Sling TV vs DIRECTV NOW vs PlayStation Vue: App Authentication Battle


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Mid age woman sitting at table

Mid age woman sitting at tableOne of the big questions I get about live TV services is which services do each support authentication for. So we decided to do a head to head breakdown of what apps each service supports.

Now before we do that, let’s breakdown the limitations of each service.

Sling TV allows one to three streams per account depending on your plan. You can access these streams both inside and outside of your house, meaning you can use its mobile apps to get full access to the service.

PlayStation Vue supports five streams at once but only inside your house. You can use authenticated apps outside of the house.

DIRECTV NOW supports two streams both inside and outside of the house, meaning you can use its apps to access all the channels you pay for outside of your house.

So let’s take a look at what apps each service supports.

Sling TV App Authentication:

App authentication:
  • FOX NOW (Android TV, Amazon TV, iOS and XBOX 360 only)
  • FXNOW (Amazon Fire Stick, Amazon TV, Android, Android TV, iOS and XBOX 360 only)
  • WatchESPN
  • Bravo and SyFY (iOS, Android, Amazon Fire, Roku, Airplay, Apple TV, Xbox One)
  • Oxygen and NBC Universo ( iOS, Android, Amazon Fire, Airplay)
  • USANow (iOS, Android Mobile and Tablet, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Roku, Airplay, Xbox One)
  • E! Now (iOS, Android Mobile and Tablet, Amazon Fire, Roku, Airplay Apple TV)
  • MSNBC Now (iOS, Airplay)
  • NFL Network (iOS, Android, Windows, Web, Xbox One, PlayStation, Apple TV, Roku)
Website authentication:
  • watchespn.com
  • fxnetworks.com
  • natgeotv.com
  • shahid.mbc.net
  • oxygen.com
  • bravotv.com
  • nbcuniverso.com
  • www.syfy.com
  • www.eonline.com
  • www.msnbc.com
  • www.nflnonline.nfl.com

PlayStation Vue App Authentication:

  • Adult Swim ([Adult Swim])
  • ABC
  • AMC (AMC Something More)
  • American Heroes Channel (AHC GO)
  • Animal Planet (Animal Planet GO)
  • BBC America
  • BeIn SPORTS
  • Bravo (Bravo Now)
  • Big Ten Network (BTN2GO)
  • Cartoon Network App
  • CNBC (CNBC.com)
  • CNN (CNN Breaking US & World News)
  • Cooking Channel  (Watch Cooking Channel)
  • Destination America (Destination America GO)
  • Discovery (Discovery GO)
  • Discovery Life (Discovery Life GO)
  • Disney Channel
  • Disney Junior
  • Disney XD
  • DIY (Watch DIY)
  • E! (E! Now)
  • WatchESPN (includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNews, SEC Network, SEC Network +, ESPN Bases Loaded, ESPN Goal Line, and ESPN Buzzer Beater)
  • Esquire (Esquire TV NOW)
  • Food Network (Watch Food Network)
  • Fox (FOX NOW)
  • FOX Business – Watch FOX Business
  • FOX News GO
  • FOX Sports (FOX Sports GO; includes FOX College Sports, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, FOX Sports Southwest, FOX Sports Florida, Sun Sports, FOX Sports Prime Ticket, FOX Sports West, FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Sports Southwest Plus, Yes Network, FOX Sports Arizona, FOX Sports Detroit, FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports North, FOX Sports South, FOX Sports Southeast, FOX Sports Deportes)
  • Freeform
  • FUSION TV
  • FX Now (includes FX, FXX, FXM)
  • Golf Channel (Golf Live Extra)
  • HBO (HBO NOW)
  • HGTV (Watch HGTV)
  • HLN (CNN Breaking US & World News)
  • IFC (IFC Always Slightly Off)
  • Investigation Discovery (Investigation Discovery GO)
  • MSNBC
  • Nat Geo TV
  • NBC
  • NBC News
  • NBC Sports Network (NBC Sports Live Extra)
  • NBC UNIVERSO (NBC UNIVERSO NOW)
  • NCAA March Madness Live (includes CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV)
  • NFL Network (Watch NFL Network and NFL Mobile)
  • One World Sports (Watch One World Sports)
  • OWN (Watch OWN)
  • Oxygen (Oxygen Now)
  • Science Channel (Science Channel GO)
  • SHOWTIME (SHOWTIME ANYTIME)
  • Sony Movie Channel
  • Sprout (Sprout Now)
  • Sundance (Sundance TV)
  • Syfy (SyFy Now)
  • TBS (WATCH TBS)
  • Telemundo (Telemundo Now)
  • TLC (TLC GO)
  • TNT (WATCH TNT)
  • Travel Channel (Watch Travel Channel)
  • truTV (Watch truTV)
  • Turner Classic Movies (Watch Turner Classic Movies)
  • USA (USA NOW)
  • Velocity (Velocity GO
  • WE (WE tv)

DIRECTV NOW App Authentication:

  • ABC
  • BTN2GO (Big Ten)
  • Bravo Now
  • Disney
  • Disney Jr.
  • Disney XD
  • E! Now
  • ESPN (WatchESPN)
  • FOX Now
  • Freeform
  • FX Now
  • HBO GO (requires premium subscription to HBO)
  • MAX GO (requires premium subscription to Cinemax)
  • MSNBC Now
  • NatGeo (currently unavailable on Apple iOS)
  • NBC
  • NBC Universo Now
  • NBC Golf
  • NBC Sports
  • Oxygen Now
  • Sprout Now
  • Syfy Now
  • Telemundo Now
  • USA NOW

All of these services offer a free trial, so why not give them a try and see what is right for you?

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