NEW UPDATE: Why Sky Go isn’t on Android Jelly Bean yet
Early adopters are like brave explorers, stepping into the unknown, where sometimes dangers lurk. In the case of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean updaters, many have been met with a lack of Sky Go app compatibility. So we had a chat with Sky to find out what was going on.
It turns out that since Sky Go is meticulously built – the same attention to detail that won it Stuff’s App of the Year Award – there's plenty of testing to be done before it hits Jelly Bean mobiles like Samsung Galaxy and HTC handsets. According to Sky's research most users are still on Ice Cream Sandwich – with no complaints to speak of. And since Sky wants the same level of quality in the Jelly Bean version it’s working on testing Sky Go across the myriad handsets now.
All we could get from Sky by way of a release date was, "we aim to launch Sky Go on this OS as soon as possible." So sit tight and, in the meantime, why not check out this year’s Stuff Gadget Awards to keep you entertained.
UPDATE: We've gone back to Sky with your questions. And are awaiting answers.
1/ Why is Sky Go not on Jelly Bean when the developers have had the software for six months, Android 4.2 is already here, and Apple's already had two updates in that time?
2/ Why has Sky Go been blocked on the HTC Sensation since July and still isn't on the HTC One X?
3/ Android counts for nearly 50 per cent of the tablet market – where's the app for those users?
4/ When is the S3 LTE going to get Sky Go?
5/ Sky Go is available in HD in other counties like Germany, why not in the UK?
6/ When will Sky Go work on Android tablets and Jelly Bean mobiles?
NEW UPDATE
Sky has now responded. Here's what it had to say:
"We’re working hard on bringing Sky Go to HTC One series phones. Having experienced some initial compatibility issues, we’re having to carry out additional development work to make sure we deliver a high-quality experience. We expect to be able to launch into the HTC One series before Christmas. This is also our timeline for supporting the Jelly Bean operating system. We thank customers for their understanding and patience.
"Although Sky Go is used as a product name in other countries, those services are offered by separate companies. There is no direct relationship between the services nor their development teams. As for HD, although there are no confirmed plans to move to HD at this time, we regularly keep streaming options under review. At the moment our focus is on bringing Sky Go content to even more devices.
“We’re always keeping the smartphone and tablet market under review so that we can satisfy as many of our customers as possible. While we aim to distribute our content as broadly as possible, we do need to prioritise our development activity in line with customer demand. Therefore as and when devices reach scale within the Sky customer base, we focus our development work on them.”
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Comments
hobgoblin
26 weeks ago
Sheepy
Agreed . The whole point is , everyone knows that apps dont take this long to develop. If the will was there from Sky , it would have been released supporting Android/Jellybean from day 1. It doesn't take a lot of working out as to why they drag their heals as regards android.
hobgoblin
26 weeks ago
There we go , normal service is resumed. Stuff asked the questions , Sky fobbed them off , no more questions asked.
sheepybach
26 weeks ago
A big fob off from Sky but they have also now moved the goal post's, before it was market penetration but with their last answer to Luke on here it's no longer market share/penetration but A DEVICE reaching Scale which means Android Tablets can take say 90% market share but that will still not be good enough for Sky because they will same no 1 tablet has reached scale and you watch they will stick to that. I suppose the only one's that may come anywhere near Sky's Scale would be Nexus 7 & 10??? Having Said that as the nexus is pure android and sky go supports the Galaxy Nexus then all Sky has to do is unblock the app for the rest of the Nexus family. Not a chance in hell.
hobgoblin
26 weeks ago
I would say that the Nexus 7 is probably the one to achieve "scale". They are missing out on a very large part of the market , in their blinkered attitude. The reason they get away with is is because there is no other choice for football/sports fans , they have a monopoly . They have been a great company with regards sports coverage but I have become really disillusioned with them with regard to this issue .
sheepybach
26 weeks ago
Hob,
Very true about this issue and they have gone from No.1 spot to the bottom and all at the expense of their customers, who are no longer a factor to Sky these days well apart for cash cows and then to sit in the corner with your mouth zipped. lol The N7 has blasted any scale sky want to use but nope no go. The best thing of all is Sky's refusal to agree with facts given to them, You take end of 3Q12 Device sales worldwide:--
Android 72.4%, IOS 13.9%
But Sky will say that is wrong lol. My Nexus 7 updated to Android 4.2 this am and all my media live streaming app's work right away. Ah well looks like we are flogging a dead horse again as sky has no interest in android.
iechyd da
hobgoblin
26 weeks ago
True.
