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Unlike some free services, SnagFilms offers high quality content. Given that they specialize in independent movies and documentaries, it’s completely possible to acquire this content at a reasonable price. Popular movies include Brooklyn Rules, Under African Skies and The Good Son. If you’re a fan of National Geographic TV shows, SnagFilms offers shows such as Hard Time, Animal Superpowers, Drugs Inc. and many more. Their collection of free movies and TV shows is impressive. If you’re tired of the mainstream, SnagFilms is a refreshing alternative.
SnagFilms offers an impressive tvOS app for Apple TV. They actually invested in quality software development and created a feature-rich app. On the initial launch, users are asked if they wish to sign up or log in, however this can be skipped. It’s impressive that one can sign up directly on the tvOS app, as most apps force users to create accounts on a website. The main screen displays featured movies and TV shows. Clicking on a video displays the detail page with a summary, related videos, trailer and rating. Users can also add videos to their queue. Rating and adding videos to the queue requires a free account. Movies, TV shows and settings can also be accessed from the menu.
Tastemade
If you’ve ever surfed through channels on cable, you’re probably aware of the abundance of food and travel shows. Unfortunately, many of the free services available on Apple TV don’t offer food or travel programming. Tastemade offers free programming centered around travel and food. Founded in 2012, the Santa Monica based company was an early adopter of Apple TV.
Unlike other free video apps, Tastemade produces their own content. If you’re looking for Parts Unknown or Bizarre Foods, you won’t find it here. You will, however, find some of the most innovative food and travel programming available today. Shows like 8Bit Cooking School, Food Court and Tiny Kitchen are unique and offbeat. In addition to shows, Tastemade offers a library of video recipes and collections of videos from “Tastemakers” — culinary experts affiliated with Tastemade. Although not every video is free, there’s an abundance of free content, not just a few samples.
Tastemade’s Apple TV app takes advantage of some of the new features of tvOS. The main “Today” screen offers featured videos. Simply selecting the video starts playback within an embedded player on the screen. Clicking on the video displays it in full-screen mode. The top menu offers easy access to the Recipes, Shows, Tastemakers, Plus and Settings screens. Overall, the app exhibits high quality development, which complements Tastemade’s choice content.
TubiTV
Advertising can often finance great content, which is the case with TubiTV. It’s the best of the free content services available on Apple TV. Founded in 2014 by Adrise, the service offers the largest selection of free movies and TV shows. Partnerships with Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate, in addition to expertise with advertising, seem to be the recipe for TubiTV’s success.
TubiTV’s selection of movies and TV shows is impressive. It’s almost hard to believe this is a free service. Movies such as The Usual Suspects, The Blair Witch Project and Lars and the Real Girl are just a few of the quality movies available on TubiTV. They also offer some of my favorite British TV shows, such as Peep Show, The Inbetweeners and Shameless, in addition to popular American shows. Unfortunately, they only offer a few seasons of each show, but rotate selections frequently. Being a free service, you can’t expect to watch the entire series of Breaking Bad. But TubiTV breaks the bad reputation of some free Apple TV content apps. (continue…)