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Sky Go Tablet app out now, separate from Android phone app

Sky's catch-up and on-demand app is available today for most Android tablets, with a just a couple of exceptions.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
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Richard Trenholm
2 min read

Sky television comes to Android slates today as the Sky Go Tablet app finally makes it to Google Play. Sky's catch-up and on-demand app is available for most Android tablets, with a just a couple of exceptions.

It's a separate app from the existing version of Sky Go for Android phones, so there are now two Sky Go apps in Google Play.

Sky describes the new app for slates as just "the first step in better support for Android tablets." In future, the two apps will be combined into one. And currently, the user interface only appears in portrait mode, so Sky is working on getting it to switch to landscape mode when you turn the tablet sideways. Fortunately movies and TV shows do play in landscape.

The app has been delayed to "address some streaming issues identified during the beta trial", with long-suffering Android tablet-owning Sky customers vocally expressing their displeasure at being kept waiting while iPad owners got to swan about all hoity-toity like, watching Sky Go wherever they went.

The new app works on Android tablets measuring 7-inches or more running Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 and above, except for the Asus Transformer TF101 and Amazon tablets. The TF101 misses out because of "unresolvable streaming issues," but the Amazon Kindle Fire and its ilk apparently miss out for other reasons. When I contacted them, Sky and Amazon wouldn't be drawn on the reason for the app's absence from Kindles, but I'm guessing it's to do with the fact the Kindle Fire HDX et al are designed to showcase Amazon's rival streaming service LoveFilm.

Are you pleased to finally see the Sky Go Tablet app? How do you watch TV and films when you're on the go? And is Android neglected by many companies? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.