Most streaming boxes have a huge inconvenience: you have to sign in to each and every app separately using your cable subscription credentials. But with a new feature in tvOS 10, you can sign in once and be done with it. Here’s how to set it up on the Apple TV.
Single Sign-On, as it’s called, sounds really convenient (and it is!), but there are a few big caveats to be aware of. Firstly, your Apple TV must be updated to tvOS 10 (which is likely done automatically as long as you didn’t change the auto-update feature at some point). Secondly, it’s only available in the US. It also only works with a limited number of cable providers, as well as a limited number of apps (you can visit Apple’s support page to see a complete list), though hopefully more will be added in the future.
If your cable or satellite provider is on the list, then you’re good to go. Let’s get started!
Open up the Settings apps from the main screen.
Select “Accounts”.
Scroll down and click on “TV Provider”.
Select “Sign In”.
From the list provided, select your cable or satellite provider. If yours isn’t listed, then you can’t use Single Sign-On.
You can either select your email address that’s already associated with your Apple ID or if you use a separate email address for your cable subscription login, click on “Add New”.
Enter in your username or email address associated with your cable subscription login and then hit “Continue” at the bottom.
Next, enter in your password for that account and hit “Sign In” at the bottom.
Once you’re signed in, you can then select “Find More Apps”.
This will take you to a page in the App Store where you can view all of the streaming apps that support Single Sign-On and your cable or satellite provider. Of course, there may be more apps available that support your cable provider but don’t necessarily support Single Sign-On yet.
When you go into a supported app and select a TV show or movie to watch, you’ll get a pop-up asking if that app can use your cable subscription information. Select “Allow”.
That’s all there is to it! Of course, there will no doubt be more cable and satellite providers added to the support list for Single Sign-On in the future, as well as more streaming apps that will take advantage of this new feature. Many of the big players are already in, though, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding an app that supports Single Sign-On.