HBO officially shuts down its Apple TV Channel

When HBO Max launched earlier this year, HBO simultaneously stopped participating in Apple TV Channels, which meant that new subscribers could not sign up for HBO through Apple TV Channels. Existing subscribers could however continue to access their subscriptions.

Apple to distribute HBO Max

Chance Miller for 9to5Mac:

HBO appears to have flipped a switch today, however, that completely shuts off access to HBO via Apple TV Channels, including the ability to sign in using your Apple TV Channels subscription information…

Those who subscribed to HBO through Apple TV Channels could access some HBO content through the TV app, but they could also sign in to the HBO Max app to access all the content at no additional charge via your Apple ID account.

Apple TV Channels users are widely reporting today, however, that access to HBO Max has been completely cut off. This includes the ability to access the HBO channel in the Apple TV app, as well as the ability to sign into the HBO Max app using your Apple ID…

One issue noted by users is that the HBO Apple TV Channel offered a live HBO feed, which is not available in the HBO Max application.

MacDailyNews Take: Were you an HBO subscriber through Apple TV Channels? Have you lost access to the streaming service today?


  1. I am watching HBO Max on my Apple TV right now (7/22 at 2:00 PST). I originally signed up for the service months ago, on the HBO website, then later installed the app on my Apple TV . . . I will note that earlier this morning during the Internet outage, when Amazon and other websites went down, HBO Max also went down — however, it is currently up and running . . . as I try to “make sense” of the article linked above, it seems that HBO is trying to weed out people who signed up for HBO via the Apple TV (which I did not– I signed up online directly with HBO).

  2. I’m confused.

    I signed up for HBO as an Apple TV channel, but am unable to sign into HBO on the web or anywhere else using my Apple ID other than my hardware Apple TV.

    Does anyone know of a hub of apple-based HBO information to navigate this?

    1. Some of the talk on the Web is that there is finger-pointing going on, with HBO telling its customers that they can collect a refund from Apple and apply it to a new HBO Max account arranged through HBO, and Apple saying nobody told them about it.

  3. Well, as is, it’s not working, and the instructions on HBO’s site aren’t helpful.

    it appears that if you have signed up for HBO through Apple, you do not get it in all the places it says you would.

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