A new report from Bloomberg states that Apple is planning on selling subscription services through the Apple TV app later this year with the eventual plan of having all of those services stream from the TV app. Currently you have to subscribe to an independent service like Hulu or use your cable TV credentials in the app you want to use, like HBO Go.
In its current form, the TV app is essentially a hub for your connected services and when you select a service to watch, you are taken to that service’s app on your iPad or iPhone. Eventually, Apple wants this to stream directly from within the TV app so you don’t have to bounce around between different apps or subscribe to them independent of Apple TV.
When this change happens to the TV app, you will be able to subscribe to these other services through the app itself and not have to bounce around between apps. It would make the app a true entertainment hub which, coupled with the Apple TV devices, would be a powerful offering for the Cupertino company. Apple already is one of the top music and movie sellers in the market thanks to iTunes so this move to drive subscriptions through the TV app makes a lot of sense.
While dates of this change were not provided, it looks to be a late 2018/early 2019 change as Apple is behind the scenes to prepare it and, undoubtedly, is working with streaming service providers and cable companies to get buy-in on the project.
