most people, I suspect – don't know which apps they're looking at. That's grim. Hopefully that's fixed soon, if it isn't already.
The other stuff
I initially pre-ordered my Apple Watch Series 7 with the intention of seeing what the early reviews had to say before deciding whether to cancel that order. Then, the reviews, weren't. Most rehashed Apple talking points but didn't get into whether they actually have any impact on the useror their experience. So I kept the pre-order – those 14-day return periods come in handy, see.
So here I am, 24 hours into Apple Watch Series 7 ownership. Will I keep it? Probably. Most likely. Every time I glance at it, it immediately seems like a different watch to Apple Watch Series 7. That isn't something I expected given the number of times I heard and read words like "incremental" and "minor update" in reviews. It's more than that, I feel.
How much of this is because we didn't get the radical Apple Watch redesign we'd been promised by leaks? It does feel like a tinge of disappointment found its way into opinions and reviews somewhat – rightly or wrongly.
So should you buy an Apple Watch Series 7?
- If you have an Apple Watch Series 4 or older, absolutely.
- If you have no Apple Watch at all and want the best wearable on the market, definitely.
- If you're wearing an Apple Watch Series 5 or Series 6, that depends on you and whether you have the cash burning a hole in your pocket. And whether you're someone who feels a bigger screen is important to you.
The upshot? Go take a look at these things if you're on the fence. That was mode difficult last year for obvious reasons. This year, thankfully, not so much.
It won't take many more Apple Arcade '+' games before it risks becoming a problem
I've long said — and continue to say — that some of Apple's services are among the best value propositions around. That is very much the case with Apple TV+, priced at just $4.99 and home to some of the best content on TV. With Apple Arcade, things are a little more complicated. Because while I love some of the games I've played, the list of new releases has become troublesome. At least some weeks, where releases aren't all that new.
Apple Arcade, for those unaware, is Apple's $4.99 per month subscription service that gives iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV gamers access to tons of games without any additional cost. The games are free to download from the App Store and are completely free of ads and in-app purchases. Some of the games in Apple Arcade were clearly designed with it in mind, and those are among the best. And then we have games that weren't and, largely, aren't.
And then we have the '+' games. Some of which don't even get iPhone game controller support.
An example of a '+' game is Crossy Road+, a game recently released. It's a remake of the Crossy Road that's been available in the App Store for a good long while now, except that it's been "re-imagined for Apple Arcade." That, like I mentioned earlier, means that all ads and in-app purchases have been stripped out to make it work in the Apple Arcade model. The same goes for other games including Thumper: Pocket Edition+ and others. They're cool, sometimes good, often great games. But they're games that we've all played before — and often paid good money to do it, too.
As one Reddit user said recently, "those plus-games are not why I'm subscribed to Apple Arcade. Hopefully they have some more newer titles in line soon." Another points out that some of the games that used to have in-app purchases, and now don't, make it glaringly obvious they were supposed to be there. And games without the dreaded '+' are affected, too.
Even non plus games like Zookeeper world were clearly designed with p2w in mind even though no actual microtransactions were involved. Hurts me to see that using AA this type of game design is touted as the new normal.
What people really want from Apple Arcade is great, original gaming like Fantasian rather than rehashed versions of games that have already done their time at the top of the best-seller charts. At the time of writing, eight of the last 18 Apple Arcade releases — according to the App Store — were '+' titles. That's pretty grim, especially as gamers look for quality releases rather than games they played once. Sure, new people are playing these games for the first time. But a ton aren't — and if Apple keeps the '+' train rolling it could run the risk of alienating the group of people it needs most — early adopter gamers with money to spend on a game subscription service for their phone.
This iPad mini review changes everything
If everything goes according to plan, this is a linked list post that goes straight out to Rene Ritchie’s iPad mini review.
Did it work? You be the judge.
36 hours ‘til iPhone 13
iPhone 13 is almost here, and I’m excited. I think.
As I sit here at 22:35 on the evening of Wednesday, September 22, two things spring to mind.
First, tomorrow is my birthday and I’ll officially be too-old-years-old.
Second, I’ll have my iPhone in 36 hours.
Well, 37 hours if we’re being honest. My collection time is 11:30. I have to go to an Apple Store, you see. A quirk of the way the iPhone Upgrade Program works in the UK. It isn’t ideal, but that’s the way it is.
I’m still not 100% sold on the new iPhones this year.
Sure, I like new and better cameras and Sierra Blue looks like it could go down as one of Apple’s better iPhone colors alongside Midnight Green and Pacific Blue. I’d rather a red, but you have to get iPhone 13 for that and that just isn’t happening.
I’m still not sold on the whole 120Hz ProMotion situation, either. After using an iPad Pro for a few years I still don’t expect to notice any difference when the tech comes to iPhones. That being said, look out for the tweets on Friday — I’ll no doubt be waxing poetic about it.
I was dubious about Cinematic Mode when it was announced and the examples I’ve seen don’t change that feeling. In good light, I think it looks great. The issue comes when you don’t have good light which, frankly, is the case more often than not. Another one I’ll reserve judgment on until I’ve tried it myself.
In reality, I’m looking forward to getting an iPhone on Friday for one reason — I’m going big! This will be my first Pro Max, and while I have concerns about it being too big, I’m looking forward to the bigger screen, bigger apps, and bigger games.
So here we are. I’m ‘around’ 36 hours away from picking up my iPhone 13 Pro Max in Sierra Blue. And I’m looking forward to it.
I think.