Every year, one or two of my friends “cuts the cord” and ditches their cable TV packages in lieu of a mix of Netflix and web-based alternatives. Admirable though it may be, I can never follow suit. Mostly because I’d miss the sports and premium TV that I wouldn’t want to wait to come out on DVD. But if you’re a better man than I, you might try these iPad apps to ease the transition as the fall TV season begins.
NBC (Free)
The NBC app wasn’t much to look at until recently, when it stepped up its viewing game considerably. Whereas previously you could only see clips of shows, now you can view full episodes of all of your favorites. The app also includes NBC-related trivia games and an in-app schedule so you’ll be able to keep up with whatever new show strikes your fancy this fall.
ABC Player (Free)
Unlike the NBC app, the ABC Player has been solid for awhile. Although similar to NBC’s app in that you can watch your favorite shows and view an online schedule, the ABC Player app also has DVR-style functionality. You can pause an episode and resume it later exactly where you stopped. Now that’s how you cut the cord.
Vualla Social TV Companion (Free)
One of my absolute favorite aspects of Twitter is how much more fun it makes watching any sort of TV show. It turns what is ordinarily a very individual activity into a group party. The Vualla Social TV Companion expands upon that by letting you jump into the Twitter conversation by specific TV show. So, if you cut the chord but still want to know what people are dishing about on the latest Jersey Shore, you can follow the Twitter conversation through this app. You can also customize the app to only feature info on your favorite shows, leaving out say, tweets about Desperate Housewives so they don’t clutter your feed.
WatchESPN (Free)
Losing access to sports is one of the hardest aspects of cutting the cord, as I mentioned above. Unfortunately, if you don’t subscribe to Time Warner or Bright House cable packages with ESPN, this app won’t do you much good. But if you happen to receive Verizon high speed Internet you’ll be able to access ESPN 3 content. Sure it’s not the full compliment of ESPN networks, but when you’re facing an existence with no sports on your home TV, something is usually better than nothing.
i. TV (Free)
So you’ve abandoned traditional TV but now can’t figure out where your favorite shows are? i.TV has you covered. While it works as a local TV listings magazine based upon your service provider, you can also search for individual shows and find out whether or not they’re on Hulu, iTunes or Netflix. It makes organizing and keeping track of the shows you want to consume a lot less difficult than it would be now that you’re out of an easy-to-use home DVR.
Download the free Appolicious iPhone app
