HBO Max

HBO Max:

In the last few years, streaming TV has become increasingly popular, with service after service hitting the web. Today, in the form of HBO Max, service with thousands of hours of content, original programming, and more, the new major offering has arrived and is now available on Android, Chromecast, Android TV, and other platforms. HBO Max boasts a huge WarnerMedia content library and other classic shows like Friends, Doctor Who, and more. HBO reports programming is now over 10,000 hours in duration. The service comes with a trial period of 15 days, but after that, it costs $14.99 a month. That makes it one of today's more expensive streaming platforms available, something that could be tough for some users because it lacks 4 K HDR and other premium features at launch.

With support for Android smartphones, laptops, and Chromebooks, HBO Max is also available at the launch alongside the streaming platforms of Google: Android TV and Chromecast. As with its iOS counterpart, the Android app bakes in Chromecast functionality. HBO Max is available on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, as our colleagues at 9to5Mac covered too.

HBO Max for Android and Android TV: HBO Max supports billing directly over the Google Play Store on Android and Android TV. Current HBO Now subscribers too, will be updated to the new service automatically.

More on HBO Max Android TV:

• Android TV's Ambient Mode starts rolling out Google Photos support

• The HBO Max will be available for download on Ios, Chromecast, and Android TV

• Google prepares Android TV subscriptions via Play Store, and teases more 'soon'

What are the devices that can stream HBO Max?

HBO Max will be available on an of devices, including phones, tablets, the internet, wired TVs, and consoles for gameplay. But at launch, two crucial streaming devices had no HBO Max apps. HBO Max was not supported by either Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, although these devices represent the vast majority of US streaming devices. Researcher Parks Associates estimates that almost 70 percent of the country 's installed streaming-TV devices are either Roku or Amazon Fire TV products.

The service stated support for the apps and platforms as follows:

• Apple devices that can stream video will support HBO Max — iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV 4 K, and Apple TV HD. Customers with Apple TV models of the second and third generation will need to stream HBO Max content from their iPhone or iPad to their AirPlay TV

• Google's Android phone and tablet operating system is set to have an app. Android TV, Chromebooks, Google Chromecast, and built-in Chromecast devices will also support HBO Max

• Sony's PlayStation 4 systems can download the HBO Max app through the PlayStation Store

• Microsoft's Xbox One game consoles will now be able to use Microsoft Store to get the HBO Max app

• Select internet-connected smart TVs from Samsung models from 2016 through 2020 will be able to access and purchase HBO Max directly

HBO Max Product Features:

HBO Max has also had downloads for its mobile apps, in a long-awaited feature for anyone streaming HBO Go. Unfortunately, like most items with HBO Max, the company doesn't have a straightforward answer about whether the amount of programming you can access has any limitations. HBO Max lets you simultaneously stream to three different devices. By comparison, Disney Plus allows for four simultaneous streams, and depending on how much you pay each month, Netflix provides between one and four.

You may also create several profiles to keep separate suggestions for various household members, and it also has children's accounts which are unlocked by entering a PIN. These parental checks allow moms and dads to set the programming maturity levels that can be accessed by each child's profile, based on ratings such as PG and TV-14. HBO Max automatically replaces the HBO Now app by a software update for HBO members now. 

But there is a downside to the transition from HBO Now and HBO Go to HBO Max: if you switch from an existing HBO streaming account, HBO Max won't retain any of your watch history. 

Where can I get HBO Max?

The fastest way to get HBO Max is by signing up directly to it at hbomax.com. HBO Max will be an iOS app for iPhone and iPad through Apple, which will allow you to sign up and pay with an in-app purchase. Also, Apple will integrate HBO Max into its own TV app, allowing you to gather certain streaming channels to watch them in one place. Via Google, HBO Max will have an app in the Google Play store for Android phones and tablets, and you'll be able to sign up for an in-app purchase inside the app.

You can stream HBO Max on Android TV, Chromebook, and Google Chromecast too. If you already subscribe to HBO Now via Google Play, you will be able to automatically sign in to HBO Max at the launch at no extra charge, and you will continue to be paid via Google. And HBO Max will also carry YouTube TV, the live pay-TV service run by Google's YouTube. 

What are the Shows and Movies I Can watch on HBO Max?

In general, HBO Max includes all shows and movies on HBO, plus a selection of high-profile licensed content such as Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Rick & Morty, and South Park, among others. It will layer on top of that, exclusive original programming. Initially, HBO Max expected to have 31 originals in the first year and an amp in the second year, up to 50 originals. HBO Max now claims that given the coronavirus, it will have 30 originals in year one and 60 in year two. Now that the service is online, it is a third-party catalog search tool like Reelgood a simple way to see what's available without signing up. The section below summarizes what HBO Max has, and what is to come.

The easiest part to understand of the catalog is HBO itself. HBO Max includes everything on regular HBO, meaning all the theatrical films coming and going from the channel; New episodes from all HBO shows, such as Westworld and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver; and past seasons of such programs as well as a full HBO back catalogs, such as Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, Veep and The Wire; plus some of the original HBO films, documentaries, and specials.

The HBO Max film catalog will include highlights (but not necessarily available at launch time):

• The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Matrix trilogies

• Lego movies

• Studio Ghibli anime movies previously never released for streaming in the US

• DC films like Joker, Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad, Shazam, Aquaman, and every Batman and Superman movie of the last 40 years

• New hits like Crazy Rich Asians and A Star Is Born

• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and other top titles from anime-focused streaming service Crunchyroll

• The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind, The Shining, Singin' in the Rain, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Goonies, Blade Runner: The Final Cut, the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and many others

AT&T TV:

On the other hand, AT&T TV Now is a live-TV subscription service along the lines of Sling TV or YouTube television. If you knew DirecTV Now, AT&T TV Now is simply the renamed version of that service. It helps subscribers to stream live channels to Rokus, Apple TVs, Fire TVs, and more, instead of having a particular unit, and the channels are also available on a smartphone device. It has a DVR in the cloud too. Services like this are sometimes called skinny-bundle streaming services, but the cheapest package from AT&T TV Now isn't especially skinny — $55 a month for over 45 live channels (not including HBO). Even, it's not quite as robust as AT&T TV, which is meant to mimic conventional TV 's massive cable packages.

How is HBO Max different from AT&T's streaming services?

AT&T also has more entertainment options to sell. AT&T TV is similar to a pay-TV provided via cable or satellite, except that it is distributed over the Internet. AT&T TV offers live channels, DVR and on-demand programming with which cable subscribers are familiar, plus the ability to stream from apps such as Netflix and Pandora

AT&T TV has its own proprietary streaming box to watch on TVs, which AT&T requires you to use, and subscribers can watch everything with an app on mobile devices too. Right now, the first year of the lowest rate starts at $50 a month; in the second year, the price rises to $93 a month.

What are the devices that support HBO Max? 

There several devices that supports HBO Max Appsuch as Android TV, Android phones and tablets, including Sony Android TVs (2016 and later), Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV 4 K and Apple TV HD), built-in Chromecast and Chromecast devices, computers (Chromebooks, PC, and Mac browsers), Samsung Smart TVs (2016-2020 models), PlayStation 4 systems, and Xbox One.