Windows Phone already has plenty of decent news app, some with support for live video bulletins, but when it comes to watching TV shows on the platform, there aren’t a lot of options available to users. Admittedly, there are apps like Crackle that let you watch a few old shows on your device, but nothing beats having an official app from a mainstream TV channel. That is exactly what the WP Store has got today but even better, there is not just a single release, as the Discovery Network has come out with three separate apps for the network’s most popular channels. Discovery, Animal Planet and TLC apps let you view full episodes from shows on these channels, along with plenty of other content as well. A lot of people forget the airing time of their favorite shows, but the apps solve this problem by offering a full schedule for upcoming programs and letting users create reminders about the shows right from within each app.
The apps have completely different content, but the layout is similar. Each app shows a ‘featured’ section first, listing the most popular shows offered by the channel. To get a complete list of shows, swipe to the right. If you can’t find a show on either screen, simply use the search key to type its name, or use the app’s voice search to perform the action.
Each show listed in Discovery, Animal Planet and TLC has a dedicated section of its own, with separate pages for description, full episodes, video clips and additional material. You can share the show’s details via email or social media, and there is also the option to add it straight to your calendar. The app has a full-screen video player, which comes with a proper seek bar and pause/play buttons. The player can only be used in landscape mode though.
Although the Discovery network’s new apps let you create reminders by going to the individual pages of shows, there is also another more streamlined way of scheduling your TV routine. Each app comes with a roster, listing the names and airing times of the channel’s shows. You can also view the channel’s schedule in the coming days. The apps don’t maintain their own calendars, and to keep things as convenient as possible, reminders are added to the stock Calendar in WP8.
The only thing that can make the Discovery apps better is the addition of live streaming, although we must say that you don’t have to wait for too long before the latest episode of most shows become available. Give the apps a go by heading to the links provided below.