Ive been flogging this horse for 6 months. :) Been posting on the Sky Forums to little or no avail. Saw this forum and thought we might actually get somewhere , but alas the Status Quo has been resumed. It annoys me that so called tech mags/journalists let Sky get away with this. I saw on Tech Radar site that they think it is understandable that sky focus on IOS due to the amount of sales, well now they should start focusing on the OS that is outselling IOS 3:1 , but I wont hold my breath.
sheepybach
26 weeks ago
Hob,
I used to ask all sort's on the forum but sky didn't like the questions I was asking and therefore banned me for life from using the forum lol (Oh and my 84yr old dad). Due to the increase in Android platform over IOS sky has let themselves be caught out due to their current stance, to which I had confirmed today in an email from the CEO's support team. Yes I agree it's about time the techsites started on Sky over their silly stupid plan of having to support sky go on every model/make of android device which as we all know is beyond crazy and Sky are the media lot doing it. To me it just more prove that there is a tie up with Apple. They have even blamed Samsung for the lack of support on their phones lol.
hobgoblin
26 weeks ago
Well Sheepy
Ill continue to post on Sky's forum in the hope of prodding them into action. My only other option is to get rid of sky,which I am quite loathe to do I don't really have any other option in my area , as we don't have Virgin and Bt haven't got around to installing Fibre Optic.:(. Oh and 1 more observation , I always thought Stuff are very Apple orientated , which has been confirmed with this thread. They have done no follow up to the BS answers that Sky gave and the guy who started it has disappeared up his ipad. Ah well.
sheepybach
26 weeks ago
Hob,
It's not only this site but most of the other techsites are the same, for some reason they don't seem to want to do/say anything bad about Sky or even ask hard questions and that is why Sky can get away with the Whole Android Farce. I did think that here and another site were going to ask Sky what they are playing at but I soon found out I was wrong. As you said take the answers Stuff had back from Sky " with no complaints to speak of" well even Stuff can see that's wrong but have done nothing about it. Sky yesterday updated their Sky Go on Android information on the web site and they still got it all wrong. I've run my subs with Sky right down and it's looking like I'll pull out altogether and save money as I can watch all the live sport that's on Sky from other sites on the web and in better quality.
ajr37
26 weeks ago
I'm amazed that Sky block individual handsets even when there is no technical reason to stop the app working on that device. I'm also shocked that Sky spent more time and effort trying to block access after XDA unblocked it than they spent developing a solution.
ajr37
26 weeks ago
Everyone could see that Sky's development path that worked at device level rather than OS level was doomed to failure and they are now facing the consequences of that poor decision.
sheepybach
25 weeks ago
ajr37,
Please don't take this the wrong way but you are speaking to the converted and we don't understand why Sky has gone down this path. As you said they spend more time locking down the app than dev it, which if you look at it from Sky's point of view they maybe right. When the app was out in Feb this yr and the few phones they allowed it to work on was crazy and there was hell on the forum and they put up on there how hard it was to get sky go to work on different phones et al but they we working on it but no time as to when it would work. Then a little over 2hrs after release a post appeared from xda saying it's works on most phones now and sky had a paddy over it as they had lied to customers and we told them so and ever since their stance is as it is now. They are doing for 1 of 2 reason's,
1. Tied up with Apple
2. Sky want to control which android devices are allowed to use sky go, this is called Great Customer Service lol
They had to change their stance the other day due to the lack of market share which has been blown away and now they say a device reach scale, which they have been doing any way but saying it was market share. Sky is now a joke over this farce.
ajr37
25 weeks ago
Fully agree.
I'm also shocked that magazines still award sky go best application awards despite this shocking user experience, awful development route and terrible reviews on the Google app store!
Their treatment of the XDA fixes just shows how sky say one thing and do another.
sheepybach
25 weeks ago
I told Sky I was arranging to have Android Dev Kit sent to them from Google, strange I've not had a reply back yet. lol
Same as you I was hoping Stuff would follow up on this but like the other techsites they have all but shut down any/all Sky Go for Android.
There is so much wrong in the answer's back from sky to Stuff I'm amazed they have not done anything off their own back. Also to find out that Sky's biggest content provider HBO have just updated HBO GO for Android 4.2 yet again shows that Sky is telling lies to it's customers and techsites over DRM. Farce it is
ajr37
25 weeks ago
Stuff
A fee observations, since drawing my attention to Sky's woeful efforts in this area.
In July, Sky claimed to be testing Galaxy Nexus for Sky Go, now they are claiming to support HTC phones with no comments about Nexus devices.
Sky have claimed that they are not supporting Android Tablets, and will take several months to be able to play video on a Nexus 7. Sky's own Sky+ app manages to play trailers and interviews for Sky programmes, all streamed on Nexus 7 running Jelly Bean 4.2 so why not their Sky Go app?
On that subject, Sky+ on Android cannot control a Sky box like the iOS version. Again, Sky claim that this will take several months to introduce. Zeebox, partially owned by Sky, have released an app that supports Jelly Bean and controls a Sky box.
Basically, Sky's own applications already do things that Sky claims are not possible.
Can you please investigate why Sky continues to refuse and block Android development?
ajr37
24 weeks ago
Sorry to go on about this but readers may be interested that Sky have promised a statement on Monday 26 November. This follows a formal complaint signed by many Sky customers submitted through Sky's complaints process.
The response will likely say that Sky understands customers frustrations but Sky will take it more seriously in future. It is unsure if this will include the necessary resources to support Sky Go on Android or whether development will continue on a best efforts basis.
ajr37
24 weeks ago
Not surprising, Sky failed to make the statement:
http://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-Go/Sky-is-in-breach-of-its-customer-code/td-p/749576
All
The product team have come back to say they are still working on a response to the issues raised.
If nothing comes through this evening, I will chase them in the morning.
I'll keep you posted
Andrew
Andrew
Community Manager